A version of the following post originally appeared on the Justice Fellowship blog.
“Until now, we’ve been in maximum security prisons with 200 to 500 men.”
Last week’s season premiere of NBC’s The Sing-Off featured one a cappella group whose typical audience is anything but. The six ladies of Timothy’s Gift spend most of their time performing behind bars. So far, they’ve sung in 82 different prisons before 15,206 prisoners.
After the group’s goosebump-worthy performance on stage, Sing-Off judge Shawn Stockman of Boyz II Men praised the ladies and their ministry. “I want to applaud you guys for what you do for those inmates in those prisons,” he said. “That’s, like, a really beautiful thing.”
Group lead Melissa Greene explained what motivates the girls (who met at church) to sing at such restricted venues. “We choose to do this because we want to inspire hope to these men and women,” she said. “Most of them are there for good reason—they have committed a horrible crime. We aren’t trying to defend them or tell people that they are innocent—we’re trying to remind them that they’re humans.”
The intrinsic value of each human life is why Justice Fellowship is so intent on pursuing restorative justice in our criminal justice system. Because God made each human being in His own image, everyone should be treated with dignity, including those responsible for crimes and those hurt by them. Learn more about the principles of restorative justice here.
Sing-Off judge Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy told the audience that he’s played in a lot of weird places, including basements and bowling alleys, but never in prison. “What’s it like?” he asked.
“The first time, we were very intimidated,” recalled Greene. “Then we started singing, and I remembered that this is a son, and this is a husband, and this is a father, and that just brought it back to [the fact that] we’re here to remind them of their humanity and their worth.”
This is a wonderful complement to the message of Christmas. It’s no small thing to be made in the image of a perfect God. A God whose love is big enough to send His own Son into the world to secure for mankind a chance to repent, and a God whose power is strong enough to transform any ugly mistake, evil act, or self-seeking heart into something beautiful that glorifies Him.