Remember as if you wear their bodies

There is a thin line between freedom and imprisonment. Some choose, willingly, to cross the line between legal and illegal, and therefore, in a sense, choose to cross the line between freedom and prison. Most people that cross that line, both of those lines, do not cross either of them with the intent of doing so. Many that find themselves on the wrong side of the law find themselves there through circumstance. Usually those circumstances happened, they reacted, and…the line was crossed.

I am related to a famous outlaw of the 1800’s. This man is the stuff legends are made of and stories of him abound. There are those that see him as a hero and those that see him as nothing other than a criminal that deserved the harshest of punishments. This man wasn’t always an outlaw. He didn’t always live on the wrong side of the law. Circumstances in his life took him from one side of the law and placed him squarely on the other side.

I happen to know that even when he was one of the most wanted men in the country…he was welcomed into his family’s home with open arms. He may have lived on one side of the law but…he was a man with another side than just the bad.

Hebrews 13:3 tells us…

Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body. (ESV)

There is another version of the Bible, one I’ve never looked at but whose writing of this single verse I came across, that I like for this verse. It is the Aramaic Bible in Plain English. I know nothing of this Bible except that this verse was listed in several different versions and that was one of them. As I read over those verses, this version stood out to me because it seemed to say something that the others didn’t.

No…

That’s not right. They all said the same things, even if it was worded slightly differently. What this version did was call to mind a slightly different thing. It made my human mind think in a slightly different way. You see, as I read over all those other versions they said things like remember…as if you were with them, or as if you were afflicted, or as if you were in the body.

But this Aramaic version said…

Remember those who are imprisoned, as if you are imprisoned with them. Call those to mind who are afflicted, as if you are the people who wear their bodies.

Remember…as if you are the people who wear their bodies.

Now that…makes one stop and think. Remember as if you wear their bodies. What would you want…if you really were the one wearing their body? How would you want someone to treat you if you were in their body? How would you feel if you were there, in there body, in prison?

As I researched prison in America I came across quite a few websites for pen-pals for prisoners. On one of these sights I read how they had sent something like 3000 Christmas cards to prisoners that were waiting for a pen-pal. They sent those waiting a Christmas card because they didn’t want them to feel forgotten at Christmas. They wanted them to know someone cared.

On that same sight I read that most of their prisoners wait two years to be assigned a pen-pal.

I understand well the hesitancy of the American population when it comes to contact with prisoners. Our society has conditioned us to assume that if a person is a prisoner they are the worst of the worst our society has to offer. Not only that but they are those that don’t deserve our consideration or our time. Why should we bother with them? They asked for what they got.

Yes, I understand the American mindset where prisoners are concerned. Bring up the subject of prisoners with just about anyone and see what kind of reaction you get. See how quick those around you excuse themselves from the conversation.

Prisoners are not something the general population wants to think about much less talk about. And if they do want to talk about them it’s in a ‘they got what was coming to them’ or ‘they should have gotten more time’ kind of way.

And the world of professing ‘Christians’ is no exception.

But for anyone that claims any sort of knowledge of Christ…

Remember those who are imprisoned…as if you are the people who wear their bodies.

Roughly 70 percent of the American population claims to be Christian. How many people does that come out to be? I honestly don’t know and I’m not doing the math to figure it out but it’s no small number of people. How many of them are adults? How many of them go to ‘Church’?

Years ago I went to a big ‘Church’ that took up money to give to missions every year. One year they took up something like $25,000.00, except as I write that, it seems to me that it may have been $50,000.00. Either way it was a large amount of money. This was only one of many collections this ‘church’ took up each year. They pushed their members to give and give…and give some more…to the charitable organizations that the ‘church’ supported. It seemed that they were often collecting money for some cause or another.

That’s okay…I suppose. But when I think of all this ‘church’ did to help those ‘in need’, all they pushed their members and visitors to give their money to…I think of what I read on that website that said those signed up with them often wait two years to get a pen-pal.

In a country that seems to have a ‘church’ building on every corner, and yes, that’s an exaggeration but there are a good number of ‘churches’ in every town…why is it that there are men and women, in any situation, waiting in line to get someone to write them a letter?

Do you know what it takes to write a letter?

A piece of paper, a writing utensil, and a few minutes of your time. If you can’t spare that then for less than a dollar you can get a greeting card, from a dollar type store, and jot down a few words, sign your name and you’re through. Another almost fifty cents for a postage stamp and the time it takes to carry it to the mailbox. For pennies of your money and a small bit of your time you can brighten someone else’s day.

That’s it. That’s all the effort that’s required. Now it would be nice if more time were spent. After all, who doesn’t enjoy getting a longer letter? But even with only that small bit of effort…it could mean the world to someone.

Since that website said they sent something like 3000 Christmas cards I’m going to assume they have a waiting list of 3000. I think of the ‘church’ that I occasionally visit and how they have around 1000 people in every service. How hard would it be for them to ‘adopt’ at least a few hundred of those prisoners that are waiting for pen-pals?

When many ‘church’ buildings give to this organization or that, which I’m sure are well researched and possibly great organizations doing wonderful things…how much more impact they could have by giving less money and more time. Instead of reaching into their wallets and tossing money into a box to go…who knows where, what a difference might it be if they ‘adopted’ those that are imprisoned and wrote them letters. They need not even do it in a one on one basis.

I saw a movie years ago where a ‘church’ sent Christmas cards to soldiers. They put collection boxes in the ‘church’ and people wrote out Christmas cards then dropped them in the box. The cards were then sent to soldiers. The same concept could be used to write to prisoners.

I’ve heard many people say that our government often gives help to other countries but it fails to do much for the truly hurting in our own country. The same could be said for a lot of ‘churches’. How many of them send to missions groups that send people into other countries when some of the most lost and hurting people live within the fences of our own countries prisons?

And even as we are told to remember…as if you are the people who wear their bodies…how many people that claim Christ can say they even come close to that?.