Anti-recidivism Lessons from the Bible

Almost anyone in the "prison ministry" business cites the dismal statistics. More than 600,000 men and women will be released from the nation's state and federal prisons annually, and about 75 percent of them return to prison within three years. The nation's prison population--the world's largest--tops two million persons, and the price tag exceeds $40 billion annually. Clearly, what we're doing is not working.
Most people, however, even those in prison ministry, many of whom profess to be Christians, do not seem to know that the Bible teaches powerful lessons about how to work effectively with criminals.

Yes, criminals! I know some people prefer euphemisms, such as offenders, etc., but I prefer to deal with issues as they are. From my perspective, crime is a way of thinking that justifies harming others to gain for self, and a person who thinks that way is a criminal.
So the central question remains: how does a crminal stop being a criminal? What can all stakeholders do to assist the process?
Let's consider answers from the Bible.

First, God proves that you cannot punish crime out of people and that a long sentence for one criminal never deters other criminals from crime. Cain murdered Abel, his brother. God sentenced Cain to carry a visible mark for the remainder of his life that identified him as a murderer. " . . .Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him." (Gen. 4:15) (All biblical quotes from the New International Version, unless stated otherwise)
Centuries later during Noah's day, the Bible reports: "The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time." (Gen. 6:5). So here was the human race several hundred years after the initial murder doing evil all the time.
Now God proves that execution also does not deter crime. You recall that he executed that entire generation, except for Noah, his wife; Noah's three sons and their wives.

Yet a relatively short time later, crime--this time alcoholism, and family disfunction--(Gen.8:20) dominates the news on earth. First, we see that Noah got drunk frequently. The wording of this report indicates frequency: "Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent." (Gen. 9:20-21). Everything about this statement indicates frequency. Noah planted a vineyard more than once. Noah drank some of its wine more than once. Ergo, Noah got drunk more than once. This situation teaches a valuable lesson. Noah had received grace from God. Noah had worked faithfully for God for 120 years in the building of that huge boat. Noah had walked with God for more than a century. Noah and his family vicariously experienced the awesome power of God's judgment and his wrath against sin. Here's the lesson: experience with God will not, on its own, produce personal transformation. You see, God's grace, his work, even his salvation as experiences do not stop us from being sinners. These experiences, no matter how dramatic, do not put us in an eternal right relationship with God until the price of previous sins has been paid. Additionally, the deaths of others, in this case hundreds of thousands, even millions, will not pay for the sins of survivors, even just eight. So Noah and his family, despite their experiences, emerged from the ark as sinners. Apply this principle to crime and punishment today and we can rightly conclude that punishing criminals does not provide deterrence to crime. Here's the bottom line: we cannot punish crime out of criminals!

Thousands of years after this incident, Jesus, the Christ, stated the guiding principles that put Noah's son's actions in perspective. Jesus said: "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold." (Matt. 24:12). In Genesis 8:22, we read the following: "Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father's nakedness and told his two brothers outside." The Hebrew "nagad" translated here "told" means literally "to stand boldly out opposite; to announce--always by word of mouth--to expose . . ." So Ham did not simply mention, from a helpful perspective, that Noah was drunk and naked. Rather, he did it in opposition to his father, who was also, in this case, his savior, as well as God's representative on earth. So now, we see the crime of family dysfunction. Notice the process: the crime of family dysfuction develops from "cold love," that increases with the increase of wickedness.

Noah, dismayed by his son's disrespect, attempted, as humans are prone to do, to illustrate the impact of crime on future generations. Thus, Noah directed his intended "curse" on Ham's family to Canaan, Noah's grandson. In a future article, I will show how God altered Noah's "curse" into a prophetic blessing for a family of people.

In the seventh chaper of Ezekiel, God reveals another consequence of rampaging crime--chains! In Ezek. 7:23-26, we read the following: "Prepare chains, because the land is full of bloodshed and the city is full of violence. I will bring the most wicked of the nations to take possessionof their houses; I will put an end to the pride of the mighty, and their sanctuaries will be desecrated. When terror comes, they will seek peace, but there will be none. Calamity upon calamity will come, and rumor upon rumor." In principle, God says that chain-like interlocking events, including rampant wickedness, the ineffectiveness of the mighty, the desecration of sanctuaries and terror without peace follow as consequences when a land is full of bloodshed, its cities full of violence. We see this prophetic "chain" choking peace from our cities, our suburbs, or regions, yea our nation as children and parents murder each other; drug abuse continues its ravages and the price tags of criminal justice continue to rob us of resources needed for other things, such as education and universal health care.

Enough about the problem! You live it daily! The issue for this article focuses on the questions: can we reduce recidivisim? Can criminals move progressively along the Change Continuum to become contributing citizens? Does God reveal principles that govern answers to these critical questions?

Yes we can reduce recidivism; and yes criminals can change provided we align with the princples Jesus revealed on the day he died. Turn to Luke 23:32-43 and let's examine this lesson, God's anti-recidivism teaching. "Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed." So you see, executions were already scheduled for that day--Nisan 14. Three criminals were to be crucified. We know just one of their names--Barabbas. In Wikipedia, the famous online enclyclopedia, we read the following about this criminal: "John 18:40 refers to Barabbas as a lçstçs, "bandit;" Mark and Luke further refer to Barabbas as one involved in a stasis, a riot. Mark 15:7; Luke 23:19. Matthew refers to Barabbas only as a "notorious prisoner." Matthew 27:16. Some scholars^[who?] posit that Barabbas was a member of the sicarii, a militant Jewish movement that sought to overthrow the Roman occupiers of their land by force, noting that Mark (15:7) mentions that he had committed murder in an insurrection. The sicarii and the ongoing revolt of Jews against foreign presence in Judea have been discussed by Robert Eisenman;^[2] however, many historians maintain that the sicarii only arose in the 40s or 50s of the first century - after Jesus' execution.^[3] Various authors contend Barabbas's crime would translate today as terrorism.^[4][5][6] Some however, have argued that he was a freedom fighter campaigning for autonomy from Roman imperialism. He is called a terrorist in the Contemporary English Version of the Bible.^[7][8]"

Barabbas was apparently the leader of this trio of criminals scheduled to be executed that day. The practice of commuting a sentence in deference to the celebration of the Passover was a standing tradition. In light of that tradition, Pilate offered the people Barabbas or Jesus, both sentenced to die! The people chose Barabbas for release. Symbolically, this criminal represents our current continuously failing criminal justice system that sentences criminals and then releases them capriciously, with no demand that they transform. So the criminal Barabbas returned to the community, and we have no evidence that he was motivated to change. Now we read: "One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: 'Aren't you the Christ (Messiah)? Save yourself and us?" (Luke 23:39). Does he sound like a candidate for transformation? I think not! What did Jesus say to him? Absolutely nothing! I remember posing this question to a group of "prison ministry professionals and volunteers" some years ago during a Prison Fellowship Conference. My question and response appalled them: "If the Lord of all creation has nothing to say to a criminal who is not ready to change, why do we keep talking?"

Symbolically, these two criminals represent our current, rapidly growing criminal population, some 2.2 million of whom are incarcerated, while another five million of so live under various court sanctions. Another six to seven million live in our communities, most of them unchanged and still doing crime. The most hopeful view of this concept indicates that possibly half of the 600,000 criminals released annually are ready for transformation.

In verses 40-42 of Luke's gospel, we read what the other criminal said: "But the other criminal rebuked him. 'Don't you fear God,' he said, 'since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.' Then he said, 'Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.'" In this criminal's words, God reveals four anti-recidivism principles, concepts that we who work in this area must listen for and demand of the people we seek to help in various aftercare program. Without these foundational principles already present in the criminal's mind, it's impossible to change. Simply stated, to change, a criminal must 1) renounce the criminal lifestyle and rebuke former criminal cohorts, 2) accept responsibility for his or her circumstances; 3), Acknowledge God's grace revealed in the death of Jesus, whom God made sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in him (2Cor. 5:21); 4), turn to Jesus in faith, beause all who come to him must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him." (Heb. 11:6); 3).

That's God's anti-recidivism strategy. We know these principles work because of the response Jesus, the Christ gave this criminal. "I tell you the truth today, you shall be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43). I commend God's strategy to all whom claim to work in anti-recidivism ministry.