Monday was a very long day. We went to the pre conference classes. After the classes, we went out to eat (O'Charley's) as a staff and then headed back to the hotel. With it being a long day and a late night (8:00 - 11:00), I was the only one that went down to the General Session and it "rocked". the worship was fantastic but the message from Reggie was a great message and a message that I needed to be reminded of. I think that this is a message that we need to examine very closely.
He used the story pf the Prodical Son as the backdrop for his message. If you are not familiar with the story or you want a refresher on the story, click here.
One of the foundational aspects of the message is the following: We, as a church, need to treat every prodical in a way that a loving father would treat his own son.
During the message, a few comparisons came out. Here are the comparisons:
Comparison Number 1
Loving Father: Preoccupied with whoever is missing
Older Brother: Concerned about ourselves
Comparison Number 2
Loving Father: Responds from the context of forgiveness
Older Brother: Responds from the context of shame
Comparison Number 3
Loving Father: Throws Parties
Older Brother: Throws Fits
Comparison Number 4
Loving Father: Confronts older brother thinking
Older Brother: Criticizes the loving father
Comparison Number 5
Loving Father: Keeps light on
Older Brother: Turns lights off
I believe that it is vital for us to create a community in the church where we are living out of the loving father. However, I have seen and witnessed too many people and too many churches who operate out of the older brother mentality.
As a church, we must treat the "prodigal" as a loving father. This is the number one thing in our lives. Our generation needs a loving father. They do not need an older brother.
A word of caution. If you are going to adapt the loving father approach; you will need to develop a "strong hide" because you will be criticized. But, we need to hold firm and let the older brothers know the following:
Criticize all you want, we will continue to welcome and love the sinner.
Live out the principles of the loving father. I believe that they can be summed up in the following two words: forgiveness and joy.
So .....
which one are you ?
which church do you belong to ?
which one of the comparisons are the toughest for you to swallow ?
7 comments:
And thanks for giving me my message for a week from this Sunday. ;)
You are welcome.
I thought of you while I was down tere; in particular the Partnering with Parents Seminar.
A pondering thought would be this:
What would have happened in the story if the older brother was the first to see him.
Playing that out in our minds as we reach out to people can put an interesting twist on it.
Another interesting point regarding the 'preoccupied":
If you are not preoccupied with whatever is missing; you will be preoccupied with something else - those "in" will preoccupy you.
Then another kicker is this mindset:
Who are we trying to reach, not who are we trying to keep.
I could go on ... it was good; real good :) Let me know how it goes.
I really liked some of the alternative perspectives. I shall give them some thought and can see myself using them in the future.
To me, it's much either to have the perspective of the loving father when we remember that the prodigal son REPENTED and came back home. He turned away from his sin and wickedness. My response SHOULD be loving toward someone who "sees the error of his ways" and runs back home. As a Christian, I was at some point that person....I got myself in a mess, then repented and came running to the ultimate Father.
Rhea:
I think that we should show the loving father mentality no matter what the person foes - we do not wait for them to ask for repentance.
If we look at Jesus (loving father), we see many times over Jesus loving individuals even without their repentance.
Even in this story, the father was not "listening" to the forgiveness speech; he already forgiven them and showing the love.
The Pharisees (older brother) show rejection and snobbish, greater than thou attitude and are focused on self then on others.
We could take a look at all of the scripture and "break" them down if you want to do it.
I agree that the father is not listening to the forgiveness speech....he has clearly already forgiven him, BUT....whether that happened BEFORE or AFTER he repented...I'm not sure that you can say that 100% either way.
Rhea:
The one thing that I can say with 100% certanity is that I want to show the qualities of the loving father over the qualities of the older brother 100% of the time.
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