Chuck Colson

. . . Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy 

We have often reflected on the Apostle Paul's "former life" where he persecuted Christians, hauling them into prison, inflicting punishment, and killing them.  Then, for the rest of his life, after his conversion to Christ, he laid down his life many times over, serving the very people he once persecuted.  His entire post-conversion life became a trophy to God's mercy and glory.

In our day, Chuck Colson--who died after a brief illness over the weekend--showed the same pattern.  Once a hard-nosed criminal political enforcer, he was confronted by the risen Lord Jesus Christ.  Thereafter his life was lived serving the very people he once despised.  Paul's particular sphere of service was the Gentiles.  Colson's was to inmates, prisoners.  He, like Paul, has been a trophy of God's mercy and glory.  We thank God for Chuck Colson.

In this obituary, we present some brief comments from national political leaders in the United States, together with reflections from one of the most widely read columnists in the US.

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio: "Chuck Colson lived an extraordinary life. He was a man who experienced tremendous lows yet went on to spark a movement of ideas and people focused on spiritual transformation."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.: "For nearly four decades, Chuck Colson's life and example have been a constant and necessary reminder to those of us in and out of public office of the seductions of power and the rewards of service. His famous redemption story and tireless advocacy on behalf of the marginalized and the outcast have called all of us to a deeper reflection on our lives and priorities. He lives on as a modern model of redemption and a permanent rebuttal to the cynical claim that there are no second chances in life."

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney: "Chuck Colson embodied and made possible an immeasurable amount of good in the lives of the people, families and communities he served in bringing a message of faith and hope."

Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum: "Chuck was a patriot, who loved his country and loved serving his God, and we are all a little better off for having known him."

U.S. Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.: "Having been given a second chance, Chuck Colson devoted his life to carrying the Christian message of second chances to those in prison, and he saw countless lives changed by his compassion and example."

Michael Cromartie, Vice President of the Ethics and Public Policy Center: "He played political hardball for keeps. He was ruthless. He wanted to win at all costs and he had a reputation as a person who wanted to win at all costs ... I think if he's going to be remembered for anything, he's going to be remembered as a person who had a complete turnaround in his life."

And this, from Cal Thomas:

Remembering Charles 'Chuck' Colson

By Cal Thomas

Published April 21, 2012

Fox News One of my prized possessions is a hand-written letter Charles Colson wrote me in 1974 when he was a prisoner at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. Colson, the Nixon administration’s “hatchet man” who was inaccurately quoted as saying he would “run over my own grandmother for Richard Nixon” had plead guilty to a charge of obstruction of justice for attempting to defame Dr. Daniel Ellsberg, the defendant in the Pentagon Papers affair.

Many cynics questioned Colson’s sincerity when he announced he had accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, but in his letter to me, he sounded humble and sincere -- two qualities absent from much of the Nixon administration hierarchy.

Before going to prison, Colson joined a small Bible study that included liberal Democratic Senator Harold Hughes of Iowa. Hughes had run for president in 1972. A  burly man, Hughes resembled a truck driver. He opposed everything the Nixon people stood for, but he said if Colson claimed to be a Christian, that was “good enough for me” and embraced him, literally and figuratively.

Colson was released early from prison because of some problems with his son and because former Minnesota Governor Al Quie offered to serve out the rest of his term for him so he could address those problems.

Apparently Quie found a precedent in an old law that permitted under certain circumstances, an innocent person to take the place of a guilty person and pay the rest of his penalty. Quie never had to go to prison, but his offer of personal sacrifice remind one of that central Christian message: an innocent man lays down his life for a guilty man.

In 1975, I was working as a TV reporter in Houston, Texas.  Colson came to our home, along with his travelling companion, the late Fred Rhodes, a retired high official (I forget his position) in the Federal government. We had a wonderful evening together as Colson had been out sharing his faith at a local church and talking about his new interest, the creation of Prison Fellowship, a non-profit organization that recruits local people to go into state and federal prisons, sharing the Gospel and conducting Bible studies.

Over the years, figures have shown that the recidivism rate among ex-convicts who have “graduated” from Prison Fellowship’s in-prison program is substantially less than secular and every other attempt to “reform” inmates.  Even some hardened media critics came to accept Colson’s conversion as real and sincere. His works spoke for themselves and could not be denied.

On one Easter Sunday several years ago, Chuck invited me to go along with him to a particularly hard prison in Virginia. We visited inmates on death row, as well as the general prison population. I could tell that the inmates identified with Colson because he had been where they were, much like the visit of Johnny Cash to Folsom Prison many years earlier.

Even non-Christians love conversion stories. There is nothing quite like a redeemed life.  The Apostle Paul, one of Colson’s role models, persecuted the church before his famous conversion “on the road to Damascus.” Church “testimonials” have brought tears to many eyes. And Colson’s conversion brought not only tears to many, but as the “least likely” -- short of the president -- to find faith in that administration (some others did later), Colson’s transformation also caused a lot of jaws to drop.

Near the end of his life, Colson felt a compelling need to teach fellow Christians about what he called a “biblical worldview.” He believed that too many were being influenced by the world and its attitudes and that people who follow Jesus need to think as He did and be “transformed by the renewing of their minds.”
Colson’s great legacy isn’t Watergate. It is Prison Fellowship. It is one of those works that while founded by a personality is sufficiently strong to endure without his presence.

Combined with his faithfulness to his wife, Patty, and the example he has left to his children and grandchildren and the readers of his many books and listeners to his radio commentary “Breakpoint,” what better legacy could one leave?

Cal Thomas is America's most widely syndicated newspaper columnist and a Fox News contributor.