One of the things that I have been struggling with as I reflect on my time in Malawi is how to approach paying outstanding fines on an ongoing basis. I have been uncomfortable with the concept of paying the fine for someone who has been convicted of a crime without any assurance that we will not receive a request to do the same thing for the same person a few months later. Charles Msukwa and the interns with Amazing Grace Christian Ministry will be following up and mentoring those whose fines have been paid, which has helped alleviate my concerns.

My concerns were essentially eliminated during a conversation I had with my mother-in-law a few days after I returned home. I was telling her that we had paid the fines for four women so that they could be released from prison. Without expressing any of my concern to her, she stated: "What you did is like what Jesus did for us." This is when I realized that my being uncomfortable was not the result of any Biblical principle, but was the result of what our culture has taught me.

Crime and punishment are fundamental ideals in our society. While these ideals are important to create an orderly and law abiding society, they are not always consistent with the Bible's concept of grace. The Bible requires us to be "imitators of God" and to "walk in love, just as Christ also loved." (Ephesians 5:1-2). Jesus' death on the cross paid for our sins. It is what releases us from the bondage of sin. God's grace is free. We do not earn it. We do not deserve it.

If we are called to imitators of Christ, then we should be willing to show grace in the same way that He showed it. This means being willing to pay fines for men and women who have been convicted of crimes so that they can be released from their physical bondage.