“I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” John 10:10
The
shout of the twenty-somethings was so loud that it muffled the rattle of chains
against the prison bars. “We’re free! Nobody’s gonna hold us back from doing
what we wanna do! We can be anything we want: whatever gender, whatever sexual
preference, whatever lifestyle we want! You can bow down to an invisible God if
you want to, but we’re our own gods!” A burst of expletives echoed from the cell
walls, drowning out the groans of the addicts retching on the floor.
The
ministry team from a local church listened quietly, and then the leader tried
again. He held out a Bible. “No my friends, you only think you’re free. Don’t
you see the chains? The bars? The very sins you cling to have enslaved you,
while you insist that you are free. Jesus offers real life, abundant life,
uncommon life. Won’t you take it?” Hysterical laughter met his words. “You
think you know what living is, preacher?” asked a man in the last stages of
AIDS. “You guys with your monogamy, sobriety, and churchy junk.” Chains
clattered as another prisoner shook his track-marked arm at the group outside.
“You don’t know what you’re missing!” The pastor lowered the Bible. “Yeah, we
know what we’re missing. That’s why we’re grateful for Jesus.”
The world defines “life”
as the freedom to do anything you want. While it is true that we can choose our
lifestyle, we cannot choose the consequences. Are you in prison while declaring
that you are free?
.
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