Prison Ministry
Audio |
Archpriest Alexander Yesenin, rector of the church in the name of the icon “Unexpected Joy”, head of the department of prison ministry of the Yekaterinburg diocese, answers questions from viewers.
Broadcast from Yekaterinburg. – It just so happens that for many centuries in Russia there has been a good tradition of spiritual care for prisoners in prison. When the atheists came to power, this tradition was temporarily suspended. Today, the institution of prison clergy exists in most countries of the world. In Russia there is a revival of this institution, which, without a doubt, has great benefits for society and the state. You are the head of the diocesan department for prison ministry. Tell us about your path to God. How did it happen that you entered such a difficult field?
“Of course, I never thought that I would have to bear such obedience - for the second dozen years now.” I remember as if it were yesterday when a written blessing came from the Bishop to go to the colony. One convict wanted to meet with me. I got ready and went. Of course, I drove with fear and excitement, because all my knowledge about prison life came from the film “Gentlemen of Fortune.” I thought that everything happened there just like in this film. But when I entered the prison, I was amazed that a prisoner came up to me and said hello. Then the second one came up and said hello. I walked through the colony and everyone greeted me. I was also struck by the large number of young and strong guys, whom we see very little on the streets today, because most of them are there. Young, beautiful, healthy, smart. Some may have been seduced by friends, while others themselves succumbed to temptation. Someone decided to outwit someone, someone, perhaps, committed a domestic crime while drunk. I met the man I was going to see, he became interested in religion, in God. I had the Law of God with me. The first meeting took place in the political officer’s office. I was surprised that he turned out to be a former political officer from the fire school where I once studied. This is how destinies crossed... He was very happy and supported me. We spoke with the prisoner. Then it turned out that in this colony there was a mini-community, five or six people, who began to be interested in Christianity. But they had a Protestant bent and were quite determined. I also met with them later and talked. It all started with disputes over the Bible. Then we performed the first Sacrament of Baptism in the colony after that godless period. First we met in the political officer’s office, then we were given a corner in the library. And they held conversations, and I brought literature there. The community began to grow. I have been associated with this colony for almost twenty years; at home they even joke that dad is not at home, he is in prison. Thank God, I am grateful for this obedience, it is unusual, interesting, although there are some nuances, as in any obedience.
– Please tell us about these nuances. After all, a variety of people gather in the colony, from those who do not have a higher education to those who can talk about the highest matters. Accordingly, the questions are very different. It's very difficult. I would like to ask about the specifics of such a ministry.
– Saint Ignatius says that the world is the supplier of people to the monastery. The same can be said about prison. People who go to prison are different: married, single, young, old. Recently I even met a man who has an award for the Great Patriotic War. He is over 80 years old. There are also juvenile criminals, and there are women's colonies, unfortunately. People are different. Even using the example of that community, which began with confrontation. There was an interesting moment when we were just starting to talk. The prisoners had to be brought to the office. They appointed a senior person who was trusted. He was in charge of the library and could move freely. The elder, following the order, gathered and brought everyone, and he sat behind me and aloud commented on everything I said, with his interpretation. And then it turned out that he came to God, accepted the Sacrament of Baptism and became one of the most active members of the Orthodox community. He helped and contributed in every possible way so that the community grew.
Of course, as in any group, a believer causes misunderstanding among others. They believe that once a person started going to church, he became abnormal, mentally ill. Because they sit together for ten to twenty years, eat and sleep in the same barracks, and suddenly they see that a person begins to change before their eyes. This is surprising. I had an interesting case. There is such a thing as an accomplice. Two people who committed a crime together are sitting together. They are reliable friends. One of them turned to God and began going to church. His comrade was freed earlier. A friend from prison began writing letters to him about faith, about confession, about his communication with the priest. He told his wife that her husband had become mentally ill in prison. And so a believing friend had to be released for exemplary behavior. For this purpose, we served a prayer service more than once and read an akathist. There seemed to be no obstacles, but they still wouldn’t let him go. Then he received a letter from his wife: “Don’t come home, we don’t need you.” Can you imagine what his friend did? But then our believer finally returned home. The wife saw that her husband had changed, became good, kind - and everything got better. The fate of the second man was sadder; he again took the path of crime. This is how the Lord saves them in special ways. It happens that in prison you have some special dreams that probably don’t happen in freedom, and some special miraculous cases appear that we don’t notice in ordinary life. People react differently to the fact that they got there, they endure everything differently. It’s joyful when you come and the person has already been released. Such staff turnover, thank God.
– Question from a TV viewer from St. Petersburg: “A friend of mine was press secretary for Bishop John, editor-in-chief of an Orthodox newspaper, very beloved by us. As a result, the authorities didn’t like something, and he served three years in prison. He didn’t break a single commandment. How does the Church intervene in such cases? After all, he is not some kind of grain of sand, he held such a position with Vladyka John.”
– I am sure that ordinary people often turn to you with such questions. "For what? Why?" People are confident in their innocence. How do you answer such questions? How do people themselves answer these questions over time? How does faith help them humble themselves?
– The fact is that for God there is no such division: this person is a grain of sand, and this one occupies some position. Every soul is precious to God. Position is position, life is life. In our souls we cannot figure out how we can talk about other people, whether they are guilty or not guilty. A person could make some mistake, and then it would come back to haunt him. The Church does not interfere in worldly affairs, but intercedes for people who are in prison. The Church is condemned because it stands up for this person. There was an uproar in our diocese about how dare the bishop stand up for such and such a person. Before God, man himself will be responsible for his sins. Our job is to pray for people in prison. And I write petitions, and the Bishop, if necessary, turns to the authorities, but it is not in our power to say whether a person is guilty or innocent. Maybe he's innocent. When the Monk Seraphim of Sarov was attacked in the forest by criminals, beaten and he became bent for life, we are not talking about whether he was guilty or innocent. This was God’s permission; we do not know why the Lord allows this or that sorrow. Let’s say there is a prison here, and in another country a hurricane has risen and a city has been wiped off the face of the earth. Why is that? That is, throughout life a person asks questions that he cannot answer. We know the statements of some Russian new martyrs who came out of their dungeons and said that they could no longer pray as well as they did there. The Lord sent them this or that sorrow for purification, perfection, for stronger, stronger prayer. Therefore, perhaps in this situation the Lord stops the person. There is a great temptation for a person to break the law when he occupies a particular position, regardless of the institution in which he works. Maybe this is a warning so that there won't be a bigger disaster. Maybe this is for some sins. We don't know. It is necessary to accept, and not say, that this person is definitely innocent, he fulfilled all the commandments. It is not right.
– You mentioned the story of two friends. One of them eventually came to faith. They told you about a man who sat behind you during your conversations. What pushes people to come to faith, pick up the Holy Scriptures, want to accept the Sacrament of Baptism, and begin church life?
“Everything is concentrated in the dungeons, even the air.” When you get there, even the smell from your clothes is specific. Also, passions and thoughts are in great concentration. And the changes are clearly visible. They know a lot about each other, they see how a person lives, how he relates to life. A man strives for freedom, but they say about him: “He will soon come back.” By the way he approaches life, his comrades know that he will not last long there, he will return again. We have all heard that the best sermon is personal example. If we open the Bible and invite people to worship, this is not always effective. The best sermon is when a person begins to change before our eyes. At first they think that something is wrong with him, then they see that in fact he simply does not want to live the same way anymore. Many people think they have enough time for this. Often this is a chance from the Lord to stay alive. Let’s say the parents of a drug addict spent their entire fortune, treated him, gave him blood transfusions, psychoanalysts worked with him, they did everything they could, nothing helps. He will be given a sentence of three to six years, he can stop using drugs, live soberly and think about his life.
For several years now, the colony has been taking a vow of sobriety. I was even surprised why he was in the colony? But the vow of sobriety itself includes not only a vow against drinking wine, which is not there anyway, but also a vow not to play cards, against foul language, and smoking. These are passions that prevent a person from living, relax him, and defile him. Especially bad language. They take the blessing for a year, then ask to extend it, they say that the grace of God helps a lot. The Lord acts on man. There was one person, there became another. People begin to wonder: “What is going on there, what did they do to him in the chapel, in the temple?” They are starting to come too.
Another reason is, of course, sorrow. Everyone dreams of a home, many are waiting for wives, some have elderly parents who are sick. The person does not know when he will be free, whether his parents will wait for him or not. It also happens when a person cannot live with the fact that he has not forgiven someone, for example, his comrades set him up. Everything is burning inside him, thoughts of revenge arise, like the Count of Monte Cristo. He's exhausted himself, he can't live in peace, he thinks about it day and night. He sat there for ten years, and he kept saying, “I’ll free myself, I’ll show them.” And then time passes, the Lord humbles him, he suddenly finds peace and says: “Let them live with their sins, and I will answer for mine.” Then they open their eyes to their sins and crimes - and repentance comes.
– Question from a TV viewer: “Are the FSIN employees you encounter believers or not? How do they behave towards prisoners, Christianly or not? Maybe there’s also a big field for your work there?”
- The field is large. There were even complaints from officers: “You go and go, babysit them all, don’t forget about us.” Of course, in the 90s it looked like a curiosity: a priest came, talked, then a rabbi or mufti came, before Protestants were eager... All people are believers. Only some believe in one thing, others in another. GUFSIN employees, of course, are also different people. This is an officer structure, everything depends on the authorities. The way the boss behaves, so do the subordinates. If the boss treats us well and understands the need for such cooperation, then there will be good results. If the boss is skeptical about this, then the result will be accordingly. There are interesting moments in life. The book “Father Arseny” (a very interesting and popular book) tells the story of the long years this man spent in prison. The author says that Father Arseny thought that his comrades and friends were a Christian field, and later the Lord revealed to him that this or that warden also has the grace of God, because he helps prisoners, treats them in a Christian way, serves as best he can... In the 1990s, when American Protestants rushed to prison, the doors were wide open for them.
– What does this have to do with?
– They needed adherents. They came to the “wild” country to preach Christianity. Their country has a two-hundred-year history, and they came to us to preach with such conceit. There were a lot of different, outlandish ones. Imagine, while they were prohibited by law in their own country and in some other countries, in our country they could perform in cultural centers, and even rushed to prison. The question was how should we deal with this misfortune, because they not only preached Christianity, but also pursued mercantile goals. It is interesting that the officers who were vigilant and did not allow Protestants to enter turned out to be not Orthodox, but Muslims. I was very surprised by this. We have a large Muslim community, we are friendly, we live well, we help each other. We also hold competitions, and Muslims participate in them, and sometimes they receive prizes - medals and cups - from our diocese.
– What kind of competition?
“We have a sports department in the diocese, and we jointly organize events in all colonies. We even covered those colonies where life prisoners are imprisoned. The head of the department and officers made a special trip to the far, far north. Now the FSIN officers support us, because experience has shown that we do not pursue any other goals other than for the person to be released and begin to live differently.
– You are the rector of the church in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy”, which is located at the pre-trial detention center. How do you manage to combine it and are there any differences in the ministry? Tell us about this temple. How did the idea to build it come about?
– The fact is that very often, when talking about people who are in prison, we forget about their relatives. One person, who himself went through the colony, had the idea to build a temple for the relatives of prisoners. It's hardest for them. For them, this is the absence of a breadwinner, husband, wife, daughter, son. We see the grief of the parents, their experiences. Let’s say a drug addict didn’t get there right away, first he drank all the blood from his parents over more than one year. Then he committed some kind of crime... and his mother still carries the packages she bought with her last money. These are circles of hell that you wouldn’t wish on anyone. In order to support parents, a temple was built in honor of the icon of the Mother of God “Unexpected Joy”. The icon was presented by the mayor of our city. We communicate with relatives and try to console them. Here too we see how the Lord helps. Parents begin to turn to God, pray, and their sons are freed. And there, in the pre-trial detention center, people change, they are baptized, confessed, given communion. Before the start of Lent, every Friday at the Church on the Blood at 18:00 we will hold meetings with relatives.
– You said that these meetings take place in the Church on the Blood?
- Yes, in the conference room. We posted notices so that relatives could come, talk, and share their sore points. For many, this is the greatest grief, a surprise. People are despondent, sad, and don’t know how and why this happened. Therefore, we try to talk with them, meet them, and console them. Of course, sometimes they are so overwhelmed with this grief that they can’t even hear well, they keep everything inside themselves. But I would like to cite such an amazing case. When we started building a chapel in the colony, the mother of a convict who was soon to be released helped. She prayed for him, thought about where to place him, and went to consult with Elder Nikolai (now deceased) on the island of Zalit. She prepared questions, went to the elder’s door, and he opened the door, greeted her and said: “Thank God that your son is in prison.” And closed the door. And she had the feeling that the questions she wrote were not needed at all, they all fell apart. Such words seemed incomprehensible at first, but at that moment it immediately occurred to her that he could have been drafted into the army, for the Chechen war, or he would have contacted such friends, it is unknown what would have awaited him. It happens that the Lord gives a person a chance through such a test. Many say that if it were not for prison, they would not have stopped. Like a steam locomotive that flies without brakes, and nothing can stop it, only such admonition. Maybe he will open a spiritual book there for the first time, and the street children, perhaps, will sleep on a clean sheet for the first time and be fed properly. Maybe their bravado will pass here and they will begin to live normally.
– What exactly is the missionary service of the prison department in such conditions, behind stone walls, behind barbed wire?
– The sermon is that there, too, a person can meet Christ, and many do. This is very blessed, because, probably, the main victory of the devil is worldly vanity. A man fusses, runs, and has no time. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, when I become a pensioner, then I will start going to church and so on. In prison, people are not deprived of anything from a spiritual point of view. Almost all colonies have temples and prayer rooms. People are baptized, confessed, given communion, unction, crowned, all the Sacraments are performed. Entire libraries of a decent level of spiritual literature, you can become a theologian from there if you want. There is an opportunity to take a break from this frenzy of passions, live a slightly different life, and pray without fuss. And this is very good, because where else can a person meet Christ like this? And sometimes people come out - and again everything moves quickly.
It has been fifteen years since our department has been conducting correspondence catechist courses. There is correspondence with the convicts, they take tests, they are checked, and the next assignments are sent. We started with our diocese, now many colonies throughout Russia write to our department. Listen to lectures, watch films. We try to show that there is another life, that you can live differently. If a person thinks about it, then there is a chance that he will not take the path of crime again. This is the most important task. And, of course, it’s great when a person stops you in the city: “Remember, you baptized me.” Decently dressed, happy with life, has a job, got married. These are truly such grains of joy! It is not for nothing that many priests serve in prisons. It bears fruit, thank God.
– Question from a TV viewer from Moscow: “We love you very much, you are a very kind and pure person, you can see it in your eyes. I am Russian, I am 43 years old. Since 1995 I converted to Islam. You recently said that you have good relations with Muslims in the camps. The Orthodox and Islamic faiths predominate in our country. The key to our security is peaceful cooperation and the coexistence of Islam and Christianity. In connection with recent events in the world (for example, a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad), give some advice to all of us, so that we can live peacefully, kindly, in an amicable way?”
– You know, the question is not easy, because sin lives in a person, and in order for us to live peacefully, the best sermon is how a representative of a particular religion behaves towards another person. If a certain person believes that the aborigines live here and they need to be enlightened with the Bible, then he will receive exactly the same return. If an Orthodox priest enters a workshop or car service center where there are only Azerbaijanis who profess Islam, and they treat him with respect, this is the best indicator that they are truly believers. They correctly relate to their origins and correctly practice their faith. Unfortunately, there are radicals among Orthodox Christians, among Muslims, and among Jews. And God is love. If a person respects and loves another person, no matter what nationality or religion he is, then he is on the right path. And those who incite passions, hatred, and offend feelings are non-believers who serve themselves or unclean spirits. Why was it necessary to stir up the whole world and draw a caricature? This is clear disrespect. That’s why I can’t stand jokes on religious topics; I think that the image of God in a person must be respected. If we behave this way in our country, then there will be peace and friendship.
– Question from a TV viewer from Udmurtia: “If everyone is a sinner and everyone is guilty, then maybe we should just put everyone in prison?”
– Shall we start with you? The point is, if prison made a person a saint, then maybe it would. But let's open the lives of the saints of the first three centuries of Christianity or books about the new martyrs of Russia. Our entire country is watered with the blood of the new martyrs who passed through prisons and colonies. Even our Savior was in prison, and the apostles were in bonds. In our church, which is located next to the pre-trial detention center, to console relatives we have the image of the “Savior in Prison,” which is very common in the Greek Church. The icon depicts the Savior shackled and sitting in prison. Just a few days ago, one of the relatives asked: “Why doesn’t the Lord punish these people?” I point to the icon: “Look what people did to the Savior, He has shackles on His feet, sits on a stone slab.” Sometimes criminals come out of prison, and sometimes holy people come out of prison. Being in prison can be freedom for a person, and being free can be a prison. This even happens very often.
I would like to ask that we all pray for the prisoners (there are special prayers in the prayer book) and help them. This has always distinguished the Russian people, who never forgot about the prisoners. Let's remember that there are people next to us who have stumbled or got there for some other reason, we need to pray for them, and we need to help them. This will also affect our soul. Our soul will thaw and will not be so stiff-necked.
Transcript: Natalya Maslova
History of changes in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities for 2010–2017
2017
- 11.07.2017
- GRN
2177700205516 - SPVZ code
13400
- Code NO
7700
Department of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow
Submission of information on registration of a legal entity as an insurer in the executive body of the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation
- 05.07.2017
- GRN
2177700196419 - SPVZ code
12101
- Code NO
7700
Department of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow
State registration of changes made to the constituent documents of a legal entity related to changes to information about a legal entity contained in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, based on an application
Documentation:
- (р13001) application for changes in information included in the accounting document
- Charter of the legal entity in the new edition dated May 23, 2017
- Certificate dated March 13, 2017
- Order dated June 27, 2017
2016
- 02.11.2016
- GRN
2167700602870 - SPVZ code
13400
- Code NO
7700
Department of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow
Submission of information on registration of a legal entity as an insurer in the executive body of the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation
- 21.09.2016
- GRN
2167700465690 - SPVZ code
13400
- Code NO
7700
Department of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow
Submission of information on registration of a legal entity as an insurer in the executive body of the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation
2010
- 30.11.2010
- GRN
2107799278596 - SPVZ code
13400
- Code NO
7700
Department of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow
Submission of information on registration of a legal entity as an insurer in the executive body of the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation
- 25.11.2010
- GRN
2107799274471 - SPVZ code
13200
- Code NO
7700
Department of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow
Submission of information on registration of a legal entity with the tax authority
- 11.11.2010
- GRN
2107799210495 - SPVZ code
13300
- Code NO
7700
Department of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow
Submission of information on registration of a legal entity as an insurer in the territorial body of the Pension Fund of the Russian Federation
- 30.08.2010
- GRN
1107799024431 - SPVZ code
11201
- Code NO
7700
Department of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow
Creation of a legal entity
Documentation:
- Order of the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation dated August 20, 2010
- Рн0001 application for creation but
- Extract from the journal dated 03/05/2010
- Extract from the journal dated 05/31/2010
- Confirmation dated 07/26/2010
- Charter of the legal entity dated 05/31/2010
- Letter of guarantee dated 06/07/2010
- Document confirming payment of state duty dated July 20, 2010
- Appendix to the charter dated 02/16/2010
Who are they?
Tatyana Shchipkova, who served time in the early 80s on a fabricated case for attempting to clandestinely publish an Orthodox magazine, tells the following story in her book “A Woman’s Portrait in a Prison Interior.” In their camp, there was a woman in prison for murder, a very quiet, bright and joyful woman who meekly took on any job. It turns out that her husband drank and beat her terribly, tormented her in sophisticated ways. And seeing one of these scenes, her son from his first marriage, a teenager, could not stand it... The mother sat down in her son’s place, confessing in court: she killed her husband. There are very different people in prison. According to Father Gleb Kaleda, these are women who, in despair, killed their drunken tyrant husbands, and soldiers who could not withstand the bullying of old-timers, and hardened criminals, and drug addicts, and sadists, and romantics who were lured by the dream of a beautiful life, and “ naive intellectuals set up by their superiors,” and innocently convicted people, and maniacs... By the way, as the priest notes, there are many former athletes in prison - martial arts masters, proud of their strength and eager to demonstrate it.
In general, when trying to write about prisons, it becomes clear that for one experience there is another - the opposite. This is both the territory of evil and the territory of good beginnings.
“In prison they paint icons, make moonshine stills, make amazingly beautiful brooches from the heels of men’s shoes, quarrel with each other, write poetry, look for forms of coexistence,” writes Father Gleb in the book “Stop in Your Ways.” Notes of a Prison Priest." “This is a big and complex world with its own laws, hierarchy, relationships...”
Why are Christians needed in this world? It would seem that you have broken the law - bear the punishment, everything is fair, why interfere? Maybe it’s better to help others – there are a million people in need!
The head of the human rights organization for helping victims of crime “Resistance” Olga Kostina recalls the following case: the organization’s volunteers were at a funeral service - a man who worked several jobs was killed during another flight. He left behind a family, a small child. There was no money for the funeral - the volunteers had to urgently collect the required amount, penny by penny, they were exhausted and were overwhelmed by the grief that befell this family. And in the temple they saw a box with the inscription: “Donate to the prisoners,” and this simply stunned them.
Of course, we need to help both. It’s probably not our business to rank life’s tragedies on a scale of severity. “The more years pass, the less I feel like a criminal and the more I feel like a victim,” the words of a woman convicted of selling drugs. Criminals who are hated by their own children, taught by their relatives, or whom no one expects to be released at all, are also unhappy. What if the punishment is disproportionate to the crime? A teenager from a family of alcoholics stole food from a store and ended up in a juvenile detention center, where he was raped. Hell on earth, a dark, terrible kingdom - who deserves it? How important it is for a ray of light to penetrate there, even into a crack.
Who should I write to?
You can divide prisoners into good and bad, criminals and those who have stumbled once, those who go to church and those who don’t, and correspond with “the good ones.” It’s probably the same as taking only healthy and cute kids from orphanages. It is a beautiful, but not tenacious, illusion that the laurels of an enlightener and a spiritual “teacher” await you, behind whom the people will follow in orderly ranks to the Kingdom of Heaven. “There are also difficult wards: superficial believers, there are those who simply complain about their poor financial situation,” says Sofia Grigorievna, “but shouldn’t we write a thousand letters for the sake of the possibility of saving at least one sinner?”
Seasoned criminals who have spent almost their entire lives on bunks are sometimes able to change: “I have a 7th conviction. I've been here all my adult life. There was no light ahead, no hope for a normal life. Who needs a criminal? It was impossible to get a job, in general, there was only one way - back to the camp... But one day a Bible appeared in our cell. I read it out of nothing to do. To be honest, I didn’t understand anything. I read it a second time and it became a little clearer. I read it a third time and am still reading it. The worldview began to change. I am lost in ordinary life, but in spiritual life I can be saved... I will not go to the camp anymore, even if I have to die of hunger..."
The last bastion is fear. “Don’t be afraid of correspondence with prisoners,” writes Larisa Sergeevna Khrustaleva, “these are poor people who have stumbled and who simply lack a kind, sympathetic word and simple human communication.” The most common fear: “Suppose you write beautiful letters to a condemned believer, talk about the love of Christ, and he will be freed, come and rightly wish that this love be shown to him. And what?" There is a mistake here. The purpose of correspondence is to support, help to tune in to church life and understand it, and not to take responsibility for the life of another person. As a rule, when the prisoner is released, the correspondence ends. But it may continue. There are exceptional cases when pen pals become lifelong friends.
Do we need to become “everything to everyone” and for what purpose?
1st Epistle to the Corinthians of St. Apostle Paul, 9:19-23. And since religion is not just an area of increased attention to the word, but most of all it is the cherished meanings for a person, we will analyze this passage of Holy Scripture in detail and try to pay special attention to aspects of the text that will help us answer our question:
Modern translation of the New Testament, made by the Institute of Bible Translation in Zaoksky:
“Although I am not dependent on anyone, I made myself a slave to everyone in order to win ‘as many people as possible’ for Christ.” To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win the Jews; for those who are under the Law, as one who is under the Law (though I myself am not under the Law), in order to win those who are under the Law; for the 'pagans' who do not know the Law - as one who does not know it (although I do not live without the law of God, for I am devoted to the law of Christ), in order to win those who do not know the Law. I became weak for the weak in order to win the weak. I became all things to all, so that at any cost I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the Good News, so that I can share in its blessings.”
For comparison and better understanding of the passage, I will give several more options for translating the text. Modern translation of the New Testament into Russian IBS:
“Although I am free from everyone, I myself have made myself a slave to everyone in order to convert as many people as possible to God. For the Jews I became like a Jew in order to attract the Jews. To those under the law I have become as if I were under the law, although in reality I am not under the law. I do this in order to convert those under the law. To those who do not have the law, I have become as one who does not have the law, although I am not free from the law of God, because I am under the law of Christ. Again, I do this in order to convert those who have no law to God. For the weak, I became weak in order to gain them too. I became everything to everyone in order to save at least some. I do all this for the sake of the Gospel, so that I too may receive its blessings.”
Modern Translation of the New Testament (WBTC):
“For although I am free before all, I have taken upon myself slavery before all in order to win the majority of them. I became with the Jews as a Jew in order to conquer the Jews. I have become subject to the law with those who make the law. And although I myself am not subject to the law, in order to win those who are subject to it, I have become like one who lives in the law. I myself am not without the law of God, for I submit to the law of Christ in order to conquer those who live in lawlessness. I became weak with those who are weak in order to conquer the weak. I have become all things to all people in order to save a few by any means possible. I do everything for the sake of the gospel, to share its blessing.”
- The Apostle Paul is free before everyone, dependent on everyone and not dependent on anyone (“Am I not free?” 1 Corinthians 9:1).
- Despite his freedom, the Apostle Paul accepted slavery before everyone, made himself a slave of everyone - for what, why?
- To win the majority of those to whom he made himself a slave, to win them to Christ, converting as many people as possible to God. – Here Paul’s purpose is clearly expressed.
- Despite the fact that Paul was a Jew (“an Israelite, from the tribe of Benjamin” (Romans 11:1), “a Jew of Jews” (Philippians 3:5)), he became like a Jew to the Jews, and like a Jew to the Jews to attract, conquer and win Jews and Jews to God and Christ. – What is meant is not the religious, but the ethnic (national) characteristics of the people with whom the Apostle Paul communicated.
- Despite the fact that Paul, having accepted Christ as his Lord, was freed by Him from the Law of Moses, he became for those under the Law of Moses as subject to this Law and fulfilling all its instructions and requirements in order to win these people for Christ. – In other words, with religious people, Paul followed the instructions and provisions of the religion of these people, so as not to once again offend their faith and traditions, but, wisely using all this to convert people to Jesus Christ.
- The Apostle Paul found an opportunity in his preaching of the Gospel, without humiliating the dignity of a person’s personality, but, taking into account his national, cultural and religious beliefs, to show the advantages of saving faith in Jesus Christ over other beliefs. Moreover, Paul found arguments in defense of the faith he spread precisely in the national, cultural and religious beliefs of the person he converted.
- Paul became like those with whom he associated, not only in the ethnic and religious aspects of their lives, but also in their physical and emotional states, but he still maintained personal submission to God's Law and the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Paul did all this in order to, by any available and possible means, lead at least some of the many people with whom he communicated to God and salvation in Christ.
- All this was done by Paul for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News of the salvation of people, in order to receive, become involved in and share all its blessings with other people.
Priorities and value system in the life of a believer in Christ
It is not difficult for a follower of the Lord to notice that Jesus' awareness of priorities led to great success in life. He knew exactly what it meant to respect priorities. This means worrying about what's most important first. Day after day, He put what was most important first. He knew also what was important from God's point of view. He knew that life can only be lived once. It cannot be repeated. Statistics show that life is very short. The Lord was not indecisive. He did not waste any time or opportunity.
Ecclesiastes says: “To everything there is a season under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). But we always don't have enough time to do everything we would like to do. A reasonable person decides what is more important for his life and acts accordingly. A reasonable person spends his energy purposefully, taking care of more essential things first. The Lord was a Man who wisely organized His life. Students should imitate their Teacher in this. God, through the life of Christ, gave a model for the correct understanding of priorities that we must follow:
- God (Matthew 22:37-38, Exodus 20:3) and His Kingdom must come first (Matthew 6:33).
- The eternal is more important than the temporal (2 Corinthians 4:18).
- The spiritual is more important than the physical (Matthew 6:19-20).
- People are more important than things (Mark 8:36-37).
When we see and understand these priorities and strive to conform our lives to the image of Christ, our lives will conform to God's requirements. To be effective in what we set out to do, it is necessary to recognize, internalize, and always remember to apply the priorities of discipleship to our own lives.
