I have already addressed the church’s failures in this area, but the topic is important enough to warrant specific elaboration. The church should establish a benevolence fund dedicated to families affected by incarceration. This fund should be:

Budgeted annually, not funded by occasional special offerings. The needs are predictable and ongoing; the funding should be as well.

Administered by deacons or a designated committee who can evaluate needs, distribute funds equitably, and maintain accountability. Random generosity is better than nothing, but organized generosity is better than random generosity.

Comprehensive in scope. The fund should cover not only the inmate’s informal economy needs but also the family’s rent, utilities, groceries, children’s school expenses, medical bills, and legal fees. The family should not have to beg for each individual need; the church should proactively assess and address the full spectrum of financial devastation.

Supplemented by practical services. Money is essential, but it is not the only resource the church can provide. Members with accounting skills can help manage the family’s finances. Members with legal expertise can provide pro bono consultations and filings. Members with trade skills can maintain the family’s home. Members with vehicles can provide transportation. The body of Christ has resources that far exceed its checkbook—but only if it is willing to deploy them.

Rebuilding from Zero

I will not pretend that rebuilding after prison is easy. It is not. The financial, professional, and social damage is severe, and recovery is slow. But it is possible, and it is made possible primarily by three resources Scripture provides: the grace of God, the faithfulness of His people, and—a point too often missed—the believer’s deliberate use of worldly wealth and the friendship of unbelievers willing to help him. Christ commanded the practice explicitly: “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations” (Luke 16:9). The released prisoner who, with proper humility, accepts the help of sympathetic neighbors, former employers, and even worldly contacts is not compromising the Gospel. He is obeying Christ’s instruction to convert temporal resources into eternal investment. Solomon had laid the same foundation centuries earlier from two angles. On the giving side: “He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again” (Proverbs 19:17)—generosity to the needy is treated as a loan to God Himself, with divine interest guaranteed. On the receiving side: “the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just” (Proverbs 13:22)—God superintends the long arc of history so that what the wicked accumulate will, in His timing, be transferred to His people.

A word of clarification is necessary here. When Scripture calls the unrepentant “wicked” or “sinners,” it speaks of their standing before God, not necessarily of their daily conduct toward their neighbors. Many who remain outside the faith in saving terms are nonetheless honorable, generous, principled, and courageous in the natural realm—what the Reformers called common grace. In my own case, perhaps half of the financial and material support that sustained my family during my imprisonment came from outside the evangelical fold: theologically liberal Christians, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, adherents of Far Eastern religions, agnostics, and political fellow-travelers who shared my conservative social convictions, my libertarian resistance to state overreach, my defense of the right to use force against criminal violence, and my willingness to take a public stand at personal cost. They were not the household of faith, but they were friends—often more reliable friends than some who claimed the Gospel and stayed silent or didn’t give a dime. Christ’s command, Solomon’s promise of repayment for what is given, and Solomon’s promise of providential transfer of what the wicked hold all converge on the same point: in the economy of the kingdom, no act of generosity is ever lost, and no need of the saints is ever stranded for lack of providential supply—from any source God chooses to use.

The man who comes out of prison with his faith intact, with a church that stands behind him, and with the determination to work hard and rebuild—that man has a foundation that the prison could not destroy. It is not the foundation he wanted. It is not the life he planned. But it is a foundation built on the Rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).

“The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Job spoke these words after losing everything—his property, his children, his health. He did not say them because he understood why God had allowed the devastation. He said that because he knew who God was. And that knowledge—not financial recovery, not restored reputation, not the reversal of unjust verdicts—is the only foundation that cannot be taken away.

Action Steps

If you face possible incarceration, arrange your financial affairs immediately. Power of attorney, accessible accounts, reduced expenses, and provide documented assets. Do not delay.

If you are a church leader, establish a benevolence fund for families affected by incarceration. Budget for it. Administer it. Treat it as a core ministry, not a peripheral one.

If you are a family member, seek financial counseling from a trusted friend, a church deacon, or a professional advisor. Do not try to manage the financial crisis alone. Accept help without shame.

After release, take any honest work available. Do not wait for the “right” opportunity. Rebuild incrementally. Trust that God, who provided manna in the wilderness, will provide sustenance in the rebuilding.

If support arrives from outside the evangelical fold—from theologically liberal Christians, Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, adherents of other religions, agnostics, or political allies—accept it gratefully without compromising your testimony. Do not refuse legitimate help on sectarian grounds, but do not pretend agreement with what you reject. Thank the giver, thank God for the provision, and bear witness to the Gospel when the door opens. Common grace and providential transfer (Proverbs 13:22) often arrive through unexpected hands.

Discussion Questions

How does the financial devastation of imprisonment reveal the inadequacy of the prosperity gospel? What biblical model of wealth and provision should replace it?

Read Acts 4:34-35. How does the early church’s approach to financial need challenge modern congregations? What would it look like to implement this model for families affected by incarceration?

What practical barriers prevent churches from providing sustained financial support to incarcerated families? How can these barriers be overcome?

How does Job 1:21 apply to the man who has lost everything through imprisonment? What does it mean to “bless the name of the Lord” in the midst of financial ruin?

Read Luke 16:9 and Proverbs 13:22 together. How should a Christian distinguish gratefully accepting material support from non-Evangelicals—theologically liberal Christians, Roman Catholics, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslims, secular friends, political allies—from compromising the Gospel? Where is the line between honoring common grace and confusing the categories of saving faith and natural virtue?