Elder Brother, Younger Brother
A Word on Acceptance
In the
parable of the prodigal son, we see many truths about our spiritual lives. But,
there is one aspect that I would like to point out here. (Luke 15:11-32) First
we have the prodigal son who goes into the world and lives for himself. He
lives a riotous life, that mirrors what a rock star might live. You get the
picture. He took the blessings of the father and went into the world and
partied with it.
We also see in the parable that
there is an elder brother, who stays at home with the father. He obeys
everything the father tells him to obey. He lives a humble, austere life at
home. He never ventures out into the world very far. He grows bitter,
resentful, and judgmental. He feels he is owed a blessing for obedience.
We can see these two characters
played out today in our churches. You have the person who grew up living in the
world and went full tilt in it. Then trouble comes into his life and God uses
that time of trouble to draw him to be saved. Then, the person starts trying to
live right and do what they are being led by God to do. But, they are still
very rough around the edges, and know it. They then come to church where they
encounter the elder brother.
This is the person who grew up in
church. The elder brother never strayed too far from the laws of God. Oh sure
they “sinned”. They missed church that
Sunday, and kissed a boy behind the woodshed. They went to that party and got
drunk and had to call their parents from jail that one time. “Never again!”
they promised God, and they kept it. But, they did other things secretly, or
unknowingly, or unadmittedly.
The Elder Brother thinks, whether
they know it or not, “This guy comes to the church, because he’s in trouble. He
took the life, and the gifts, and the image of God and then wallowed in the mud
with the pigs. He’s not well churched. He doesn’t talk right. He’s rough, and
he doesn’t fit in. He will never totally fit in. He still smokes, he cusses, he
has a woman he meets, he drinks, and he just tries to hide it all. He won’t
last long.”
The younger brother feels it. He can
feel that some people in the church will never accept him because of who he
was. He can tell by how they look at him and exclude him, that he is not one of
them. Oh sure they invite him. But, it feels like charity or pity. He hears the
sermons and listens to the teachings and knows he doesn’t measure up. He knows
that he never will. But, they all seem to. They seem to be perfect, even though
he knows they aren’t. Next Sunday he’ll just sleep in.
This scenario plays out in churches all across this land. Someone wants to change their lives, but the perfect people become a stumbling block to them. The person who has been involved in church their whole life cannot understand that the person who has been in the world, has many layers of things that God must remove over time. It doesn’t happen overnight. A person gets saved the minute they confess Jesus as their Lord, but it takes a life time to get totally healed of the damage that has been done to them.
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger from Southern Illinois. He has published in several magazines, and has written a poetry eBook called “Against the Man” and an Addiction Recovery eBook called “Made Free: Overcoming Addiction“ His newest book is called “The Future is Coming” and is a collection of dystopian short stories.
Follow Him on Medium: https://chris-bunton.medium.com/
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Photo by the writer. A Creepy Alley
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