Are We Acting Like the Older Brother?

You may be familiar with the Parable of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15:11-32.  Basically, the younger of two sons asks his father to have his inheritance now, and then goes and wastes it.  When he is broke, eventually he repents of his foolishness and asks his father to take him on as a servant.  The father, being overjoyed that his son returned, throws a party for him.  There’s a lot of food, and everyone’s having a good time.

Except the older brother.

When he hears of it, the older brother gets mad, and won’t go in to the party or greet his brother.  He’s angry that his father has thrown a party for his foolish, sinful, wasteful brother.  Here he has been good, well-behaved, hard-working, and yet his brother’s getting a party, not him.  It doesn’t seem fair.

Instead of rejoicing that his sinful brother has come to his senses, that he’s repented and reconciled to the family, the older brother feels cheated.

He’s so much better, so much more godly.  Why is the sinner getting the party?

We know the end of the story.  The father gently rebukes his older son, since it is right that the return of the younger son be celebrated.  Some pastors have taught that Jesus used this parable to show the Pharisees their hypocrisy.  The Pharisees were the older brother, outraged that the Father would choose to show mercy to the tax collectors, prostitutes, and the other collective “younger brother” sinners who weren’t even bothering to follow the traditions.  While they, who kept to the letter of the rabbis’ teachings, were treated as equal with these sinners.

Too often, we’re the Pharisees.

We Christian girls reject another Christian because she fell into sin and got pregnant outside of marriage, even though she’s repented.

We Christian girls gossip about another Christian who wears a miniskirt to church, instead of offering to go shopping with her and help her realize her body is a beautiful temple of God which no one besides her husband has a right to.

We Christian girls berate another Christian who uses a different translation of the Bible instead of our beloved KJV, NASB, NIV, etc., treating our favored translation of the inspired Word of God as the only translation inspired by God.

Girls, we’ve fallen into the trap the older brother did.

We think we’re so perfect, because we may not have broken a few of the “big” rules.  But we forget that we have broken the rules.

Jesus came to die for our sins as well.

The older brother thought he was so perfect.  But there he was, angry at his father, believing his father was wrong to use his money the way he wanted to, refusing to please his father and go in and celebrate.

The Pharisees thought they were so perfect.  But there they were, holding the traditions of men above the dictates of God.

The older brother thought he was so perfect, but he had no love or compassion for his younger brother.

How often do we forget to love our “younger sisters”?

How often do we think we’re obeying God, but turn a cold shoulder to our fellow Christians?

I’m not saying we should turn a blind eye to those who sin willingly and see nothing wrong with it.  But I am saying that we are super quick to ostracize without examining our own lives.  We are super quick to judge others on things which aren’t even sins but our personal preferences.  And we are super quick to condemn without even going to them as concerned sisters in humility and grace.

What if God treated us that way?

What if the father in the story had turned away his younger son?

God in His mercy forgives us when we repent.  He rejoices when we return to Him.  Shouldn’t we do the same instead of condemning our fellow Christians?

Our fellow sinners?

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