Freedom for the prisoner

First words with Gordon Allan

As someone born in Scotland to parents who were married in an Elim church, I count it a great privilege to lead our church in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city. On my commute to and from the church building, there’s a moment when I turn a corner and the iconic sight of Edinburgh Castle fills my view. On the return journey, at that same corner, I catch a glimpse of the Forth Road Bridge in the distance.

Another, slightly less iconic but equally well-known building near where I live is Saughton Prison – or HMP Edinburgh, to give it its full title. There have been occasions when I’ve found myself inside ‘The Big House’, but only as a visitor – honest! Even though you’re innocent and visiting to offer pastoral care, there’s still something unnerving about emptying your pockets and hearing a series of doors clang shut behind you as you move deeper into the prison, stripped of keys, cash, or even the ability to call for help. You’re totally at the mercy of the one who holds the key. You’re not a prisoner, but it certainly can feel like it!

I also read recently that there is talk of Alcatraz Prison in California being recommissioned and ‘open for business’ once again. Alcatraz is one of the most famous prisons in history – few have escaped, though many have tried. Films have been made about it, and ‘The Rock’ has been the backdrop to movies and video games.

I’ve visited the Bay Area of San Francisco and taken the 2.2-mile boat trip out to Alcatraz Island. The prison is much further from the shore than you might think; freedom seems very far away. It’s a solitary, eerily quiet and desolate place. It doesn’t take much imagination to picture the squalid conditions and harsh regime the inmates had to endure. Alcatraz presents a brutally challenging environment: basic amenities, shark-infested waters, a strong tide, and – most significantly – a complete loss of liberty. A day trip was quite enough for me, thank you very much!

But this recent story about ‘The Rock’ and the idea of occupying old prisons got me thinking: how many people recommission the old prisons of their own lives? How many return to the very things that once held them captive – whether for a ‘day visit’ or to settle back into familiar surroundings?

Prisons can take many forms. They might be recurring patterns of behaviour, deep-rooted shame, trauma, or the deceptive ‘comfort’ of a past sinful lifestyle – things that draw people back into becoming prisoners of their past. A prison can be anything that denies you freedom, liberty and the abundant life Jesus offers in John 10:10.

King Jesus came to bring “freedom for the prisoner” (Luke 4:18), offering the adventure of losing your life in order to find it in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 16:25). The apostle Paul invites us to embrace a Kingdom reality: to live as a “new creation”, where the old has truly gone and the new has truly come (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Book of Revelation even describes Jesus as “the one who holds the keys of death and life” (Revelation 1:18). What a joy it is to live for the One who holds the keys and is full of mercy.

Our nation needs to encounter followers of Jesus who truly live in the forgiveness and freedom that our Saviour won on the cross – where the prisons of our past stand only as testimony to the transforming power of Christ. There’s something deeply compelling about living in, and living out of, an authentic experience of freedom in Christ – and then inviting others to do the same.

Enjoy that freedom in your life today!

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.