Free Indeed

I've read and heard a handful of thoughts and stories about Chuck Colson since his death on Saturday.  But none of them has stuck with me like the story I first read more than 10 years ago.  I suppose part of the reason is because I love music, and I love hearing good stories behind the writing of good songs.  Here is the story that I read, written by Steven Curtis Chapman in Speechless: Living in Awe of God's Disruptive Grace. (pp. 111-115).  At the end of the story are the lyrics to and audio of Chapman's song Free.

I have had the privilege of meeting some extraordinary Christian leaders, but none has made a greater impression than Chuck Colson.  God brought us together, and it has been my honor to invest time and heart in the work of Prison Fellowship.  Chuck has enabled me to take my music into may prison facilities during the course of my concert tours--but that's the easiest thing he has done for me.

.....

It was a bright sunny day as I emptied my pockets before passing through the metal detectors.  No, I was not boarding a plane for yet another concert date.  I stood at the entrance to the Michigan City Correctional Institute, a maximum security prison in Northern Indiana.  I felt both excited and nervous as I anticipated visiting death row for the first time.  Every preconceived image of life within prison I had obtained from film, news clips, and a child's imagination ran through my mind.

"Steven!" I heard the ring of that familiar voice from across the room.

"Hi, Chuck, how are you?"  It still felt kind of strange calling this hero of the faith of mine by his first name, but it also felt reassuring to know I was with a friend.  He explained that prior to our worship service on the prison yard, we would be visiting inmates on death row, including one man who had become a Christian forty years earlier.  The ministry of Prison Fellowship had become a primary means of discipleship and nurture for him, even as Chuck had become one of his best friends.

I stayed close to my new buddy and mentor as he navigated our way through the series of iron-gated entries.  Each set of doors would electronically open and then close behind us before the next set would do the same.  What an eerie feeling.  Eventually we began our journey down the long hallway lined with cells inhabited by sons, fathers, and grandfathers who were paying the price for some terrible crime committed.

I watched my teacher intently as he offered grace to those we encountered.  Whether it was simply a smile, a word, a handshake through the bars and many times a prayer, Chuck was showing me what it means to treat all men with dignity and respect.  I'm not sure I have ever met anyone who can so freely love in the most difficult of situations a segment of society that appears to be so unlovable.

I tried to emulate him as I grew a little more confident.  I listened to the sad lament of a grandfather who showed me the pictures of his grandchildren whom he had wounded deeply with his tragic choices.  Together, Chuck and I prayed with one African-American brother who greeted us with a smile and a joy that could only be traced to the life-giving grace of God.  He, like many others, spoke with great remorse and sorrow for the lives of those affected most by the evil they had done, namely, the victims and their loved ones.  This brother went on to tell us how God had given him life and freedom even though he was deserving of death.  He told us how he had been and would continue to be praying for us as we carried the gospel to others inside the prison, as well as those outside the stone walls.  In some ways he seemed to be a whole lot more free in his prison cell than many of us who will never see the inside of such a person.

Our cell block walk culminated with a visit to Chuck's friend Bob (not his real name) inside a heavily secured room.  I would describe it as the equivalent of a large iron-caged room inside two other iron cages.  Bob was a large man, and when he shuffled into the room in shackles and handcuffs, I felt a surge of fear come over me.  However, as we all talked, I only saw the evidence of a man who had been changed from death to life.  I watched as Chuck and Bob embraced for the first time without handcuffs impeding their hug.  The three of us then wrapped arms around each other in a circle and thanked God for his love.  What else could level the ground in such a profound way that one of the great Christian leaders of our time, a death-row inmate, and a Christian songwriter could come together before the throne of the living God as brothers, one in Christ?

This first trip proved to be one of the most profound experiences of the awesome reality of God's grace I have ever encountered.  It also helped me further define the kind of men and women who I want to follow as they follow Christ.  The events of that day inspired me to write a song called "Free," which was included on my Signs of Life album.  Knowing Chuck and getting to visit many correctional institutions since that first visit only deepens my desire for God to free my heart to love all men as he loves me in his Son.

Free

The sun was beating down inside the walls of stone and razor wire
As we made our way across the prison yard
I felt my heart begin to race as we drew nearer to the place
Where they say that death is waiting in the dark
The slamming doors of iron echoed through the halls
Where despair holds life within its cruel claws
But then I met a man who's face seemed so strangely out of place
A blinding light of hope was shining in his eyes
And with repentance in his voice he told me of his tragic choice
That led him to this place where he must pay the price
But then his voice grew strong as he began to tell
About the One he said had rescued him from hell, he said...

I'm free, yeah, oh, I have been forgiven
God's love has taken off my chains and given me these wings
And I'm free, yeah, yeah, and the freedom I've been given
Is something that not even death can take away from me
Because I'm free
Jesus set me free

We said a prayed and said goodbye and tears began to fill my eyes
As I stepped back out into the blinding sun
And even as I drove away I found that I could not escape
The way he spoke of what the grace of God had done
I thought about how sin had sentenced us to die
And how God gave His only Son so you and I could say...

And if the Son has set you free,
Oh, if the Son has set you free
Then you are free indeed,
Oh, You are really free
If the Son has set you free,
Oh, if the Son has set you free
Then you are free, really, really free

Oh, we're free, yearh, oh, we have been forgiven
God's grace has broken every chain and given us these wings
And we're free, yeah, yeah, and the freedom we've been given
Is something that not even death can take from you and me
Because we're free, yeah, the freedom we've been given
Is something that not even death can take from you and me
Becayse we're free, oh, we're free
We are free, we are free
The Son has set us free

If the Son has set you free
You are free indeed