Christians love the Parable of the Prodigal Son. And why wouldn’t we? There’s drama, loss, family tension, crisis, and reconciliation – all the ingredients of a great story! While it’s one that we love, there are lessons that we seem to keep missing when we read it. Maybe that’s because we’re so busy reminiscing about our own return to the Father, that we miss what He’s trying to tell us. But we really can’t afford to. Jesus’ parable wasn’t just told as a beautiful illustration of the gospel. It was told in response to the grumbling of the religious elite over his eating and drinking with sinners (Luke 15:1-2). There are 3 lessons we can’t afford to miss.

1.       We don’t win the lost by forcing them to stay

It may be incidental to the focus of the story, but one can’t help but contrast the father’s response to the prodigal’s desire to leave (Luke 15:12) with the response of many parents and churches when someone has abandoned their faith. When the son asks to move out, the father allows him to do so but doesn’t shield him from the consequences of his foolish decisions (Luke 15:13-16). While appeals, encouragements, and invitations are commendable, parents often resort to bargaining and churches can apply guilt and pressure in an attempt to force outward conformity where there is no inward desire. The prodigal is only driven farther away, and the gospel is cheapened in the process. Far better to let the person leave with the experience of grace and the warning of judgment than try to manipulate, coerce, or control.

2.       We don’t welcome the lost by ignoring repentance

In the story, the father is clearly more concerned with his son’s return than he is that he gets the words right in his admission of sin. Grace and love are to dominate our response to the lost. It is not insignificant, however, that Jesus includes such a clear and unequivocal statement of repentance from the prodigal. This mirrors John the Baptist’s call to sinners (Matt 3:2, 8) as well as Jesus’ own good news message (Matt 4:17). When we hand over the “ring” and the “robe” to a sinner just for showing up we do both them and the gospel a disservice. I remember an individual who claimed to be a Christian. Every so often, he would take a vacation from Jesus. He would check out from fellowship, service, church attendance, and Christian living for many months at a time. When he returned, the church celebrated. But because no one cared enough to confront what had happened and why, the pattern continued, and the sin remained a private tyranny.

3.       Nothing should bring believers more joy than the salvation of the lost

It must have been heartbreaking for Jesus to be confronted with a religious community whose values were so completely out of step with the Father’s. The Pharisees were concerned with their own status and their own righteousness, but not with the lost. Their needs had become primary, and they resented Jesus giving attention to people they felt were not worthy of him. His depiction of the selfish, brooding older brother who is thinking about how he should be rewarded instead of celebrating the return of a lost brother confronts this attitude directly. It is easy for a church to become consumed with its own needs and for believers to focus on good pursuits like Bible study and personal growth while missing the heart of the Father through their failure to embrace his pursuit of sinners. Jesus is calling the church to share the Father’s compassion who looked for the prodigal “while he was still a long way off” and when he saw him “felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20). Do you see the spiritual needs of the people around you? Do you spend time eating with them the way that Jesus did with the hope of leading them home? Do you let other priorities get in the way of the lost that Jesus has sent us to reach?

We all need to hear the message of Jesus’ Parable of the Prodigal Son afresh today. May God guide you as you apply its lesson.

In awe of Him,

Paul