This week, I was reading through the story of the prodigal son as it is popularly called. I realized that there’s more to this story than I thought. It’s not a good boy, bad boy story. It is actually the story of two extremes in the body of Christ where one extreme thinks the other is wrong but at the end of the day they are both wrong and they are both missing out on God’s gift.
We all know the story. The first child came and said to the father “Give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them”. He went away rich and began to spend money as though it will never finish but it did. Unfortunately for him, the money finished at a wrong time. The bible says “And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need” (Luke 15:14).
As a response to his current condition, he fell into condemnation; realising how he took advantage of his father’s generosity, he couldn’t summon the courage to go back to him. Instead he gave himself to a hired man. The reward for his service was also interesting; he wasn’t paid, rather the reward was “to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything” (Luke 15:16). What kind of contract is that? How wicked can you be to give someone this kind of contract? Well how else can we paint a picture of what it means to be under the grip of Satan when we allow condemnation to grip our soul. But one day! He received a revelation of the father! The bible says “he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger!” In response to the revelation he said “I will arise and go to my father…”(Luke 15:17-18) And when he got to his father, what a great reception he got, it was as though he had never done anything wrong.
This expression of the father’s love was the beginning of the problem for the elder son. He was in the field working tirelessly to advance the father’s empire when he heard music and dancing. He rushed home to see what was happening. At the entrance, he asked one of the servants, what’s going on here? And he said “Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.” (Luke 15:27) He became very furious and refuse to partake in this celebration which by his standard is nothing but a ‘show of shame’
But why was the elder brother so angry? Why won’t he? He told the father “Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!” (Luke 15:29-30)
But his father’s response changed everything. He said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” (Luke 15:31)
Are you beginning to see the pattern yet? One son thinks he can use God for his own gain but guess what? God is not even angry with that son, he knows that he won’t go far that way but he is only hoping that he will come back to his senses somewhere down the line and return home. The other son thinks he shouldn’t have expectations of God, he just needs to continue working and just be grateful for the gift of having a good father. While God appreciates this, he is not against him asking for his legitimate need.
This is where the two extremes in the body of Christ began to emerge. One group paints a picture of God who is your lunch ticket, for them it is all about asking, and asking and asking. Faith for these people is just to receive. Meanwhile another group paints God as a user. Just serve the Lord, have no expectation of him, manage whatever he gives you out of mercy and don’t be too demanding. Both extremes are wrong. God is a loving father. He gives generously to take care of our needs but the believer must come to maturity in God to know that there’s more in God than just receiving alone. However, when he comes to this maturity, he must not look down on his younger brother who is still struggling with the revelation of God as nothing more than just a giver.
In the end, we must let the father’s word stay with us “Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.” First, stay with him and while you are at it, remember that all he has is yours, all you have to do is ask.
