Before you start reading this blog, go read the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:13-32. I have read the story of the Prodigal Son many times in my life. As I have moved through different phases of my life, different parts of it stand out to me.

Let’s jump right in and break it down. We have 3 main characters in this story. The father, the older brother, and the younger brother. The younger brother decides that he no longer wants to be a part of the family and asks for his share of the inheritance that he would have gotten when his father died. The older son stays with the family after his brother leaves.

The younger brother then goes and blows all of his money and becomes so poor that he tries to eat pig food. At the end of his rope and completely humbled, he returns to his father to repent and ask to be a servant. His father is so happy to see him that he forgives him immediately and returns him to the position of a son.  In his happiness, he throws the son a big party.

The older son, seeing this happen, has clearly written his brother off at this point. He is jealous that his father has thrown his brother a party, because he has been there the whole time and never had a party thrown for him. The father rebukes him by saying, “All that I have is yours.  I am throwing the party, because your brother, who we thought was dead, is alive and back” (Luke 15:31-32).

In this story, the father represents God and His willingness to bring sinners who return to Him back into the Kingdom. We, who are sinners, are the younger Prodigal Son. If we are willing to repent and believe in Him, He is happy to restore us as His son. The older son represents the Pharisees. They wanted to be the only ones who had God’s favor and salvation. They wanted to hold onto the power of being the only child.

So, it becomes obvious from this parable that Jesus is speaking of the need for salvation, how wonderful God is to happily bring us back in (even if we don’t deserve it), and that we should be happy for every person that returns home. Just as importantly, it reveals to us something about the nature of God. He is patient with us even when we don’t deserve it.  In 2 Peter 3:9 it says, “The lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” This patient and merciful part of God is what I want to talk about.

From the story, we can imagine what it must have been like for the father. Even though his son was basically saying that he no longer wanted to be a part of the family and essentially treated that father like he was already dead, the father continued to care for the son. He longed for the son to return home. Given how much joy he felt when the son came home, he must have felt an equal amount of anguish over him being gone.  Unlike the brother, he never stopped caring for the younger brother. I can imagine that he felt something like, “Even though my son is prodigal, I will wait and hope for his return.”  Whereas the older brother probably thought, “If he doesn’t care about me, then I don’t care about him. It is unfair that my father cares about him and not just me who has stayed.”

This one is difficult for me. I have a tendency to be very much like the older brother. If you do me bad or mistreat me in some way, I am quick to not want to have a relationship with you. Even worse, if you treat me bad, then I feel fully justified in treating you bad right back. However, if we are to imitate Jesus, this parable tells us that this is not the way I am supposed to react at all. When it comes to matters of salvation or helping someone be restored to a relationship with God, we are supposed to rejoice and be eager to bring them back in.

In Scripture, it tells us that one of our main commandments as Christians is to spread the gospel of salvation and repentance to everyone around us. So why is it so difficult for me to do this, especially with people who have hurt or disappointed me in some way?  For me, and I suspect for many people, the purpose of writing people off or avoiding having interactions with people that I am close to is a means of protecting my own emotions. If I’m not close to that person or I don’t interact with them, then I can’t be hurt.

Most of the world and modern psychology will tell you that this is the right thing to do. At all costs, we should set boundaries in our life that prevent us from ever being hurt by another person. If a situation makes us uncomfortable or we feel that we are being taken advantage of in any way, then we should just abandon that situation or person. I wonder though.  Do most of us separate ourselves from unhealthy situations or just from situations that make us uncomfortable, vulnerable, or just feel bad?

One of the underlying principles in Christianity is that if you follow Christ, you will experience suffering and persecution. In Luke 9:23 it says to, “take up his cross daily, and follow me.” So what does it mean to take up your cross? Christ said in John 6:38 that His mission was to do the will of the Father. Part of that will was for Christ to die on the cross. So He is telling His disciples that they need to find purpose in the Kingdom and be completely committed to it. He is also telling them that they will have to sacrifice to carry that mission out.

Often times, doing the righteous thing is going to come with pain and sacrifice. Most of us think that this means big persecution and even martyrdom. However sometimes suffering is just having to kill our selfish selves. Here’s an example. When my wife and I are having an argument, it is easy and feels right for me to get angry and defend myself by all means necessary even if that is yelling back, name calling, or just trying to argue her down.

I don’t believe that doing this is how God has called me to treat my wife. I am supposed to treat her with love and put her before myself. Often times, putting my feelings aside instead of defending my emotions comes with pain and frustration, and for the time being, makes myself vulnerable and undefended in order to show her God’s love. How many of us have strained relationships with our kids or other family members, because it is too painful for us to go to them and try to repair the relationship? We are too afraid of being hurt or taken advantage of.

Many of you will say, “These people have taken advantage of me in the past.  How can I let that happen again?”  My response to that is, “You shouldn’t.”  Being a good Christian and trying to fix relationships where we can isn’t about rescuing them from the problems they are currently in. It is about bringing Christ into their life. It is about showing them love and compassion. It is not about removing all the negative consequences in their life. It is about showing them that, just like in your life, Christ is the only way to find true peace and happiness.

If you feel internally compelled to repair a relationship with money or try to rescue a person from problems in their life at a great expense to yourself (especially when they aren’t doing anything themselves), I would suggest that you pray about it.  It is likely not God’s answer to the problem. However, if you find God directing you to show them compassion in some way, and to let them know that you love them and God loves them, and that the path out of where they are is through Christ, then you are probably on the right track.

So when we look at the story of the Prodigal Son, we have to ask ourselves “Am I going to be the older son or the father?”  Are we going to put our desire to protect our emotions above sharing the Gospel and showing God’s love to those closest to us?  So, will you take up your cross and follow Christ? Are you willing to experience emotional and physical vulnerability like the father in the story in order to do God’s work?

– Written by Jeremiah

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