God Wants Sons, Not Slaves (Part II)

Photo Credit: Vlada Karpovich

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In my last post I explored the well-known parable of the lost/prodigal son from the older son’s perspective and pointed out what I believe to be one of the most important lessons from the parable:

God wants sons (and daughters), not slaves.

This post will explore that same lesson, but from a different perspective within the story — that of the younger son.

Before we jump in, take a few minutes to read the parable.

What’s Going On

With this parable, Jesus is actually telling a story of two lost sons, not one. And the deep thing about the parable is that it shows us that lost-ness can, and does, manifest itself in different ways.

For some, being lost means turning and running from God, denying him totally and living for themselves.

For others, being lost can mean maintaining a belief in God and remaining faithful to His commands, all while not actually knowing Him, loving Him, or cherishing the significance of simple relationship with Him. With this type of lost-ness, self is just as much at the center as if God had been turned from altogether; the faithfulness to His commands being driven mostly by a desire to earn something from Him — be it His love, favor, forgiveness of sins, eternal reward etc.

The older son in the parable was the latter type of lost. He, like many Christians (myself included, at times), prioritized obedience to commands over genuine closeness to — and partnership with — his father.

The younger son was the former type of lost. He took what he could get from his father and went about as far away as he could to live only for himself.

But, as it always does, living for himself eventually took a toll on him. A toll we’ll now explore.

The Effect of His Mistakes

As the younger son sat poverty-stricken and starving in a distant land, he came to his senses. In this moment of clarity, he remembered how good even the servants had it in his father’s household. In his desperate state, he was giving serious thought to something that had probably been impossible in his mind just moments before…he thought about going home.

But he’d done so much harm to the family, his father in particular.

Let’s assess what all the younger son had done wrong in asking for his inheritance while his father was still living, then taking his premature wealth and leaving the family:

• He had essentially told his father he wished he was dead (or at least he was saying that he didn’t care if he was alive)
• He abandoned his entire family and essentially told them he didn’t care about being a part of them either
• He’d go on to waste the fortune that his father gave him with wild living
• He’d brought great shame on their family precisely for all the reasons listed above

And make no mistake, the younger son was fully aware of all of the transgressions he’d committed against his father and family. So, as he made the long journey home, he did so as a shamed and broken man.

And this brings us to the portion of the parable I’d like to focus on:

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I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

“The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

Luke 15: 18-24 (NIV; emphasis mine)

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Because of the shame he felt over what he’d done, the younger son had in his heart traded his glorious, bestowed identity of “son” for that of a hired servant. He was sure that his father wouldn’t accept him back as his son, so he was willing to put himself in a low position in an attempt to earn back some amount of favor or respectability.

You see that? Working and earning. Just like his older brother was working and trying to earn.

It’s the curse of the fall…God’s image bearers working, not with God, but for Him.

The older son had made himself a slave in his heart and the younger son had made himself a servant; each, in turn, selling their beautiful father short by making him out to be an employer (or worse, a slave master).

Takeaways

We must examine the hearts of these brothers and remember they are us, and we are them. They are analogues to highlight our human hearts and how they, in their fallen state, miss the heart of God. In addition, we must examine the heart of the father in the story and acknowledge what it reveals about how God views His people.

There will be many times in this life that we screw things up. In these times it’s important to be humble, acknowledge our wrongdoing, ask for forgiveness, come back and reconnect to the Father (this is what repentance is).

What we cannot do, is fall prey to the lies of the enemy — hellish whispers telling us that, because of our failures, we’ve become less than sons and daughters of the King.

In the interchange between the younger son and his father, Jesus is showing us the heart of the Father that he knows so well. Jesus is telling the hearers that God the Father — no matter what you’ve done or how royally you’ve screwed up — has declared you “son” and He has established you as “daughter.” End of story.

If you are willing to come back to Him, you are not only accepted, but you are restored — No matter how tattered and tarnished you may be as you return to him. On your sun-beaten shoulders the best robe is placed, the family ring is returned to your finger, and sandals are placed to your dusty, aching feet.

The story of “The Prodigal Son” illustrates two of the common tactics the enemy uses to lead humans away from the heart of the One whose image they bear:

1) religious pride / effort / self-sufficiency
2) intense shame and guilt

The effect of both tactics on the heart is the same. Both result in replacing the identity of esteemed child with that of servant or slave.

But hear this and let these words sink into your entire being down to your very foundations….

God does not need your prideful religious slavery
and
He does not need your shameful, guilt-ridden servitude.

He doesn’t need them, and He doesn’t want them either — He never has. What He wants is YOU. He wants His child.

God simply wants sons and daughters to walk with Him, love Him, trust Him, enjoy Him, and work with Him (not for Him) — just like in the garden!

In Closing

If you examine your heart and find that, for whatever reason, you’ve traded your God-given sonship (or daughtership) for servitude, acknowledge it and turn back to the loving heart of the father!

And from this point ask him to begin revealing Himself as loving father and ask Him to help you know what it means to live as His beloved child. Ask Him to uncover his loving fatherhood both in scripture and in your everyday life and watch Him work.

In doing these things you can begin to rest in His goodness instead of your effort.

Sonship is a lifelong experience that God wants you to walk in.

Stop worrying about earning things from God and realize that you have Him….And, what more could you really want?

Your brother,
Alex