Dinosaurs in the Dungeon

Sometimes they call me the science lady or the dinosaur lady. I’m sure they’ve never been to a Bible study quite like mine. I doubt there are many chaplains who talk about dinosaurs and fossils and rock layers! There are many times I question whether it is really important to bring evidence-based teaching to the women in the jail. It seems like I should just bring love and grace! They are in such great need of both. But I constantly need to remind myself of the call God placed on my life to help restore the authority of his Word, to help dispel the myth-like qualities that have been put on the Christian faith—the “Santa Claus effect” as I call it—and to replace them with solid truth and a firm foundation. There are times when I question, and then there are times I am affirmed. On more than one occasion, it became clear that a little hard evidence could make all the difference. Dinosaurs in the dungeon (a little evidence behind bars) could dispel darkness after all!

“It Would Mean Everything!”

On one occasion, several women had decided to come see what the dinosaur lady had to say. This time, I believe we were addressing the reliability of the New Testament—the fact that there are nearly 25,000 manuscripts, found as early as within 40 years of Jesus’ death (well within the eyewitness period), found in abundance in every century since, and copied with 99.8% accuracy all the way up to the time of the printing press. Not too shabby, eh?!  It’s the best manuscript evidence for any writing of antiquity—BY FAR!—and with archaeological evidence to back it up. So, it was in the aftermath of bar graphs and a nearly cold-case style investigation of the evidence for the authenticity of the New Testament that I posed a simple question: “If we can trust the Bible and God’s promises, how would your life be different?” It was then I heard a nearly inaudible response from the woman who had been sitting quietly to my left the whole time. With tears rolling down her cheeks, she said, “It would mean everything! I would need to start living my life for him. I would need to be sure my kiddos knew about God.” It was one of the most honest confessions of faith—and its implications—that I had ever heard.

She went on to share that in the absence of a responsible mother in her life, her grandmother had been the one to take her to church. When she lost her grandma at the age of nine, she started to question God and slide away from the faith. It was an inexorable descent to the place she currently found herself—incarcerated, separated from her own children, unwittingly following in the steps of a mother she had not intended to emulate. I asked if it was that she had become angry with God or if it was just that she no longer had a spiritual leader in her life. She felt it was likely a combination of both. But on that day, in the aftermath of bar graphs and a cold-case style investigation, she inadvertently discovered what I had desired to bring in the first place—love and grace! She discovered she could believe in God and she could trust his Word. She discovered that the promises found there were for her and for her children. That they themselves could become children of God and heirs to his kingdom. That day, I was A-OK with being “the dinosaur lady”! May we continue to proclaim the truth boldly—in love!

The Revolving Door

As I continued to go into the jail, I began to realize a sad truth. These sliding doors were also revolving doors. The gals would come in, and they would go out . . . and they would come back in again. As it turns out, sanctification often comes slowly. For many and varied reasons, I would see familiar faces returning to our weekly study. Even as I found myself beginning to judge them, I had to take an honest inventory of my own faith journey. How many times did I slip back into old habits, old ways? In fact, I had one foot on the slippery slope in that moment, thinking somehow that I was better than them. Even Paul himself bemoaned, “For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing” (Romans 7:19 NIV). Sanctification often does, indeed, come slowly. It was just easier to point fingers at them since my sins of judgment and self-righteousness didn’t put me behind bars.

Facts & Evidence

On another occasion, there was a woman I had met some months before. She had been attending weekly and growing in her faith prior to her release. Yet on the outside, she had slipped down the slope and back through that revolving door. So, she was back in the jail—but also back in the Bible! She wanted to share with the group what it had meant for her to come to know about Jesus and the Bible. She said that, growing up, her favorite teacher had been a science teacher. “She got me,” she shared. “She said that she didn’t believe there was a god because she was a scientist and she needed facts, evidence. And so, I stopped believing.”

But then she went on to share how she had wound up in the jail and at my Bible study. She could hardly believe it! Here, in a Bible study, was a lady that was a scientist who was providing facts and evidence! Little by little, the evidence won her back to trusting and believing that there is, indeed, a God. And even though she had slipped off track and found herself in jail again, she also found it a time to refocus on God and his will for her life.

Beyond what the facts and evidence could reveal, she had discovered so much more about faith. She had found a joy that transcended her circumstances. She had such a desire to share Jesus with others. She was praying for her siblings. She was sharing with her cellmates. She had her hope restored. We are all on our own journey of faith. Our sins may look different, but we all still have much to learn. We trust the good Lord to complete the good work he has begun in her . . . and in us!

“So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and

God-fearing Greeks, as well as in the marketplace

day by day with those who happened to be there.”

Acts 17:17 NIV

“Tell it to your children, and let your children tell it to

their children, and their children to the next generation.”

Joel 1:3 NIV

“As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on

three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,”

Acts 17:2 NIV

“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than

those in Thessalonica, 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

“…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to

completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 1:6b NIV