Remembering Chuck Colson (1931-2012)

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" - 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV)

Saturday was marked by the passing of another influential Christian leader and a true example of the life-changing grace of Jesus Christ, Chuck Colson.

Colson, who was 80 after he died three weeks after suffering a brain hemorrhage, was notable as the "hatchet man" for former President Nixon during the Watergate scandal during the early 1970s. In fact, CNN.com's story on him led with his being notable for that role (with all of the hate from readers following in the comments).

However, what is truly remarkable about the life of Chuck Colson is what he did after he served seven months in prison for his role in Watergate, as he described in his testimony that he presented at Columbia University in 2008. He became an advocate for prison reform and a leader in the evangelical movement in the United States during the last 35 years of his life. Christianity Today quoted Jonathan Aitken, who wrote a noted biography of Colson in 2005, as saying Colson was "America's best-known Christian leader after Billy Graham."

Colson is a great example of the life-changing power of Jesus Christ in a person's life. He was a man who admitted to not caring about faith, only about power, during the first half of his life and wound up paying a dear price for it by going to prison. However, through Christ, he changed his ways, and for the rest of his life, worked hard to change things for the better, whether it was helping prisoners through his organization, Prison Fellowship, encouraging Christians to become better volunteers in their communities, working to bridge the gap between evangelicals and Catholics, and advising former President George W. Bush on issues ranging from the war in Sudan to AIDS in Africa to human rights.

In short, that is the power of Christ, and like it did for the noted persecutor Apostle Paul in the Bible (see Acts 9:1-19) and Colson, it can change your life as well.

Free to think in Christ

"Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." - Acts 17:11 (NIV)

A friend of mine recently posted this photo on Facebook, commenting that this was a bogus thing to say. I have heard others in the past comment on this teaching, saying this translates into meaning Christian believers should be mindless robots who cannot think for themselves.

For the record, the Bible is completely against this kind of statement.

 

Isaiah recorded that God told him, "Come now, and let us reason together" (Isaiah 1:18) even as the nation of Israel was rebelling against Him. Proverbs 15:22 says, "Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed." (In other words, talk and think things through). And 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." In other words, know the Word of God and how to use it. In addition, 1 Thessalonians 5:21 says, "Test everything. Hold on to the good."

The Bible does allow us to think, contrary to popular opinion. As noted in the verse from Acts at the beginning of this note, the Bereans were noted as having "more noble character" than their neighbors, the Thessalonians because of their eagerness in reaching the teaching on Christ from the Apostle Paul. However, they were noteworthy because they looked at the Scriptures themselves.

 

In other words, they didn't take what Paul was teaching them at face value, as has been the mistake of far too many Christians in the past and in today's church. They looked at the Word of God, testing Paul on what He said. If what Paul was teaching them was not from God, then it would have been revealed to them from Scripture.

 

We can have that same reasoning, because God not only gave us all brains, but He allows us to use them as well, all for His glory (Colossians 3:17). That is true freedom.