Change Of Boss

Change Of Boss A Daily Devotional By J. Stephen Lang

1973: The Watergate scandal of the 1970s has been credited with making Americans cynical about politics. While the scandal did a great deal of harm (especially to its key participant, President Richard Nixon), it produced at least one modern-day saint, Charles “Chuck” Colson.

Trained as a lawyer, Colson joined the Nixon staff in 1969, with the title Special Counsel. The media, which detested Nixon, detested Colson also, referring to him as Nixon’s “hatchet man” and “evil genius.”

It was rumored that Colson claimed he would walk over his own grandmother if necessary to get Nixon reelected in 1972—which wasn’t true, but the public believed it. Colson was one of several Nixon staffers indicted in connection with the break-in at the Democratic Party headquarters at the Watergate office complex.

A Christian friend had given Colson a copy of C. S. Lewis’s book Mere Christianity. Colson read it, and he dated his conversion to August 12, 1973. He found peace with God—but not with the justice system, for he was indicted in March 1974.

The media were, of course, cynical about his conversion and assumed it was a ploy to reduce his sentence or even to be acquitted. Colson pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and was given a one-year sentence. He served seven months, and the cynics expected that after his release he would leave his Christianity behind.

Not so. Colson founded Prison Fellowship, a ministry to prisoners, and became one of the key voices in evangelical Christianity. He published his story, Born Again, in 1976 and wrote numerous other books and columns. In 1993 he received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion and donated the prize money to Prison Fellowship. Eventually his dedication silenced the cynics.

The former hatchet man for a president became a servant of the King. On April 21, 2012, Colson went home to his Master.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, you are a God of surprises, changing men’s hearts, turning the ruthless into your servants. We praise you. Amen.