The way of moral conformity

The Parable of the Prodigal Son
Luke 15:29-30
But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. ³⁰ But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

In this post I want to look at the root of the older son's problem and how most times we in the church, myself included, are more like the older son and less like the younger son. Many times, myself included again, we in the church are just as lost and sinful in our moralism, like those rebellious sons out in the world. Let's start to realize this lost and sinful state by examining the older son in greater detail.

So, the older brother is the son who stayed close to home, living with his father, never asking his father for anything, and simply following the rules set down by his father. The older son did what was right in the eyes of the father and always was looking out to make sure that the wealth and goods of the father were taken care of. The older son was in complete control of himself and very self disciplined and always did what was right. The older son look like the good son and was respectful and of high honor in the town thanks to the name of his father. The older son knew that once his younger brother left, everything that was left in the house and the estate was his and when his father was gone, would be his to keep and run. But just like the younger son, the older son wanted his father's stuff and not his father. He gets mad when the father makes a decisions and welcomes his brother back with open arms. It was the father's wealth, not the love of his father, that defined and made the older son happy and fulfilled. Simply put the older son's moral life and "good" actions were keeping him lost from the father just like the younger son. And what is the scariest thing about the older son is that he is more lost than the younger son, because he thinks he is ok when in reality he is just as lost and as far away from the father as the younger son.

Now let's look at some ways that we are just like the older son. We are just like the older son when we obey God to get things. When life does not go our way and life does not give us what we want we become angry and bitter at life and God. We become the older son when we have an inability to handle suffering because being good and "right" does not give us good results. When we do good and it does not pay off, we become confused and enraged. We are an older brother when our image is one of being hard working, moral and good, members of a special group, and extremely smart and savvy. Another sign of an older brother is someone who is living a life of fear based and result based compliance and obedience to God rather than a life of joy and love for God. Finally the older brothers might be diligent and faithful in prayer but there is no wonder, awe, intimacy, and delight with God. When we start to go down this list, we begin to realize, because I know I did, that we are just like the older brother and we need to begin to enjoy the Father and His love for us, rather than doing what is right to get the results we want.

Tomorrow we will look at the one person who is missing from this story.