“The Guys”

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In a prison setting there are three general sets of people who interact with the inmates. 

First of all there is “security.” These are the correctional officers, mostly in uniform and with a quasi-military type of outlook.  There are officers, sergeants, and captains.  One of the security trainings I went to had a very prominent quote, “an inmate, is an inmate, is an inmate.”  The Officers are to be, “Friendly, not familiar.” And you listened to a lot of quotes like, “How can you tell an offender is lying? His lips are moving.”  Stuff like that.  Sadly (and practically speaking) after hundreds of years of prisons and guards, those “true-isms” were generally accurate.  The security people were there to keep the inmates in the prison and safe.  They weren’t there to be buds or aid in the comfort and care of anyone.  They were there to keep things “secure” and that generally meant assuming the inmates were up to no-good (and often, they were.)

Then there are the “service” people.  These are folks inside the prison who do a specific job.  They may be medical staff. Library staff, educational staff, maintenance, food service, clerical, folks who have a specific task who also have dealings with inmates inside the fence.

Finally there are the “treatment” people. These folks are the counselors who teach the “Criminal Thinking” and “Victim’s Impact” classes to the inmates.  They try to correct the “thinking errors” and get the inmates to learn about “empathy” and “pro-social living.”  Often the treatment folks start out very hopeful and optimistic, but they find out their task of “fixing” criminals is pretty hopeless.

Security people tended to call the inmates “offenders.” “Offender Smith, report to the desk.”  Or “Offender Jones, you have some mail.”  It was part of that mindset that the “offenders” must “stay in there place.”

I refused to call them “offenders.” I believed that God would give the men new names and new identities.  I felt as if I was call upon God to enact Romans 4:17:

As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations." He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed--the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

I tried a lot of different terms “members, brothers, gentlemen, dudes.” But none of those terms seemed to come naturally.

I just ended up calling them, “The Guys.”

“How are the guys doing?”

“I’m going to see the guys.”

“We’re getting some more guys from Fort Dodge.”

I felt the Lord placed some very specific things in my life over the years before IFI and one of them was I was to be a “Father” to the men.  I was to stand in a Spiritual place and I was to bless them with an earthly father’s blessing.  I certainly wasn’t going to “curse” them, by declaring them “offenders,” there had been enough of that already.  I was there to proclaim them as beloved sons.  Part of that was I was to have affection for each of them in my heart, a painful exercise, but necessary.

A year after we moved from Newton to Kansas City, I was sitting with a group of people, (minding my own business) many of whom were members of the International House of Prayer.  Suddenly (and without warning) this lady turns and looks intently at me. “You are a father,” she declared at me.  “You are the father of many sons.  That’s what you do. You are a father.”

I knew that I had to break that “Friendly, not familiar” rule of security.

I had to embrace “The Guys.”

chris