Fundamentalists, Go to Jail!

Steve’s Story
Steve’s sinful decisions caught up with him, and Steve was arrested. Out on bond, awaiting his trial, Steve knew he would be found guilty and would face a lengthy prison sentence. Having heard from friends what prison is like, Steve was terrified. Nothing had prepared him for this kind of a future. On the night before his trial began, with nowhere else to turn, Steve sat at his dining room table, placed a 9mm pistol in his mouth, and prayed what he thought would be his last prayer: “God, if You really exist, You’d better prove it to me right now, ’cause I’m about to blow my brains out.”

What he explains next is nothing short of miraculous. It seemed that every Sunday School lesson he had heard, every sermon he had sat through suddenly came back to him, and an inexplicable sense of peace and warmth surrounded him. He put the pistol down and wept like a child. That night Steve trusted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior.

“Brother Larry, where are the fundamentalists?” He went on to tell of the different groups that are actively reaching into that prison. They teach that people need to speak in tongues or be baptized to be saved.

At his trial, Steve pleaded guilty and was ultimately sentenced to prison for his crimes. He had been there for two years when I met him on my first day in prison.

My Story
I, too, was raised in a Christian home, and my parents also made sure that I attended church regularly. In my younger years, as my family and I traveled in the area where I was raised, we would occasionally pass a prison farm. For some reason, I was particularly fascinated by the men in that facility. But inevitably the question that came to my mind was, Who is telling those guys about Jesus? My interest in prison continued throughout my childhood and into my teen years, but, of course, I could do nothing about it. A man in my church was involved in providing housing for inmates who had recently been released from jail or prison, but the whispers I heard at church about his ministry were not encouraging.

It wasn’t until I moved to another state that I met a man in my church who visited a state prison to play basketball with, and ultimately to witness to, inmates. He gave me the contact information for the director of volunteer services at the state prison, and I made a phone call that I wish I had made years earlier.

After meeting with the director and going through orientation, I was finally ready to have my first Bible study with prisoners. I was nervous and had no idea what to expect. I asked the director how many inmates I should expect at the Bible study and he replied that as many as twenty-five men might show up that first night.

On February 15, 2000, I walked into the prison chapel. Sixty-eight inmates came to my Bible study. Steve was the first to show up.

I’ve been leading this Bible study almost every Tuesday night for more than five years, and I have come to know Steve as a personal friend and a dear brother in the Lord. During a Christmas party at the prison, I had the opportunity to talk at length with Steve without being interrupted. His first question made me uncomfortable: “Brother Larry, where are the fundamentalists?” He went on to tell of the different groups that are actively reaching into that prison. They teach that people need to speak in tongues or be baptized to be saved. They warn the inmates of all the circumstances that can cause a person to lose his or her salvation. They proclaim a “believe it-achieve it” or “name it-claim it” theology. Worse yet are those who flatly deny the deity of Jesus Christ or who preach faith in Allah, Satan, nature, or self. And the men in prison soak the teachings in like rain on parched ground. “But,” Steve continued, “you are the only one who just comes in and actually teaches the Word of God.”

Reasons for Prison Ministry
While I was flattered at Steve’s accolades for me and my ministry, I was reminded that our jails and prisons are perhaps our greatest unreached mission fields. There are a number of reasons for getting involved. Permit me to name just a few.

1. A man who ministers in the Cook County Jail in Chicago described jail and prison ministries as “working with low-hanging fruit.” Many missionaries on foreign and domestic fields talk of the frustrations of working for long months and years with no visible fruit. But in prisons, one of the major tasks in evangelism has already been done. Most believers acknowledge that for a person to trust Christ as Savior, that person must be thoroughly convinced of his or her sin. In jail and prison ministries, that work has usually already been done by a judge or jury. After five years of working in prison, I have yet to hear a man sincerely claim that he isn’t guilty. I’m sure that such men exist, but I have yet to encounter one who doesn’t acknowledge his sinful condition.

2. Jesus instructed His disciples to start locally and work globally (Acts 1:8). For many of us, jails and prisons are relatively local. Statistics from the Department of Justice prove that the inmate population of the United States is growing. This means that a need for jail and prison ministries will always exist.

3. Jesus said, “I was in prison and you came to visit me” (Matthew 25:36, NIV). While a careful exegesis of Matthew 25 will bring us to the understanding that Jesus was speaking of a judgment of the Gentiles who survive the Tribulation, one can see the principle that there is a special blessing for those who reach out to and minister to the disadvantaged. Hebrews 13:3 supports this principle: “Remember the prisoners . . . and those who are mistreated.” Our Lord Himself demonstrated a heart for those whose lives were ravaged by sin and its consequences.

4. You will find yourself overwhelmed by the appreciation of those who are incarcerated. So many of them have been rejected by family and friends and feel as if they have been locked away and forgotten. When you go to them and show them the genuine love of the Lord, their response is precious. As the men file in for my Bible study each Tuesday, they grab my hand or throw their arms around me and thank me for coming. Would I go if I didn’t receive this response? Yes. But do I leave the prison feeling that I have received more than I have given? Absolutely.

Starting a Prison Ministry
Often the biggest hurdle to overcome is the first one. For me, I didn’t even know how to get started, and that prevented my involvement for years. So allow me to outline the steps to begin this kind of ministry.

1. Almost every jail and prison has a director of volunteer services or a chaplain who oversees volunteer efforts. A simple telephone conversation with that person will answer 99 percent of your questions.

2. You will need to undergo an orientation. Usually this involves being taught the dos and don’ts of inmate contact. Put simply, you cannot take anything into the facility and give it to an inmate, nor can you take out of the facility anything from an inmate. This is called “trafficking” and is the number one reason volunteers get into trouble with correctional facilities.
Since volunteers are technically considered “volunteer staff” in many institutions, they may come under the same guidelines as regular staff members regarding corresponding with inmates. For staff members, including volunteer staff, sending and receiving letters is considered trafficking since it may involve information passed on to family or friends.

3. Everything takes a long time to get approved. From the time I started the process of getting clearance to lead a Bible study until the time that I actually began the study, it took at least four months. You’re working with quite a bureaucracy, so you must be patient.

Concerns Answered
Please keep in mind that it doesn’t take a “professional” or a “pastor” to do this work. When I began my prison ministry, I was working at a regular job, not serving as a pastor (as I do now). And it doesn’t take someone who knows the Bible “inside and out.” All it takes is someone who cares for the unsaved, who is concerned about believers in jail or prison, and who can be committed to teach the Word of God faithfully.

Do security concerns exist? Yes, but I can testify that in my years of experience working in prisons, I have never once felt that I was in danger, even after being mistakenly left alone with fifty-plus inmates.

Will you face opposition from Satan in this ministry? Absolutely. In fact, I often feel more opposition from Satan on Tuesdays when I’m going to the prison than I do on Sundays when I’m preaching in my church. But is this ministry valuable and worth it? I have no doubt about it. A wise person once told me, “Time and truth go hand in hand.” So time will tell the true value and worth of a ministry like this. But while time continues to pass, Steve’s question echoes in my mind: “Where are the fundamentalists?”

By the way, Steve should be released from prison soon. He plans to join our church, finish his parole, and then go back into prison on a voluntary basis to lead Bible studies.

*Name has been changed.

Larry Starett is pastor of First Baptist Church, Chesterton, Indiana.