Spiritual Survival Guide
5: Complicated Stuff
wanting to find out what’s causing you to be sick—you want to know what the problem is. God showed me what the problem was all along. It’s not too late! “Seek the Lord while he may be found, call on him while he is near” (Isaiah 55:6). God says, “I know the thoughts I think toward you . . . thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you future and a hope” (Jeremiah 29:11).
Like Melvin, Jacques spoke at length about gangs and God.
I was second seed to the top of leadership in one of the largest Latino street gangs in the city of Chicago. A lot of my life was spent on the streets, and it’s a lifestyle. So, once I got here, my Lord knew that this is where he would get my attention. And believe me, he tried for many years! He started by removing me out of the gang, and removing the gang lifestyle out of me. The first thing he told me was the “Par- able of the Unjust Steward” (check out Luke 16) with the line, “No servant can serve two masters.” In other words, I couldn’t continue to serve the gang and him. Both the Christians and the gangs emphasize unity and profess love. Gang love is not authentic, though. Christians reach out to people with love; gangs control people with debt. They won’t suf- fer for you the way Christians will. Let people know what happens when you join a gang, and we’ll see how many people join then. Gangs prey on the young; nine times out of ten young people in the city are looking for someone to love them. Gangs teach young people to trust your gang and no one else. I greeted some new inmates, calling them “broth- ers”; neighboring gang leaders tried to stop me from calling them that. The gangs want to tell you who you can call brother. I would tell a young man being tempted by gangs, “Let’s move me, you, and gangs out of the way and move God to the front!” More than likely, that’s the reason most of us are in prison in the first place: we are always putting someone or something before God in our lives.
Think About It. Talk About It.
1. Have you ever been involved with a gang? If not, why not? If so, what do you think you were looking for from the gang?
2. Jacques talks about how he was struck by Jesus saying that no man can serve two masters. For him that meant that you can’t serve both God and the gang. Do you agree? Why? 3. Many of the guys talk about how the gang brought them more grief than good, and that it took more than it gave. Do you think that’s true?
4. How do you think God feels about gangs?
5. Do you agree that it takes courage to be a Christian and say no to the gang? Who could support you in that move?
Maintaining (or Regaining) a Meaningful Relationship with Your Family
One of the earliest and best pieces of advice we got about this Spiritual Survival Guide came from an inmate named Dan.
The gang was my downfall. It’s like being sick all the time and
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