Spiritual Cancer

To be the champion, the Gold Medallist, the Number Oneâ€"this to the modern man is what makes life worth living.

The man of the world has one aim in life– to join the power elite. To arrive at that plateau he may stoop to guile, cheating and grasping in the Machiavellian tradition. Even within the church, there is a tendency to gravitate towards positions of power.Jesus warned however that the power game would destroy man. 'Unless you repent, you will all perish.'

The trait that commands man essentially is his pride. Pride requires power. Pride feeds on power; therefore prides sets out to take power. Noted theologian Reinhold Niebuhr wrote:

"There is a pride of power in which the human ego assumers its self sufficiency and self mastery and imagines itself to be secure against all vicissitudes. It believes itself to be the author of its own existence, the judge of its own values and the master of its own destiny…''

Number One
"Work hard, study hard, nothing comes easy in this life…There are no short cuts. No matter how menial the job you have , the important thing is to do it well" Dr Colson recalls his father's familiar advice and this additional caution: 'Tell the truth always, lies destroy you.'

His was a struggling middle class family. When bills mounted too high his mother would hold sales of furniture and other household items. One day as Colson returned from school he was shocked to witness perfect strangers carrying away chairs from the living room. Such insecurity combined with father's advice fuelled his later drive to achieve.

Success in academics, stint with the Marine Corps and later daring exploits in his campaign for President Nixon, the status and power associated with his position emboldened him to blink at even ethical standards in getting things done.

He admits he was guilty of political "dirty tricks" and willing to do almost anything for the cause of his president and his party.

Guilty
In 1974, Colson entered a plea of guilty to Watergate-related charges; although not implicated in the Watergate burglary, he voluntarily pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice in the Daniel Ellsberg Case.

And it is in prison he underwent a change of heart . 'I shudder to think what I would have been if I had not gone to prison,' he was to remark later. 'Lying on the rotten floor of a cell , you know it is not prosperity or pleasure that's important but maturing of the soul.'

The torrent of accusations that continued to be levelled against him as the hatchet man of Nixon and the humiliation had made him 'broken inside' though he managed to put on a tough exterior. He was weeping inside and wondering over the wrong turns. It was then a friend handed him a book by C S Lewis that spoke of man's spiritual issues.

Therein he read: '…it is pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began. Other vices may sometimes bring people together; you may find good fellowship, jokes and friendliness among drunken people or unchaste people. But pride always means enmity –it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man, but enmity to God.

Mere Christianity:
The book, 'Mere Christianity' gripped his attention by the clear manner in which it portrayed the evil impact of pride. 'It is pride which has been the chief cause of misery in every nation and every family since the world began…Pride always meant enmityâ€"it is enmity. And not only enmity between man and man , but enmity to God.'

'In God you come up against something which is in every respect superior to yourself. Unless you know God as thatâ€"and as therefore know yourself nothing in comparison –you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you can not know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people; and of course, as long as you are looking down , you cannot see something that is above you.'

As he read on he couldn't help feeling that he stood exposed. Lewis was just describing his condition.

As he peeped into his past, he found it was pride that had propelled him through life. And he recognised too that 'pride is spiritual cancer. It eats up the very possibility of love or contentment or even common sense.'

Made sensitive by the spirit of repentance over his thoughtless conduct, he could also empathise with the lot of hundreds of prisoners trapped by circumstances and marked by tragedies and injustice. Haunted by the desperation and hopelessness he saw behind the bars Colson knew he must do something to help the men he left behind. To this end, he set up the International Prison Fellowship ministries in 1976 which is now operating in more than hundred countries of the world.

The PFI, in collaboration with churches of all confessions and denominations, has become the world's largest outreach to prisoners, ex-prisoners, crime victims, and their families.

Templeton Prize
Colson received 15 honorary doctorates, and in 1993 was awarded the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, the world's largest annual award (over US$1 million) in the field of religion, given to a person who "has made an exceptional contribution to affirming life's spiritual dimension". He donated this prize to further the work of Prison Fellowship, as he did all his speaking fees and royalties. In 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Citizens Medal by the then President, George W. Bush.

What is Dr Colson's legacy to the spiritual heritage of mankind? Dr Charles Colson had every legitimate reason to be proud: a moving orator, a best selling author, brilliant social activist and crusader of good causes.

His life and example have been a reminder to those, in and out of office, of the seductions of power and the rewards of service. His famous redemption story written down in Born Again, a best seller, and tireless advocacy on behalf of the marginalised and outcastes will remain an inspiration to all those holding top offices in the nations of the world. Power often corrupts the one who wields it; but then God gives a second chance to those who are willing to repent and reorder one's life on the basis of those moral standards which had governed the illustrious benefactors of mankind.

Power could be productive of much good if wielded for the good of the people at large in the conviction that leaders are here 'to serve; not to be served.'

But politicians and leaders of organisations do not act in that spirit. Saddled with power, they are tempted to serve their own interests and throw ethics to the winds. Only when they come to confront the consequences of their actions, they would be compelled to re-examine their conduct. Born Again is an excellent guide to all those who come to recognise that they had badly erred and misused power and are looking for repentance. God gives a second chance. He "resists the proud but gives grace to the humble."