What Repentance Looks Like

In an earlier post I discussed the society’s difficulty in acknowledging sin.  We know that sin separates us from God, and that in order to restore fellowship with Him, we need to acknowledge our sin, and repent of it.  But too often, just acknowledging sin is a bridge too far. We speak of “mistakes,” not sin, and frequently use the passive voice –“Mistakes were made,” as if we had no agency in these mistakes.  This was not the case of the people of the Bible.  In the Book of 2 Kings (22:1—23:25) we read that King Josiah of Judah decided to repair the temple, and in the process, the High priest discovers a lost book of the Bible, presumably Deuteronomy.  When they read the portion that describes the blessings that obedience will bring as well as the curses that are the result of disobedience, Josiah tore his robes, and immediately set out to purge the land of the idol worship that was so pervasive.

One hundred and sixty years later, after the sack of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and the exile of all of Judah’s nobility, Ezra leads a group which returns to rebuild the temple.  He is told that many of the leaders of the people have intermarried with the neighboring women, even though God had commanded them to separate themselves.  In fact, throughout Israel’s history, intermarriage led to idolatry as the men were seduced not just by foreign women but also by their religions. 

What does Ezra do?  First he tears his tunic and cloak, pulls hair from his head and beard and sits down appalled. Then he prays:

“I am too ashamed and disgraced, my God, to lift up my face to you, because our sins are higher than our heads and our guilt has reached to the heavens. From the days of our ancestors until now, our guilt has been great. Because of our sins, we and our kings and our priests have been subjected to the sword and captivity, to pillage and humiliation at the hand of foreign kings, as it is today.” (Ezra 9:6-7)

Then, While Ezra was praying and confessing, weeping and throwing himself down before the house of God, a large crowd of Israelites—men, women and children—gathered around him. They too wept bitterly. One said, “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women from the peoples around us. But in spite of this, there is still hope for Israel.  Now let us make a covenant before our God to send away all these women and their children, in accordance with the counsel of my lord and of those who fear the commands of our God. Let it be done according to the Law.  Rise up; this matter is in your hands. We will support you, so take courage and do it.” (Ezra 10:1-4)

True repentance requires three acts: 1) an acknowledgement of one’s sins, 2) a deep regret for having committed these sins, and 3) a turning away from sin and towards doing right.  As Paul says in his second letter to the Corinthians: “See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.” (2 Corinthians 7:11).   

Chuck Colson was known as Richard Nixon’s “evil genius.” He wrote that he was “valuable to the President … because I was willing … to be ruthless in getting things done”. Richard Nixon’s White House Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman described Colson as the president’s “hit man.” He went to prison guilty of obstruction of justice in trying to defame Daniel Ellsberg, of pentagon Papers fame (or notoriety).  As his obituary in the NY Times states:

In 1973, while looking for work after leaving the White House and fearing that he was going to wind up in jail, Mr. Colson got into his car and found himself in the grip of the spiritual crisis that led to his conversion. “This so-called White House hatchet man, ex-Marine captain, was crying too hard to get the keys into the ignition,” he remembered. “I sat there for a long time that night deeply convicted of my own sin.”

Following his repentance and conversion, Colson dedicated the rest of his life to serving his fellow man and strengthening the intellectual base of Christian apologetics. He founded the non-profit ministry Prison Fellowship and, three years later, Prison Fellowship International.  Today, nine years after his death, Prison Fellowship is active in all 50 states, with programs impacting more than 1,000 prisons. Prison Fellowship programming reaches more than 365,000 incarcerated men and women each year.

Colson also focused on teaching and training around the world, establishing the Colson Center, which is dedicated to bringing clarity and equipping ordinary people to be agents of God’s restoration. He was also a public speaker and the author of more than 30 books. Until the day he died (indeed after his death) Chuck Colson was producing fruit worthy of repentance.