Do Justice and Love Mercy
Living out Our Biblical Worldview
If I were to ask you to imagine what a typical U.S. marshal looks like, you might think of John Wayne as Rooster Cogburn in TRUE GRIT. Or maybe Tommy Lee Jones in THE FUGITIVE. Tough guys, gun in hand, pursuing justice with steely-eyed coolness.
This March, the U.S. Marshals Service appointed a new director - John Clark, a twenty-three-year veteran of the department. Like the other men and women of U.S. Marshals Service, Clark is an expert at protecting the public and chasing down the "bad guys." But a recent CHICAGO TRIBUNE article reveals that there's something different about Clark - something you won't see in the movies.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
You see, even though Clark spends most of his time bringing criminals to justice, he spends his Christmas holidays delivering presents to the children of these same "bad guys" through Prison Fellowship's Angel Tree® program.
Clark told the CHICAGO TRIBUNE: "We see the individual going to jail and some heinous crime has been committed and we think that guy or gal deserves it. What we forget is at home there is a mom or son or daughter or youngsters that are the innocent victims of this person's criminal mindset."
So what could motivate a man like Clark - or anyone - to bring offenders to justice but, at the same time, to reach out in mercy? It's a biblical worldview: a worldview that takes seriously God's command through the prophet Micah to do justice and to love mercy-at the same time! And a worldview that sees each human being - criminals, their families, victims of crime - as created in the image of God.
Sadly, the American criminal justice system and our society as a whole see offenders solely as criminals who should be locked up and forgotten.
Don't get me wrong. As the former attorney general of Virginia, I know there are plenty of violent criminals whom we must incarcerate to protect the public. But I shake my head in sad wonder today that of our two million souls in prisons in America, nearly half are there for nonviolent offenses. Even more sobering is the fact that each year, some 600,000 men and women leave prison ill prepared to reenter society as productive citizens. In fact, nearly two-thirds of them will be rearrested within three years. That's not promoting public safety.
So, what's the Church to do? Simply this: Live out God's command to do justice and love mercy. How? Work to reform the criminal justice system in a way that holds offenders accountable by forcing them to pay restitution to their victims and by performing needed community service. We need to work to end the "one-size-fits-all" sentencing practices. We need to work to give crime victims a voice in the process.
At the same time, we need to bring the transforming power of the Gospel to prisoners. We need to meet prisoners at the gate when they leave prison, ready to draw them into our churches, to mentor them as they make the transition from confinement to freedom. And, like the head of the U.S. Marshall Service, we need to minister to the families of prisoners to ensure that they remain intact and that their children are not swept up into the generational cycle of crime.
Visit our websites at prisonfellowship.org and justicefellowship.org. We can show you how you and your church, like the head of the U.S. Marshall Service, can do justice and love mercy.
_________________________________________________
From BreakPoint®, June 12, 2006, Copyright 2006, Prison Fellowship Ministries. Reprinted with the permission of Prison Fellowship Ministries. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or distributed without the express written permission of Prison Fellowship Ministries. “BreakPoint®” and “Prison Fellowship Ministries®” are registered trademarks of Prison Fellowship Ministries.
