The Lost Sheep Behind Bars

I have an app on my computer that puts a scripture verse on my start-up screen daily, and as I read this familiar verse, I was convicted as I have fallen short.

The verse was Matthew 25:41-45, ⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴² For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³ I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ ⁴⁴ “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ ⁴⁵ “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

Sure, I have cared for a stranger, fed the hungry, distributed cloths to those in need, and visited the sick, but I have never visited a prisoner, nor have I ever been involved in prison ministry. This conviction comes with some baggage as I have seen the cruel hand of our penal system, where after a drug conviction of a loved one, a saw a range of discrimination in public benefits, employment, and social neglect, in which the criminal was ostracized and distrusted by their community and some members of their family.

Michelle Alexander’s book, “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” (a book which I highly recommend) argues that after the successes of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, criminals, as opposed to black Americans, emerged as the new underclass. Jesus said “Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.” Might I suggest that prisoners, have and are “the least of these” and Jesus speaks to us as clearly as he did to the disciples, serve, minister and visit prisoners.

I am interested to hear any comments from those who are or have been involved in prison ministry and how one gets into prison ministry, as I am sure you don’t just show up at your local prison asking to visit prisoners.