COMMENTARY: The real mission of the church

c. 1997 Religion News Service (Samuel K. Atchison is an ordained minister and has worked as a policy analyst and social worker to the homeless. He currently is a prison chaplain in Trenton, N.J.) UNDATED _ A recent incident involving one of my inmate congregants sheds light on the need for the church to concentrate […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

(Samuel K. Atchison is an ordained minister and has worked as a policy analyst and social worker to the homeless. He currently is a prison chaplain in Trenton, N.J.)

UNDATED _ A recent incident involving one of my inmate congregants sheds light on the need for the church to concentrate more on the spiritual than the political.


A large, muscular black man with a history of hypertension, my friend was recently rushed to the hospital with stroke symptoms and an extremely high blood pressure level. While being treated in the emergency room, he was advised that, though his symptoms were minor and recovery was likely, full use of his limbs might not be restored for six months.

In desperation, he began to pray aloud for God to heal him. While he was praying, his blood pressure returned to normal and his stroke symptoms abated. Another patient, after hearing his pleas for divine intervention, asked that he pray for her as well. He did, and her symptoms also abated.

To people of faith, such accounts, while encouraging, are not unusual. As a minister, I often hear similar testimonies of divine intervention on behalf of the sick. Indeed, recent studies suggest that even the medical community is beginning to realize the power of religious faith in healing the sick.

What is peculiar about this incident, however, is that the means of intercession was an prison inmate.

In a society where convicted criminals are viewed as”the scum of the earth,”the idea that God would answer their prayers is hard for many people to grasp. Yet the biblical record is replete with accounts of God’s compassion on all sinners, even adulterers, thieves, and murderers.

Why, then, does my friend’s testimony seem so strange? Perhaps it is because many Christians are more concerned with punishment than redemption; with political persuasion than spiritual renewal.

With the escalation in recent years of drug abuse, violent crime and other social dysfunctions, many people began longing for leaders who would advocate”get tough”criminal policies while simultaneously promoting high ethical standards.


Among Christian conservatives, this quest has often taken the form of well-meaning, but often misguided, attempts to impose biblically based morals on society by controlling the elective process. The logic behind this approach is that moral public officials will develop moral policies, thereby producing a moral culture.

Yet, after nearly two decades of wheeling and dealing, the church’s political operatives have done little to advance the witness of Jesus in society.

Why? Because they have failed to reach people’s hearts. They are so focused on winning elections that they forget about people’s souls. It is for this reason that the example provided by my inmate congregant is so important.

Long before he met me, he learned of his value to God, and of God’s willingness to forgive and transform even the worst of sinners.

Armed with this knowledge, he was able, through prayer, to facilitate healing in his life and the life of someone else. In so doing, he both touched the hearts and changed the minds of those who were around him.

Those of us outside of prison should have the same impact.

MJP END ATCHISON

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