Colson Finished the Race Well

On Saturday while at a conference in Seattle, I was waiting to do my next presentation when I received a text message from Melinda.  It simply said, “Chuck Colson is in Heaven.” 

After a few moments of deep, very mixed emotions of sadness and happiness, the first phrase that came to my mind was, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” I texted that single line back.

Though I knew Chuck—we had worked together a number of times—we were really more colleagues on a first-name basis than friends.  Even so, it was hard to be around him at all and not be influenced by him.

I first met Chuck in the early 90s when I was interviewed in D.C. as a potential writer for Breakpoint.  I didn’t get the job, but I did have a brief audience with Chuck.  Though he was entirely gracious and cordial, I was a bit tongue-tied, being in the presence of genuine greatness.  And Chuck Colson was a great man, in all the important ways.

We had both become Christians the same year (1973), and when Born Again eventually came out I devoured it.  It was a vivid testimony of the power of God to take a powerful and prideful man and transform him into a powerful and humble servant.

Around ten years ago I heard Chuck reflect that his years were numbered, so he resolved to redouble his efforts, dedicating his remaining time to do anything and everything he could to build the Kingdom of God.  He didn’t want to waste a moment or squander an opportunity.  He wanted to leave a legacy, not for his sake, but for Christ’s sake.

When Chuck fell critically ill, someone on our staff wondered who would replace him.  I simply said, “No one.”  I didn’t mean Chuck Colson was indispensable.  Nobody in the Kingdom of God plays such a role.  I simply meant he was utterly distinctive, making a singular contribution at a defining moment in history.

Chuck Colson was a man I looked up to.  He was someone I learned from, not only from his books, but even more from the example of a life well-lived, a man laboring faithfully for Christ.  I was instructed by his stature as a Christian statesman, and by his tireless, humble, service for the cause of Christ.

Chuck Colson didn’t just run the race well.  He finished the race.  May we each, by God’s grace, do as well as he, and hear—as he did—when we cross the line: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Greg's radio commentary on Chuck Colson

Comments

[linda]

Thank you, Mr. Koukl for the beautiful eulogy for the first person whose book challenged me to be a braver Christian.
Yes, he is right: our years, our days are numbered! It's a sin to squander it for anything less than His Kingdom's glory.

[Peter]

Thank you for this. I only met Colson once, at a conference, but he was always a good public speaker and I learned a lot from Breakpoint. While I disagree with some of his ecumenicalism, he *did* finish the race well and is certainly in a happier place, waiting for us to run our races well too.

[RonH]

How do you continue in politics after being convicted of a felony against your country?

RonH

[Daron]

What facts are in dispute here, RonH?

[PTB]

Comments from Colson after Mark Felt's death:

Colson appeared on the Today Show on Wednesday, June 1, 2005 and was interviewed. He said, “I never thought anybody with such a position of sensitivity at the Justice Department would breach confidences.” Colson then disagreed with the notion that Felt is a hero. “A hero is someone that you want other people to emulate... and to say he was a hero because he broke his trust...he broke the confidence of the president of the United States.” (CNS News)

Colson told the AP, “Mark first served this country with honor, and I can't imagine how Mark Felt was sneaking in dark alleys leaving messages under flower pots and violating his oath to keep this nation's secrets.” (Associated Press)

And in his written statement released to the press, Charles Colson said,

“I am disappointed in Mark for choosing the media as the way to expose the corruption. If he felt that the wrongs of the Nixon administration had to be remedied, he should have walked into the F.B.I. Director’s office and told him so, and if necessary walked in to the president. No matter how Felt may justify his actions, it is not honorable to leak classified information to the press.”
------------------------------------------

Sound like he's still upset, not because of his actions, but because he got caught. Who was "honorable" here?

[RonH]

Ah yes, Chuck, if only Mark had gone to the president.

[Daron]

RonH read what I wrote.

[RonH]

I did Daron. I understand you to mean we agree on certain facts. Is that right?

[Daron]

Oh, so you think Colson both was convicted and then remained in politics.
So why are you asking how it happened? Don't you know how these two things happen?

[RonH]

No. Tell me how these two things happen.

[Daron]

Okay.
First, the judicial system finds there is enough evidence to convict. So they do.

Second, the man remains involved in politics.
Not hard, is it?

Were you every bit as flummoxed when a sitting president lied under oath, impeded justice, and remained in politics? I'm sure you weren't confused how that occurred, were you?

[RonH]

Clinton was charged by the House and acquitted by the Senate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7r4e5Wg4PDI

Colson seemed to want to blame the guy who exposed him 40 years later - as PTP pointed out.

RonH

[Daron]

"'Colson seemed to want to blame the guy who exposed him 40 years later - as PTP pointed out.""

I know you really only want to dance on his grave, but what does this have to do with your wondering how the two things could possibly co-exist.

What do you mean Clinton was acquitted? He lied under oath, he obstructed justice, and everyone knows it. Yet he remained and remains in politics.

[Daron]

Clinton seemed to want to blame political opponents, a law suit he didn't agree with, and a special prosecutor he hated, who exposed him.
He was the top law enforcer in the land under investigation for sexual harassment and he lied under oath.

But he remained in politics. Why don't you wonder how?

[RonH]

What do you mean Clinton was acquitted?

Just that he was acquitted.

No, I don't want to dance on Colson's grave. I did not know the man.

RonH

[Daron]

Just that he was acquitted.

In one political tribunal while fined, suspended and admitted guilty in others.

And yet he remained in politics.
How? Why are you not confused by this amazing confluence of events?

[RonH]

Now you are on to something else besides "sitting president lied under oath, impeded justice" and something even farther from "a felony against your country".

But you did get Clinton in there.

RonH

[Daron]

I'm not on anything else, RonH. That is exactly what he did and yet he remained in politics.
Does it surprise you that the two cases are not identical? Colson admitted to and was punished for giving false information to the press.
Clinton admitted to and was punished for giving false information to the court.
Clinton remained in office and in politics.

Of course, there are far greater differences as you explore further.

But somehow you just can't wrap your head around Colson's case.
What got in there, as always, is RonH.

[Daron]

What Colson actually said:

http://www.demossnews.comwww.demossnews.com/pf/news/a_statement_from_charles_w_colson_on_the_disclosure_of_deep_throat

I am truly shocked that Mark Felt indeed turns out to be "Deep Throat." I knew him and worked with him closely and considered him completely trustworthy.

I can understand why Mark Felt believed he needed to address the wrongs going on in the Nixon administration. But even crediting Mark Felt with the most noble motives, I would question the course of action he chose. By the end of my tenure in the Nixon White House and through the Watergate debacle, I myself learned the hard way that the ends do not justify the means.

I am disappointed in Mark for choosing the media as the way to expose the corruption. If he felt that the wrongs of the Nixon administration had to be remedied, he should have walked into the F.B.I. Director's office and told him so, and if necessary walked in to the president.

No matter how Felt may justify his actions, it is not honorable to leak classified information to the press. Governments cannot function if the chief executive cannot trust people who hold sensitive positions, and there are few positions more sensitive than the deputy director of the FBI. A president has to be able to deal with someone in a sensitive position without worrying that his conversations are going to be disclosed to the press.

In one sense, I am glad that the long, suspenseful hunt for "Deep Throat" is over, but I think it is a sad chapter for the twilight of Mark Felt's life.

Since Colson had said countless times that he actually was glad for Watergate and his time in prison, it is hard to know what it means to blame Felt for it.

Here he talks about that thankfulness, as well as rationalizing wrong behaviour done for right reasons - as he mentioned above regarding Felt.
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/popups/media_player.aspx?MediaId=http://www.focusonthefamily.com/popups/media_player.aspx?MediaId={DBF936EA-E50D-4E5F-87E2-27879E6F4B14}