Born Again Spark Notes

Trusting in God

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take." Proverbs 3:5-6. In the book, Born Again, Chuck Colson was as deadly to political opponents as a lion is to prey. Colson was largely targeted by the media and dragged through the mud, after a scandal that led to an investigation of Nixon's White House administration. He had become a public scapegoat for the media. Through a long and taxing process, Colson was indicted and put in jail. However, through the straining process, he had found a path to God

that he had not known before. Once in prison, he started to care about helping the other prisoners with their needs and soon found himself in a position of breaking a rule that almost destroyed other people's good records. As the winter months set in, the prisoners were provided "thread-bare jackets" yet Colson had found much warmer and barely used jackets that would work for all prisoners. Nonetheless the new jackets were not usable unless they were dyed the specific prison-grade color. Colson decided to let it be known that smuggling in dye was necessary for the provision of warmer jackets.
The main agreement is that Colson was coming from the best of intentions to aid the prisoners yet he was an impatient man when it came to getting things done. In this case some people say Colson was right in smuggling in dye for the jackets.
Many people say that Colson should not have smuggled dye in, and others say Colson should have smuggled the dye in.
Colson should not have smuggled the dye into the prison because, it was directly against prison regulations, as a growing Christian it set a bad example to others, and he didn't allow himself the opportunity to ask God for help.
Primarily, it was directly against the prison regulations. Colson's actions were form of dishonesty towards the prison norm and thwarted his own reform. His decision showed an apparent disregard for rules he reasoned as impertinent. Colson had told other prisoners to smuggle dye and he even asked his wife to help him out, placing all of them in jeopardy.
Secondly, Colson had set a bad example as a Christian.

In the prison Colson had befriended other prisoners who were struggling in their walk with Christ and he let them be dragged into a wrong situation. He was an encouraging emissary for many of the other prisoners and guard, Bleven. Colson's involvement with the smuggling showed many of them that he was willing to break rules. Outside of the prison, Colson had his reputation ruined by the press, and if this incident had been heard of he would have undermined his character he had tried to fix.
Thirdly, He didn't trust God to work with the people in official positions. When Woodie, a young prisoner who had tried to help Colson, was checked for smuggling, Colson realized how he had not allowed God to work in other people's lives. He had become impatient and rushed ahead of praying to God for more help in producing more jackets. Colson could have tried to approach other officials to ask for dying supplies and continued to pray for God's intervention.
Some people say the Colson should have smuggled the dye in because the management didn't have enough money for the dye. The men in the prison were cold and needed at the very least some new jackets. Barely used jackets were found and needed dye but the management apparently did not think it was important

enough.
While these were good reasons once, Colson had not allowed enough time for other to help. In the case of Mr. Bleven, in the end he managed to acquire money through arrangements and attain dye for the jackets.
It is also said that Colson should have smuggled the dye because he had the ability to help. He was intelligent and persuasive. He had access to the laundry room to dye the jackets because he worked there and Colson knew how to work the system for his and other's benefit.
For all that, he could have used his persuasiveness to gain access to the dye other ways than having prisoners smuggle it in and his "working the system" showed he had contempt for rules he did not agree with.
Ultimately, some people say Colson should have smuggled the dye because the management wouldn't supply dye and he had the ability to help.
In conclusion, Colson should not have smuggled the dye because, it was directly against prison regulations, as a growing Christian it set a bad example to others, and he didn't trust God to work with the officials.
This matters to all Christians because through everyone's walk, all of them will struggle with falling back into a routine of trying to rely on themselves and not relying on God's word and aid.