Prison Prosperity
Any background check for a prospective employee that
reveals the applicant has a prison record is in most cases a
showstopper. Former inmates are usually considered too much of a
risk for an employer to take. But from a biblical perspective,
prison time may well be a badge of honor.
Some of the Bible’s best have done prison time.
Joseph did a two-year stretch in Egypt for protecting his sexual
purity (Genesis 41:1). John the Baptist did prison time for a public
rebuke of an adulterous Herod (Mark 6:17). Samson did time in a
Philistine prison although it was an incarceration due to compromise
(Judges 16:21). It nevertheless became the venue for Nazarite-like
hair growth that prepared him to avenge his adversaries.
In Acts 16:19-25, Luke recorded another well-known
prison experience that Paul and Silas endured at the hands of
Philippian magistrates. They were accused by the masters of a former
soothsayer of exceedingly troubling the city by teaching “unlawful”
customs to Romans (legal issue). But the context reveals the
masters were motivated by a loss of soothsaying revenue (financial
issue). The old adage “follow the money” was as true then as it is
now. Once the multitude joined in the opposition, the magistrates
succumbed to public pressure, issued a command to beat them,
laid many stripes upon them, and cast them into prison
(16:22-23).
If the Philippi Times had covered this story,
a reporter might have informed readers that some troublemaking
vagabond preachers, scrounging day-to-day on freewill offerings and
pocket change, had suffered a potentially fatal setback. The fact is
Paul and Silas experienced prosperity in that prison far beyond the
reach of financial wizardry. No seven-digit bank balance can rival
the riches experienced by these servants of the most-high God. How
then shall we measure the prosperity of these dirt-poor itinerate
preachers?
First is the wealth in their identity. After
Pentecost, the apostles were beaten by the Jewish council for
preaching the gospel…but were not imprisoned. They departed from the
council “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame
for his name” (Acts 5:40-41). Paul and Silas no doubt reckoned
likewise. But this was no first for Paul. He was previously stoned
at Lystra, dragged from the city, and left for dead (Acts 14:19). He
concluded his Galatian epistle as follows: “I bear in my body the
marks of the Lord Jesus” (Galatians 6:17). These are the words
of a wealthy man who had jettisoned the “dung” of his Pharisaical
past to win Christ (Philippians 3:8).
Identification with Jesus in his sufferings is
priceless! The Jews crucified our Lord because his was a life of
perfect righteousness lived out in the midst spiritual and moral
defilement. Godliness is the time-tested path to persecution (2
Timothy 3:12). Godly men and women who endure persecution (without
regard for the degree to which the enemy dishes it out) are filling
their spiritual coffers with heavenly wealth.
In contrast to the Prosperity Gospel are these words:
“For unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to
believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake” (Philippians
1:29). Believing and suffering are intrinsic to a life of godliness.
Now, the Bible teaches us to sow financial seed with expectation of
a bountiful harvest. But it takes a lot more than a financial
windfall to seal an identity with Jesus of Nazareth. It is suffering
that seals the deal!
Secondly is the wealth in their liberty. At midnight
they prayed, and sang praises (16:25). Prayed
is a present participle, nominative case. Sang praises is the
imperfect of humnew, meaning “to sing a hymn (esp. Psalms).”
Expanded translation: “Paul and Silas, ones who were continuously in
prayer mode, kept on singing hymns up to and through the midnight
hour.” The result was Spirit-induced liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17).
The jailor who shackled them beheld two unshackled spirits, and in
short order inquired of them how this same liberty might be his. The
recent Tiger Woods scandal reminds us that a billion dollars in
career earnings has no liberating power whatsoever when it comes to
the shackles of carnal lust.
Thirdly is the wealth in their opportunity. Spiritual
liberty begets evangelistic opportunity. Thus “the prisoners
heard them” (16:25). Heard is the imperfect of
epakrouomai, meaning “to listen to.” An expanded translation:
“The prisoners kept on listening to what Paul and Silas kept on
praying and singing.” Jesus affirmed the worth of man when he asked:
“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). Believers who seize
opportunities to plant gospel seed in the ears of the lost are
handling priceless treasure. Luke is silent in terms of prisoners
saved, but tells us the jailor and his entire family believed
(16:34).
It occurs to me that an
absence of prayer and praise in this prison saga would have limited
the wealth of these men. Engaging in the same set the stage for a
spiritual windfall that led to the salvation of many and formed the
nucleus of the Philippian church—one that endeared itself to the
apostle throughout his ministry. God clearly reckons prosperity in a
manner the world cannot comprehend. May he grant to every one of us
the same prison prosperity in our identity, liberty and opportunity
as we seek to live our lives on the cutting edge of godliness!
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