CHUCK COLSON A Prisoner Redeemed
UNTIL THE AGE OF 42, Chuck Colson was a man driven by success, willing to do almost anything to achieve his goals. He served in the military, built a career as a respected lawyer, and rose to power as a special counsel to the president of the United States under Richard Nixon. But like all of us, Colson was a broken and sinful man.
Colson was indicted for his part in the infamous Watergate political scandal. While awaiting trial in 1974, a friend gave him a copy of Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis. When Colson accepted Christ, his conversion was ridiculed by major American newspapers and magazines as a ploy for a light prison sentence. After his release in 1975, he continued to live as a changed man, founding Prison Fellowship, the largest outreach to incarcerated people throughout the world. Chuck Colson spent the remainder of his life as a humble servant of Christ, helping prisoners and advocating for the weak and marginalized wherever he found them.
When God changes our hearts, we are able to love him and then live so that future generations are impacted
Colson not only provided a powerful example of life change but also of living out one’s faith in Christ. When we recognize our weaknesses and begin to rely on Christ’s strength instead of our own, God can redeem our past in ways we could never imagine. God assures us that he wants to use every part of our lives, especially our weaknesses, for his glory (2 Cor 12:9). When God changes our hearts we are able to love him and then live so that future generations are impacted (Deut 30:6).
Colson was quick to point out that he learned much more through his suffering than through his earthly successes. In fact, he often acknowledged that he learned some of life’s most important lessons from his grandson Max, who lives with autism. Max helped his grandfather become more humble, more trusting in the goodness of God to save. The final years of Colson’s life, as a child of God, serving and loving his Savior, were a testament to God’s redeeming grace.