Ministry through Law

When Bill and Margie went to see a lawyer, they did not expect to get spiritual advice. All they wanted was help filing for divorce. After disputes over how to manage their meager income, their roles in marriage, and how to raise their children, the couple tired of attempts at reconciliation. Compounding the problem, Bill was having an affair. Yet providentially they sought assistance from a charitable Christian legal service organization in New Mexico, where their lawyer refused to proceed with a divorce until he was satisfied that biblical grounds existed and that they had made reasonable attempts to reconcile. So they studied Scripture’s view of marriage and ultimately restored their relationship.¹ They were not alone. During a five-year pilot program in Albuquerque, 400 couples on the brink of divorce reconciled with the help of spiritual counsel from a network Christian attorneys committed to addressing both legal and spiritual problems among the poor.²

The first modern Christian legal aid program began in 1973 when Chuck Hogren opened the Cabrini-Green Legal Aid Clinic in one of Chicago’s poorest neighborhoods. Organized through the LaSalle Street Church, the clinic pursued justice for clients who could not afford adequate legal representation. For instance, Hogren helped one man fight murder charges after police threatened a witness with a shotgun until he agreed to testify falsely against the accused.³ In another case, he exonerated a man whose only crime was having the same name as a fugitive wanted by the police.⁴ During its first decade of existence, the Cabrini-Green clinic inspired similar Christian legal organizations across America to pursue Scripture’s mandate to bring justice to the poor.⁵

The movement took a new turn in the early 1980s when the national Christian Legal Society began to envision a more holistic form of legal service. Rather than simply defending constitutional and statutory rights, it proposed diagnosing clients’ spiritual needs and meeting them with a gospel witness.⁶ To test this approach, the society funded the New Mexico pilot project that helped save Bill and Margie from divorce.⁷ Similar programs surfaced in the late 1990s after the federal government reduced funds for secular legal services to the poor.⁸ Between 1997 and 2001 “Christian Legal Aid” programs began in 40 U.S. cities, as well as several African cities. Over the next five years, 11 new cities established organizations, yielding a total of 50,000 volunteer hours annually by believing attorneys.⁹

The counsel is often more than legal. For instance, in Hawaii, a drug addict sought help from attorney Tom Rulon. The young man had been working as a waiter on a cruise liner before getting drunk and missing the boat at a port of call. He was fired and lived on the streets for two weeks before seeking assistance. In addition to helping him regain the job, Rulon talked with the man about God’s plan for his life and gave him a pocket New Testament. A few months later the lawyer encountered his former client and learned that he was following Christ and voraciously reading the Bible.¹⁰

Similarly, attorney John Robb helped a client with an outstanding arrest warrant turn to Christ. Exploring the man’s legal troubles, he discovered a serious drug and alcohol problem, which had led to a broken marriage. So Robb helped the man establish a plan for rehabilitation and shared his own Christian testimony. Convicted by this witness, the man repented of his sins with tears and recommitted to following the Lord.¹¹

In this litigious society, many lawyers are known more for their greed than their grace, more for their aggression than their compassion, more for their guile than their integrity. Thank God for lawyers who provide salt and light in their counsel, and who pursue blessed peacemaking in their offices.

Footnotes: