Last week, I received a letter from a woman in a Midwestern state...
She and her husband expressed interest in starting a prison ministry through their local church. This is a good thing.
However, she was under the impression that I have led countless numbers of my fellow prisoners to faith in Jesus Christ. Not true. Furthermore, she also thinks that a majority of those who are incarcerated are hungry for Christ. Also, not true. I know she means well, but this dear sister has been misinformed.
Frankly, I wish more inmates were eager to follow Jesus. At the facility I'm at, we only have a small number of men whom I would consider to be genuine disciples of the Lord. You see, the reality is, prison ministry can at times be discouraging.
And while jails and prisons remain a huge mission field, not everyone wants Christ. As it is in the world, so it is in this place. Most prisoners do not want God in their lives. They love their sins, and they love the darkness. They've no desire to repent.
Unfortunately, many Christians, I believe, have an idealistic and ignorant view of what prison ministry is about. And unless one understands all that is involved in this kind of work, they could be setting themselves up for disappointment.
Yes, the work of the ministry can be very rewarding. But it is also challenging. To become involved with a prison ministry means having the willingness to suffer hardship, to spend lots of time in prayer, and to sometimes wait patiently on the Lord.
Yet there is much satisfaction in this kind of ministry as well. It's a joy to see men and women making their peace with God, receiving forgiveness for their sins and obtaining the gift of eternal life, too. Then to see them mature and develop in their faith. Such things are truly beautiful.
But as with any ministry, there will be ups and downs, victories and losses. This is reality. In the end, however, our labor for the Lord will never be in vain in Him (1 Corinthians 15:58).
D.B.
However, she was under the impression that I have led countless numbers of my fellow prisoners to faith in Jesus Christ. Not true. Furthermore, she also thinks that a majority of those who are incarcerated are hungry for Christ. Also, not true. I know she means well, but this dear sister has been misinformed.
Frankly, I wish more inmates were eager to follow Jesus. At the facility I'm at, we only have a small number of men whom I would consider to be genuine disciples of the Lord. You see, the reality is, prison ministry can at times be discouraging.
And while jails and prisons remain a huge mission field, not everyone wants Christ. As it is in the world, so it is in this place. Most prisoners do not want God in their lives. They love their sins, and they love the darkness. They've no desire to repent.
Unfortunately, many Christians, I believe, have an idealistic and ignorant view of what prison ministry is about. And unless one understands all that is involved in this kind of work, they could be setting themselves up for disappointment.
Yes, the work of the ministry can be very rewarding. But it is also challenging. To become involved with a prison ministry means having the willingness to suffer hardship, to spend lots of time in prayer, and to sometimes wait patiently on the Lord.
Yet there is much satisfaction in this kind of ministry as well. It's a joy to see men and women making their peace with God, receiving forgiveness for their sins and obtaining the gift of eternal life, too. Then to see them mature and develop in their faith. Such things are truly beautiful.
But as with any ministry, there will be ups and downs, victories and losses. This is reality. In the end, however, our labor for the Lord will never be in vain in Him (1 Corinthians 15:58).
D.B.
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