“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” John 3:16
He had been out of prison only a few weeks when I met him. It was the result of a cold call that I made to ask him to speak at a men’s retreat I was leading. He said yes and it was the beginning of a long friendship. He was known as “The Hatchet Man” in the White House. He went from the Oval Office to standing in front of a judge and answering “guilty as charged.”
While confined in a jail cell he was touched by John 3 and once again said “guilty as charged.” He became a new creation…. a new man as he gave his heart and life to Christ. He wrote a best seller in Born Again and the rest is evangelical history.
He called me one day to say that he had a heart for those in prison and wanted me to help.
A group of us later sat around a table in Washington and laid the plans for what was to become the tremendous ministry of Prison Fellowship. It has touched tens of thousands of lives in more than one hundred countries around the world.
Through Colson’s ministry, thousands upon thousands of convicts have heard the gospel, heard about God’s amazing love and grace for the lost, turned their lives over to Christ, had their lives completely transformed. He was a scholar, a constitutional lawyer, and a compassionate humanitarian who befriended lost and lonely prisoners for nearly 40 years. What’s more, many Christians have been moved to visit, love and serve prisoners in obedience the teaching of Jesus.
But what Chuck Colson may best be remembered for was his deep theological acumen. Colson went from being a convict himself to becoming a remarkable force in Christendom who lived a life of tremendous impact. He was one of the greatest Christian apologists of our time, an intellectual giant dedicated to the sanctity of life, traditional marriage and religious liberty. His commitment to God and country was second to none.
Pleading “guilty as charged” to a judge put Colson behind bars, but pleading “guilty as charged” to the Lord in Heaven put him in eternal peace. While the gates of Heaven welcomed him to glory, those of us left behind morn a great Christian leader, a defender of the faith and for some of us a dear friend.
Perhaps the point though is not what he did, but how he got there. While in prison, where he was just another prisoner and a wretched man he was discipled by several older, wiser Christian men who loved him and helped him develop a love for reading the Word of God and for prayer and also helped him reorient his worldview from a secular worldview to a distinctly Biblical perspective.
And it all began with John 3 and a few men who cared about the life of another. You never know the depth of the lives you touch when you share the Gospel.
(a thought on life from John Grant)
by John Grant
used by permission
John Grant is a former Florida State Senator and is a practicing attorney
