A Biblical Response to Crime – Restitution
BY Rev. Andrew Chan, PBC, Vancouver, BC
June 2001
Text: Ex.22:1-15
My purpose today is to help you to understand that the Biblical principle of restitution. Today, we have increased prison population, that’s a fact and also the fact is - people reoffend once they are out. Is there another way to make some headway into crime and crime prevention? Are current methods really adequate to deal with such a massive problem,? What should Christian people like you and I think when it comes to these issues that society faces? How can you and I make a difference? If we start with praying, and we should, how can we even pray intelligently?
In an article called “Redeeming Prisoners” that appeared in CT mag.(March 1, 1999 Vol. 43, No. 3, Page 27)
, Steve Rabey reported:
Crime rates in the United States have been steadily falling this decade, but the declines have not slowed the growth of the nation’s prison population. Due in part to a wave of get-tough laws, many of them requiring longer sentences, almost 1.8 million Americans are incarcerated, giving the land of the free the second-highest confinement rate in the world behind only Russia.
No doubt the problems we have here in Canada are similar, given the fact that more and more public funds are being used to maintain and build prisons. I believe this has to be a concern among us evangelical Christians as we attempt to live out what it means to be ministers of reconciliation in a world that wants retribution. It is much easier (but it seems costlier) to just lock em up and throw away the key and forget about those convicted criminals. As Rabey further noted:
America’s punishment-heavy approach to crime carries a big price tag. State and federal governments, faced with prison overcrowding problems, are spending billions of dollars on new prison-construction projects, or on contracts with a growing industry of private "corrections" firms.
And many observers say the criminal- justice system exacts an even HIGHER SOCIAL COSTS. Studies have found that as many as 75 PERCENT of those released from jails or prisons will be back behind bars within four years, and in many cases, these men, women, and juveniles have neither the desire nor the ability to become productive members of society.
"Our current system of retributive justice is focused on who did what, and how much we are going to hurt them for doing it," says Emmett Solomon, a Southern Baptist from Huntsville, Texas, who has been working in prisons since 1956.
What needs to be seen here is current practices has very little redeeming value, and lacks any sense of reforming and helping prisoners. The Bible surely does not encourage us to merely lock em up and throw away the key. God’s Word say in Heb.13:1-3 (NLT):
Continue to love each other with true Christian love. 2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! 3 DON’T FORGET ABOUT THOSE IN PRISON. Suffer with them as though you were there yourself. Share the sorrow of those being mistreated, as though you feel their pain in your own bodies.
Andreas Havinga (posted June 4, 01 on CT website) also noted:
Prison chaplains from 30 countries have expressed "alarm at the continuing growth in prison populations in
many European countries." …The chaplains also urged everyone involved in criminal justice systems in the region to "examine anew the use of custody as a punishment."
Havinga also reported that:
According to United Kingdom Home Office figures reported in May, Portugal has the highest imprisonment rate within the European Union, jailing 142 people for each 100,000 inhabitants, followed by England and Wales which imprison 125 inmates for every 100,000 inhabitants. The European Union average is 87 prisoners per 100,000. In other regions the rate of imprisonment is much higher—in Russia 729 per 100,000, and in the United States 682 per 100,000.
Once again, we are faced with the fact that current approaches to crime are failing miserably! So let’s get back to the Bible and hear what God’s wise words can do to remedy our situation.
Text: Exodus 22:1-15 (NKJV)
1“If a man steals an ox or a sheep, and slaughters it or sells it, he shall RESTORE five oxen for an ox and four sheep for a sheep. 2“If the thief is found breaking in, and he is struck so that he dies, there shall be no guilt for his bloodshed. 3“If the sun has risen on him, there shall be guilt for his bloodshed. He should make FULL RESTITUTION; if he has nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft. 4“If the theft is certainly found alive in his hand, whether it is an ox or donkey or sheep, he shall RESTORE DOUBLE.
5“If a man causes a field or vineyard to be grazed, and lets loose his animal, and it feeds in another man’s field, he shall make RESTITUTION from the best of his own field and the best of his own vineyard.
6“If fire breaks out and catches in thorns, so that stacked grain, standing grain, or the field is consumed, he who kindled the fire shall surely make RESTITUTION.
7“If a man delivers to his neighbor money or articles to keep, and it is stolen out of the man’s house, if the thief is found, he shall PAY DOUBLE. 8“If the thief is not found, then the master of the house shall be brought to the judges to see whether he has put his hand into his neighbor’s goods.
9“For any kind of trespass, whether it concerns an ox, a donkey, a sheep, or clothing, or for any kind of lost thing which another claims to be his, the cause of both parties shall come before the judges; and whomever the judges condemn shall PAY DOUBLE to his neighbor. 10“If a man delivers to his neighbor a donkey, an ox, a sheep, or any animal to keep, and it dies, is hurt, or driven away, no one seeing it, 11“then an oath of the LORD shall be between them both, that he has not put his hand into his neighbor’s goods; and the owner of it shall accept that, and he shall not make it good. 12“But if, in fact, it is stolen from him, he shall make RESTITUTION to the owner of it. 13“If it is torn to pieces by a beast, then he shall bring it as evidence, and he shall not make good what was torn.
14“And if a man borrows anything from his neighbor, and it becomes injured or dies, the owner of it not being with it, he shall surely make it good. 15“If its owner was with it, he shall not make it good; if it was hired, it came for its hire.
The text speaks to a community of ex-slaves who knew nothing but oppression. They can’t go the way the pagan Egyptians go or model their freed up society with pagan laws. They needed to be taught how to function as a community of freed people and viewed by God as his special unique kingdom of priests and holy nation saved by His gracious and loving hand (read Ex.19:3-6). God specially cares for these people as He has carried them on eagle’s wings. Even before the law was given God reminds them it is all about relationship when they were rescued from Egypt and how they brought out to Himself, not just to a piece of real estate. So now God sets the law in Ex.21 “These are the laws you are to set before them…” dealing with things that will go wrong in a broken, imperfect society filled with sinful tendencies and worldly concern. The laws here reflect a concern of God in teaching a response of grace to an imperfect world. It is a lesson of how God’s people as sepcially loved chosen and treasured can begin to reflect His grace which they have already experienced in the Exodus experience. So the concern for social justice rises out from a theology of grace, not merely law!
In this Exodus text, the dominant theme is restitution (salam) - a recovery of equilibrium. It is simply stating individuals will prosper only by maintaining a stable communal quality of life. So we see restoration, we see relationships, renewal of hope, recovery of goods, which by far, is more palatable than just jail time and building more jails which the text as you note does not recommend. It is clear that the principle of restitution if heeded and lived out brings a much more personal approach reflecting God’s carrying His people on eagle’s wings . It reminds people that people (criminals and victims) have dignity made in the image of God. Victims are not just nameless people, but people who have property and needs protection and compensation. Lives of victims in the community are severely affected and changed and some form of help and support is needed. That they needed to be cared for is underscored, not just to give into retribution and revenge. Instead of locking away the prisoner and risk having him associating with more violent criminals, learning more criminal “skills” and becoming a “harder” person, we should heed the Bible’s wisdom. With restitution, criminals are helped to think further about the lives of their victims. A heart change is what is needed, not just a crack on their skulls. It takes courage also for the victim to face someone who has done harm.
That there is crime - speaks of humanity’s bankruptcy. It definitely shouts out the fact we live in a broken world, where people are not valued as highly as God values people. That folks are hurting each other, through violent and even “non-violent” (but every act that is selfish and done not in love is violence against people, shows independence from God rather than dependence) means. That everyday in our world countless acts of inhumanity speaks volumes regarding how people are being devalued and depersonalized. If people truly love people perfectly like God does, as the Apostle Paul in Rom.13:9-10 noted:
9 For the commandments against adultery and murder and stealing and coveting—and any other commandment—are all summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 LOVE DOES NO WRONG TO ANYONE, so love satisfies all of God’s requirements.
… then we won’t need to talk further. However this is not the case. The Bible is not going to some fairy tale land and say that crime and sin is an illusion conjured up by uptight moralists. The reason this world is hurting big time is due to the fact we all like sheep have gone astray and have turned to our own ways and are heading to oblivion (Is.53:6). It is time to recognize that after centuries of human government, the problem of crime still has not been fixed, and what else can be done? Prisons are exploding and on a recent newscast on TV even the Canadian govt is thinking of hiring the private prison system which is now at work in the USA due to the high cost of public institutions. But nightmare scenarios have occurred in that system too, as the investigative journalists discovered. SO…It is time to open up the eyes to see that no human solution, though we have been enlightened and appear wiser and not as barbaric as before, has been able to curb the desire to rebel against law and order (Col.2:21-23). Paul says “they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.”
Once again let me remind you of this, as written by www.Justicefellowship.org website “Conventional thinking about America’s criminal justice system isn’t working:
Over 2 million Americans are in prison, the highest incarceration rate in our history.
Taxpayers pay as much as $30,000 per year to put one inmate in prison - the same amount it takes to send a student to an Ivy League college.
Because judges are often bound by mandatory sentence guidelines, non-violent offenders are sent to prison where they often become worse criminals than before.
We need to rethink our approach to crime and punishment.”
There is a better way that is working in communities nationwide -- Restorative Justice or the principle of restitution and it is what the Bible teaches…
Oh we need to come back to the value that God has placed in humanity, i.e. people are made in His image. Therefore they have dignity that is far beyond any other creature in this world. They are such worthwhile creatures of His that Christ would voluntarily lay down His life for them and called them “friends”. That He would even wash their feet and say go and do the same type service Christ died to redeem and save humanity and also place His Spirit in them. That there is a God that loves sinful people who look to Him for their salvation and redemption.
So in 1 Tim.1:5-11 (NLT) Paul understands that part of the reason he has to write down and teach his new converts to Christ is to move them beyond the written law into the arms of the love of God:
5 The purpose of my instruction is that all the Christians there would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and sincere faith.
6 But some teachers have missed this whole point. They have turned away from these things and spend their time arguing and talking foolishness. 7 They want to be known as teachers of the law of Moses, but they don’t know what they are talking about, even though they seem so confident. 8 We know these laws are good WHEN THEY ARE USED AS GOD INTENDED. 9 But they were not made for people who do what is right. They are for people who are disobedient and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who murder their father or mother or other people. 10 These laws are for people who are sexually immoral, for homosexuals and slave traders, for liars and oath breakers, and for those who do anything else that contradicts the right teaching 11 that comes from the glorious Good News entrusted to me by our blessed God.
We need to get to the law as God intended for the law to used. Law was not meant for us who are in Christ but for those who are in sin. Biblical principle of resitution is there because there is sin and victims and perpetrators of sin need solution. And God’s law provides it. These laws also tells us the heavy price of sin, it reminds us finally that Christ did pay the ultimate price so that whole world is reconciled. The theme of restitution comes under the redemptive idea of reconciliation.
According to Rabey, there appears to be a shift from some quarters of Christian thinking from REVENGE TO RECONCILIATION:
For most of American history, Christians have helped articulate a philosophy of corrections that advocates the moral reformation of offenders. But that approach has largely been abandoned in the latter third of the twentieth century as voters often approve measures to keep offenders locked up longer.
"Americans are lied to by politicians every four years, and this affects the way prisons are run in our country," says Jeff Park, executive director of the 18-year-old Coalition of Prison Evangelists (COPE) in Charlotte, North Carolina, which now has 600 ministry members. "Politicians know absolutely that treatment is more effective and more cost-effective than punishment, but harsh sentences get votes."
Solomon, who founded the Restorative Justice Ministry Network last year, says theology plays a major role in views on criminal justice. "We have so stressed holy living that we’re mad at anybody who doesn’t live up to that," he says. "The back side of this emphasis on holy living is a lack of forgiveness."
Motion pictures such as Dead Man Walking (CT, April 8, 1996, p. 93) and individual cases such as that of Karla Faye Tucker (CT, April 6, 1998, p. 19) have aroused more compassionate responses, but evangelicals have traditionally been among those favoring get-tough approaches.
That may be changing, according to Ron Rosenberger, director of conferences for Justice Fellowship, a 15-year-old affiliate of Charles Colson’s Prison Fellowship. "Rather than being primarily about punishment or retribution or vengeance, restorative justice is primarily about healing the damage done by the crime," he says.
So far, more than 300 communities have instituted restorative approaches, which force criminals to see the real-life human victims of their crimes and work toward restitution and reconciliation. Rosenberger admits that the approach is counterintuitive to the ways evangelicals have traditionally approached criminal justice, but says the approach "helps us get back to our biblical roots."
NEW MINISTRY METHODS: Prison ministers also have been placing greater emphasis on "aftercare," which involves helping ex-offenders become reintegrated into communities and churches. "In the past, Christians have been good at going into prisons, giving people the gospel, and leading them to Christ," says Dave Haidle, interim coordinator of the Institute for Prison Ministry at the Billy Graham School of Evangelism. "But when these people were released, it was as if they dropped off the face of the earth, and often we’d see them back in prison again."
COPE’s Park agrees. "The most significant trend I see is a movement from in-prison church services toward building relationships and being good stewards of the relationships that are built."
Solomon says these new forms of ministry will require committed volunteers who can befriend, mentor, and teach prisoners, adding love and nurture to the prison’s rigid discipline. "This is a large mission field," he says, "and it deserves from the church anything any mission field does."
Tough part for the church today is the hard work of actually getting personally involved. Of course we cannot go back to OT ways, we live in a democracy not a theocracy. But the biblical principle of resitution is still sound and offers us a way to think through our failing justice system. Let me challenge you to support these newer efforts, that are brought about as people return to God’s way, led by Jesus’ redemptive example to bring back some sanity in the criminal justice system. Will you…
1. Pray for change in attitudes of society to a more productive and wiser approach that is totally biblical.
2. Provide support for those have spiritual gifts of faith and help as they help the rest of the body to care for victims and offenders in spirit of principle of restitution.
3. Pen some letters to government applauding such movements.
4. Pray for healing and courage for victims of crime to face those who brought harm to them
5. Pray for churches to lead the way to look after victims of crime, that they’ll be cared for.
6. Pray for redemption of those in prisons, that those who suffer now under retributive system will be given hope and experience the Good News of Christ… that there is forgiveness and healing!
7. Pray that we will find ways for after-care to happen for ex-prisoners to help towards restoration healing and walk towards reconciliation via the principle of restitution.
8. Pray that the Lord will raise workers in this harvest field that can intelligently move society towards this principle of restitution… apparently I have heard Muslim prisoners in Europe ask for Christian chaplains because they sense grace at work through them. It has evangelistic value!
9. Push yourself to study more, read more, gain more ground and not just dismiss it as government policy.
10. Participate wherever possible, volunteer, offering your voice to support ministries such as Colson’s Prison Fellowship and Justice Fellowship Ministries.
11. Change your mind re: punishment. It must be reformed so that biblical grace can somehow be offered!
Note that a lot of the above is about prayer… shows that we are dependent on God for change in attitudes of hearts of people towards restoration/restitution not just retribution. We also recognize the struggle here is not against people but as Eph.6:12 (NLT) reminds us “For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.”
It is a spiritual battle! No society is ever changed without the people first being changed in depending on God to pull things together. Finally, "Restorative justice does not aim at punishability, but at restoring the sense of community after a crime [has taken place], hence the name," as one supporter of the biblical principle of restitution explained. "It has more to do with healing and making communal life possible again."
This biblical principle of restitution also has a way of teaching us to become reconcilers (2 Cor.5:16-20)and be involved in community rather than a lone ranger existence. Blessed are the peacemakers! This will speak of our discipleship in our personal lives, not just go for broke and rely on retribution/revenge style justice. The repairing of relationships over against personal/private interests goes a long way in creating a safer more equitable society. May God use this to teach us to walk humbly before Him.
