What Inmates Are Hoping for from Religious Volunteers
Roger DePriest, M.A.
Regional Director
Good News Jail & Prison Ministry
It is generally agreed that faith-based volunteer programs are far more effective in meeting the needs of inmates and in effecting substantive character change, than state-based/state-funded treatment programs. John DiIulio, a professor of politics and public affairs at Princeton University made this supporting statement: “It’s remarkable how much good empirical evidence there is that religious belief can make a positive difference.”1d Recently, DiIulio stated that “today it is intellectually irresponsible” to ignore the faith factor in tackling social problems.2 Patrick Fagan, an analyst of family and cultural issues at the Heritage Foundation makes an even more categorical statement when he says, “Religious behavior is associated with reduced crime. This has been known in the social-science literature for over 20 years.”3 As a result of this, correctional authorities are now inviting faith-based groups in as volunteers to assist in meeting the religious and spiritual needs of the jail and prison inmates. It is a pluralistic approach, to be sure, and the appeal is to any and all faiths that are represented by the respective inmate population without religious discrimination. The assessment by Beckner and Riggs is pertinent:
Perhaps no area of correctional change has been more pronounced in the past two decades than the religious arena. At the same time resources have been diminishing, an expanded cultural, racial, and religiously diverse inmate population has placed new demands on prison systems. Both federal and state correctional systems have undergone a metamorphosis in an effort to provide for all religious faiths now present in significant numbers who were demanding accommodation.4
The observation to be made from the foregoing information is that—ironically perhaps—there is an “open door” behind iron bars for those who are seeking to minister spiritually to the incarcerated. Therein lies the purpose of this article. Since faith-based ministries are a welcomed and significant reality within corrections today, it behooves those who embrace the gospel to avail themselves of this opportunity. Many “faiths” are taking advantage of this. Should those who embrace the truth of the gospel do any less?
It should not be surprising to the student of the New Testament (NT) that biblical principles of inmate ministry can readily be found in the apostle Paul’s writings, since he was imprisoned often and has penned several letters of the NT while he was incarcerated. That being the case, let us pose the question: how would he have viewed volunteer jail ministry? This article will make three observations from 2 Timothy 1 that will seek to answer that question.
Jail Ministry through the Eyes of the Apostle Paul
The letter of 2 Timothy is a letter by the apostle Paul to Timothy, his “son in the faith.” Paul’s purpose in writing to Timothy in his first letter (soon after his release from his first imprisonment) was to encourage him to oppose false doctrine confronting the Ephesian church (cf. 1 Tim. 1:3) and also to provide instruction regarding the proper behavior that ought to be indicative of Christians who make up “God’s Household.”5 Paul, after visiting the Ephesian church, accompanied by Timothy, left Timothy there to shore up some areas that needed immediate attention. Paul then traveled on to Macedonia and, perhaps in a time of seclusion and respite, he penned both his first letter to Timothy and also the letter to Titus, whom he had previously left on the island of Crete to recruit and train godly pastors for the disorganized and problem-laden church(es) there (cf. Titus 1:5).6 What is interesting to note here in Paul’s second letter to Timothy, is that Paul is once again back in prison and had already had a preliminary hearing (cf. 2 Tim. 4:16).7
In today’s verbiage, one would say that the apostle Paul contributed to the recidivist rate of his day. He had every right to be discouraged. He had been arrested again, in as little as twelve months since his previous incarceration. He had been to court and it did not go well. He was given the death penalty. He fully expected to be called up at any time to be executed. On the outside, some of his Christian friends had let him down. Others, who had promised to stay by his side, had deserted him.
So, in the briefest of terms, those are the circumstances behind the writing of 2 Timothy. There are many inmates today who have similar dismal circumstances.8 There are, indeed, a great number of inmates in America’s jails and prisons who are brothers and sisters in Christ—regardless of the reason for their incarceration—who face many of the same circumstances the apostle Paul had to face. They, in many cases, find themselves back in jail or prison after having only been released as little as 12–24 months previously. Many have had their court date and came back with tough news.9 Even more inmates receive troubling news from family and loved ones that shake up their already shaken lives.10 Given that inside look at those circumstances, how should a Christian volunteer approach his or her ministry to inmates? What would make that volunteer the most effective and biblically-based volunteer? It is the premise of this article that the things that Paul valued as effective ministry to him as a prisoner/inmate, are the same things that a Christian volunteer ought to prioritize in his or her ministry to inmates. What follows are three simple observations that can readily be adapted and applied to modern day jail and prison ministry by Christian volunteers. These observations are to be applied to any and all inmates, whether believers or unbelievers.
The Importance of a Visit
One of the first things the letter of 2 Timothy reveals about what Paul valued as effective ministry to him as an inmate is the fact that he simply wanted to be visited. The letter opens in Paul’s usual fashion with a salutation and his acknowledgment of God’s grace, mercy and peace. He then immediately moves into a thanksgiving mode whereby he informs Timothy that he is in his prayers. Then, in verse 4, Paul writes, “greatly desiring to see you … that I may be filled with joy.” The word for desire here is a word that carries the idea of an intense longing, “often express[ing] the hope of seeing an absent person or group.”11 Paul used this same word during his first imprisonment when he wrote to the Philippian believers: “ God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus” (Php. 1:8). Paul is even more explicit in 2 Timothy 4:9–11 when he says to Timothy:
Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia , and Titus to Dalmatia . Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.
Inmates are no different than the apostle Paul, in this regard. They want to be visited. Many in society have the mentality of lock ‘em up and throw away the key. But that should not be the mentality of someone who possesses, and is a steward of, the life-changing gospel of Christ. This is all the more so in a day when correctional facilities are inviting—indeed pleading for—“religious volunteers” to come into their facilities and minister to inmates. Who better to provide the proper perspective for the dismal circumstances the host of these inmates are in, than the Christian? The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that at mid-year 2005, the number of inmates incarcerated in the jails and prisons of America is 2.2 million.12 That is a staggering figure. Yet the number of Christian volunteers entering these facilities to minister the gospel of Christ lags far behind the burgeoning opportunities currently available today. Truly, the fields are white unto the harvest. But, it all begins with a visit.
The Importance of a Genuine Faith
What Paul writes to Timothy in verses 5–7 of chapter one is essentially that he recognizes a genuine faith in Timothy. He is the “real deal,” to put it in colloquial terminology. Paul knows the kinds of early investments Timothy’s mother and grandmother placed into him. He recalls even his own significant ministry in Timothy’s life. So he encourages Timothy to “stir up the gift of God” that is in him. Then he says in verse 7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Now here are three qualities essential to a jail volunteer who intends to minister the gospel effectively to inmates.13 All three of these qualities (power, love, and self-discipline) demonstrate the genuineness of one’s faith. Fear is antithetical to each of these three qualities.
A question that arises among individuals in churches who are considering jail or prison ministry is whether or not it is safe. This is a fair question, but perhaps it betrays a basic reason why there are so few workers in this comparatively large and ripe harvest field. Perhaps many Christians are afraid of the environment to which they would subject themselves. God’s work, more often than not, requires courage because Christians bring a message that runs counter-cultural to the world. It is true that the jail and prison environment is a higher-risk environment than teaching a Sunday School class in a local church. But it is also true that every correctional facility has a correctional staff that is trained to make the environment secure.
Paul’s exhortation to Timothy was, in so many words, that he needed to pursue with great confidence whatever opportunity God had laid before him. This is what Paul, the inmate-apostle, wanted to see in Timothy. This is also what inmates want to see in jail volunteers. Many inmates are confused about their situation, about how to break the vicious cycle of recurring habits, about who they are. They want to speak to someone who is confident—though not arrogant—about such issues as these. This is not to imply that the jail volunteer needs to have all the answers. No. It simply means that the jail volunteer needs to be genuine about what he or she believes is the answer to all of life’s issues. Of course, that answer is Jesus Christ. This is what separates the “Christian” volunteer from every other volunteer that attempts to help inmates. There are many volunteers who “genuinely” (i.e. sincerely) seek to help inmates sort out their troubled lives, but they really do no more than a temporal service if they do not have the gospel of Jesus Christ to give to them.
The Importance of Identification
In verse 8 Paul writes to Timothy, “Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God.” It would be inaccurate to conclude from this verse that Timothy is currently ashamed of Paul as a prisoner-inmate. Rather, the point is that there is always present the potential for anyone to falter in the faith at a given point and to shrink away at the moment when courage is most required. Such circumstances can test the mettle of any person.14 Paul is attempting to encourage Timothy for what he very likely will face as he identifies himself with Paul.
There are two objects of the negative command “do not be ashamed.” First, Paul exhorts Timothy not to be ashamed of the “testimony of our Lord.” The expression “of our Lord” very likely carries the sense of not being ashamed of the testimony “about the Lord.” In other words, it is probably a similar expression to Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ.”15 What is there to be ashamed about regarding the gospel of Christ? Mounce explains:
From a human point of view, there was much in the gospel of which to be ashamed. It was the message of a failed prophet, rejected by his people, executed by the world’s power, and preached by a collection of fishermen and other undesirables. The message they proclaimed was foolishness in the world’s eyes (1 Cor 1:23 ), based on assumptions that ran counter to the generally accepted norms of Greek philosophy (Acts 17:32 ).16
What was there for Timothy to be ashamed about regarding his spiritual mentor, the apostle Paul? Mounce continues:
There was, on the surface, much to be ashamed about in reference to Paul, a man who met constant opposition (2 Cor 11:23 -27) and was imprisoned in Rome . But Timothy was called not to be ashamed; in fact, he was called to share in suffering for this very gospel with Paul.17
At this point, it should be added that Paul was imprisoned under the notorious Nero and was expecting execution imminently. Under the rulership of men like Nero, preaching about the “resurrection of Jesus” carried with it a social stigma.18 Nevertheless, Paul seeks to buttress Timothy’s faith for tougher days ahead. As Quinn and Wacker state, “[Paul’s] visible fate constitutes an embarrassment and a compromise that could tempt a man to apostasy. But he asks Timothy to face that squarely and to believe in the prisoner’s witness to a crucified Christ.”19 The essential point of all of this is that Paul is pressing Timothy toward the entailments of identification. Mounce, in commenting on the expression “to suffer with me,” explains that Paul’s argument “is based on Timothy’s identifying himself with Paul (cf. 1:3).”20
When it comes to jail ministry, identification with inmates is crucial. This concept is all tied in with the previous two points. Visiting inmates is the beginning point of identifying with them, but that alone is insufficient. Demonstrating a genuine faith that casts away any inhibitions, armed with confidence that the gospel is really what any man or woman needs to begin a new life, is absolutely essential to identifying with an inmate. Jail ministry would not be worth the investment without either of the first two points, but there is more required to complete it. There needs to be a personal identification with inmates. There needs to be a sense where the inmates know that the volunteers are willing to identify with their shame. Inmates watch for the “us” versus “them” mentality. If they detect that, all credibility is lost. There will be no ministry to the inmate who has drawn that conclusion. In the same way that Paul was in his prison cell beckoning Timothy to identify with him, so also must Christians identify with the disenfranchised of society. This means that the volunteers must leave their places of comfort; they must walk among and sit beside those who are often unkempt; they must sometimes breathe in the foul odors that often emanate from individual cells.
Identifying in any cause, sacred or secular, always exacts a cost. But that cost is what leads to open doors. In terms of the gospel ministry, the believer’s identification is at his baptism upon conversion. That identification means that the believer is willing to be identified as a part of the body of Christ. That means that any brother or sister—even those incarcerated—is a point of our identity. It also means to identify with Christ in terms of being a witness to a morally dark world, even as Paul mentioned in 2 Timothy 1:8. Jails and prisons are, generally speaking, morally dark places. The identity for the Christian must be to identify with the brothers and sisters in Christ who are incarcerated and beyond that testify of the goodness and grace of God to a lost inmate population—especially at a time when the correctional authorities are beckoning Christians to enter. Their motivations and reasons may not be the same as the believer’s. Whatever their motivations, the doors remain open. It is time for Christians to identify with their calling and with their brothers and sisters in Christ.
Conclusion
It is God who opens doors and it is God who shuts doors. Sometimes, however, the open doors are to be found behind iron bars. There is a widespread shift today to welcome faith-based volunteers to enter jail and prison facilities so as to minister to the spiritual needs of the incarcerated community. Correctional officials recognize that religious volunteers are integral to maintaining a calmer, copasetic atmosphere inside the facility. This article has attempted to look through the lens of an inmate and suggest, from a biblical basis (2 Timothy), what many inmates are hoping for from the volunteers who come in to minister to them. It has been proposed that the ideal volunteer is someone who regularly visits, demonstrates a genuine care, and is willing to identify with the inmate’s problems. This type of a volunteer reflects the same qualities that the inmate‑apostle Paul highlighted as that which was especially meaningful to him. He articulated these qualities in the letter he wrote to Timothy while he himself was incarcerated.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
1 Joe Loconte, “Jailhouse Rock of Ages,” Policy Review, No. 84 (Jul-Aug, 1997): p. 14.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 W. Thomas Beckner and Charles R. Riggs, “An Assessment of Chaplaincy Services Delivered by Good News Jail & Prison Ministry to the Colorado Department of Corrections: Executive Summary.” In-house publication of Good News Jail & Ministry, 2230 East Parham Rd., Richmond, VA, 2003, p. 4.
5 Lea, Thomas D. 1, 2 Timothy, Titus. The New American Commentary, Vol. 34 (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1992): 42.
6 D. Edmond Hiebert, Titus, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, ed., Vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978): 423.
7 Earle, Ralph, 2 Timothy, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, ed., Vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1978): 416. Earle’s precise statement is: “Today scholars generally agree that the reference [in 4:16, “at my first defence no one stood with me”] is to the prima actio, the first hearing in court.”
8 Admittedly, there are very few in America —if any—who are incarcerated because of their Christian faith. But, for the purposes of this article, that is a secondary matter.
9 Correctional officials are cognizant of inmates who receive stiff sentences and are typically put on alert to “observe” that inmate for a period of time to ensure he is not so distraught that he would attempt to harm himself in some way.
10 It is not uncommon at all for chaplains to be called in to minister to inmates as a result of some “bad news” he or she received from home.
11 I. Howard Marshall, The Pastoral Epistles, The International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1999): 692-93.
12 Bureau of Justice Statistics, U. S. Department of Justice – Office of Justice Programs, www.ojp.usdoj-gov/bjs/, cf. November, 2006 NCJ 215095.
13 There are two different views as to the understanding of what the “gift” is referring to here in this passage. One is that the gift is God’s Spirit given to all believers and the second view is that the gift is the Spirit given to leaders enabling them in the effective exercise of the ministry for which God has equipped them and to which God has called them. This interpretive issue need not detain us for the purposes of this article. The point to be made here is simply that whether the gift is to all believers or only to leaders, the Christian volunteer ministering in jails is exercising a leadership role when he or she ministers the gospel to inmates. Either interpretation, therefore, applies.
14 William D. Mounce, Pastoral Epistles, Word Biblical Commentary, Vol. 46 ( Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000): 479.
15 Marshall, p. 703.
16 Ibid., 480.
17 Ibid.
18 Donald Guthrie, The Pastoral Epistles, Tyndale New Testament Commentaries (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1957, reprint 1989): 127.
19 Jerome D. Quinn and William C. Wacker, The First and Second Letters to Timothy ( Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2000): 594.
20 Mounce, p. 480.