I Found Freedom In Prison — September 23rd, 2009
Posted on September 23, 2009
God let me preach at Washington State Prison last Sunday night. I will be honest, I was extremely nervous at the thought of being locked in a prison with rapist, murderers, dope fiends, and others, but in reality I have never been more at peace. The Lord allowed me to go with some brothers that were used by God that night as well. I know they each could fill up a blog of their own in regards to their experience on the “inside”. But, I want to stick to what I learned while preaching in prison.
I learned that there are believers behind bars. The passion displayed by the prison choirs, both the Hispanic and Black choirs, was a manifestation of the fruit of believers who had worked hard to provide an example of worship through learned songs. The Holy Spirit used each choir to minister to me and ultimately bring glory to God. It was believers who were used by God.
I learned that believers can get “happy” in the Lord and not be disruptive. We sang numerous songs together and each song ministered differently amongst the congregation. When the Spirit of God was sensed by the men they would respond. The responses of the men varied. Some men would clap, some men would shout, some men would turn and beam with joy towards their neighbor, yet some men would hang their head to weep. No one seemed to care what others might be thinking in regards to their worship of their God. No one got out of hand and no one took the focus off the Christ, Every man, in a room full of men, worshipped, communed, and fellowshipped with his Lord personally.
I learned that Black folks can worship freely even when a Honky is preaching. I preached in a way that I preach anywhere I go. Those that were there said I preached more passionately than normal, but I can tell you for certain that I did not change my method. I studied to preach an expositional, verse-by-verse message. I do have to admit that I did get a little more excited while preaching, but that was do to the response I was getting from a predominately Black audience. I would like to add that God used this Honky preacher to reach 3 Black prisoners with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and another Honky counseled them to make sure they understood the commitment they were making.
I learned that worship has very little, if anything to do with location, but can be greatly affected by unified purpose. It is said that the three most determining factors in the value of property are, location, location, location. I can tell you that is not so when it comes the value of worship. A group of believers can gather in the most undesirable location such as a prison and the value of the worship will not be affected. The most important factor in assessing the value of corporate worship is unity of purpose. When believers gather to worship, there will always be an agenda. I am disappointed to report that in many of the Baptist churches I have gathered, the purpose sticks out like a sore thumb. More times than any of us would like to admit, the unifying purpose of the gathered is to receive something. The “something” can be a multitude of things ranging from spousal relief to bargaining with God. The men I got to worship with were not going to get anything out of gathering for worship. It does not make a bit of difference to the guards or parole boards for that matter. The prisoners were there in order to bring what praise, glory, and honor to their God that He deserved. Their joy was in Christ and their purpose was to gather for one unified purpose. The purpose proved to be to celebrate the God of their salvation.
Most of all I learned, gathering to worship can be drudgery sometimes, but it DOES NOT have to be this way. We must repent of our own selfish purposes for gathering to worship the One who gave us all things, not to the exclusion of His Son.
I pray, what I learned will help you grow more like Christ and it will encourage you to never settle for less than what God has for you.
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