Timothy Abbey
Chaplain at Kirkconnell Correctional Centre
Lots of inmates have little or no initial knowledge of the Bible. On top of that, many also have limited literacy. So coming at them with a massive book like the Bible can be a daunting task when you’re wanting to keep it as accessible as possible for them.
And yet, it is of course still God’s Word there for all, 100%.
Whilst we need to be intelligent about how we present it so people of all sorts might understand it, we also don’t need to be “hesitant” to “preach anything that would be helpful” as the Apostle Paul put it to the Ephesians (Acts 20:20). Bear in mind Paul said that to a mixed audience of those who had a lot of prerequisite knowledge (Jews) and to those who had little (Gentiles). It’s why he could continue… “I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God.” (Acts 20:27)
It’s one of the great joys I have encountered over the past 9 years as a Prison Chaplain that many inmates with virtually no Biblical background or literacy skills can still ‘get’ God’s Word.
This was especially on display recently when we read the Old Testament book of Zechariah at Group Bible Discussion over 8 weeks.
I must admit I was nervous at the start – maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew here with this largely apocalyptic book of prophecy. But I pressed on given what I have just written. And these guys are going to come across these kinds of books sooner or later anyway – best to give them at least some heads up.
It took some careful thought and explaining key things to bear in mind when anyone reads apocalyptic books in the Bible like this. But once they understood how it’s the meaning of the powerful images that matters, not so much the mechanics of them which are literally way out of this world, like how 4 horses are described as travelling across the whole world in Zechariah 6 – that is normally obviously out of the question, even as they quipped that one was red and therefore could go faster! But they could make the connection that it’s really conveying how God is in control of the whole world and is achieving His purposes, how it all just drives us to Jesus, how he is the key to a new Heaven and Earth, that he is the King riding in on a donkey to bring real peace (Zechariah 9), gathering those scattered (Zechariah 13) – something inmates can tangibly understand, winning the victory that counts as Zechariah ends, so we can just be with God.
“It takes a lot of pressure off when we remember how the Holy Spirit is obviously capable of convicting the heart of anyone.”
We don’t need to dumb down the Bible. If an inmate is hungry for truth, they will want to get to the bottom of it. They deal with amazing complexity in their hobbies, work and crimes. They can watch complex movies. We need to make the Bible simple to understand, not simplistic.
It takes a lot of pressure off when we remember how the Holy Spirit is obviously capable of convicting the heart of anyone. Again, no blank cheque to be lazy and not think about how to communicate the message and where our audience is at like Paul urged the Corinthians to think about with the “outsider” (ironically where we get our word for idiot from with the Greek Paul used in 1 Corinthians 14:23-25). Zechariah is not the normal starting point! Books like the Gospels own that space. But by the same token, we too can proclaim the whole will of God with confidence, even in gaol.
