It’s the Relationship, Stupid

One of the best known lines in politics over the twenty years is: It’s the economy, stupid! , referring to what matters most to the electorate when it comes to voting in presidential elections. The phrase was originally coined by Bill Clinton’s campaign manager in the early 90s in an effort to keep the candidate focused during the long election campaign.

When it comes to the issue of sin, I need a similar reminder to keep myself on track—it’s the relationship, stupid. Too often I completely misunderstand sin, thinking of it as nothing more than “breaking God’s rules”. But in focusing on “do’s and don’ts”, I completely miss the bigger picture.

Yet, as Kenneth Bailey writes in his book The Cross And The Prodigal, the parable of the Prodigal Son offers three revealing insights into sin’s true cost.
Read the rest of this entry »

As Guilty as the Prodigal

Growing up as a “PK” (short for “preacher’s kid”), I was the “good boy”. I may have gotten into my share of mischief, but I never rebelled much as a teenager. I was not a partier, never drank a drop of alcohol, nor was even around drugs. I participated actively in my church youth group and went to a Christian college. You get the pristine picture.

Given this background, it is perhaps understandable that the story of the prodigal son never meant that much to me during that period of my life. It never seemed relevant. Like everyone else, I sinned, but I certainly did not consider myself a “wayward prodigal” or “a rebel without a cause”. Frankly, when I read Luke 15, I found myself identifying with the older son, the “good kid” in the story. Perhaps I even secretly rooted for him when he complained to his father upon his brother’s return because the whole situation smacked of being unfair. To me, the older son seemed to get the short end of the stick. After all, why did he not get a party thrown in his honor?
Read the rest of this entry »

The Lovestruck Father

How do you view God? Is he a stern taskmaster waiting to pounce on us lowly humans the moment we make a mistake? Studies show that our perception of our heavenly Father tends to mirror the way we look at our earthly father. So, if we had a harsh, overly strict dad, we tend to think of God behaving the same way towards us. In stark contrast, Jesus provides a far different perspective for us in the story of the Prodigal Son, a parable with profound insight as to the nature of God’s love for His children.

We read in Luke 15:20: “…And while [the younger son] was still at a great distance, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him.” In a previous post, I looked at the humiliation willingly suffered by the father in the parable by this act of racing to the son. I want to dive in further by looking at the other components of the verse. Based on Ken Bailey’s excellent The Cross and the Prodigal, let me point out three insights we can glean to find out more about God’s love.
Read the rest of this entry »

Undergarments & the Village Gauntlet

Have you ever observed someone making a fool of himself? Even if you are a detached bystander, such a scene can be excruciatingly hard to watch. When I see a person embarrassing himself on television – such as a singer singing the national anthem off key or an actor forgetting a line in a live performance – I find myself flipping the channel, as if that will somehow help end the awkward situation. Clearly, we all have a keen sensitivity to “shame” and “humiliation”, making it truly painful to observe, let alone experience.

We commonly hear the word “humility” associated with our walk with Christ, but how often in the church do we talk of “humiliation”? It is really a foreign concept. But the more you read through the New Testament and discover what God actually did for us on the Cross, you begin to realize that our all-knowing and all-powerful God willingly humiliated and shamed Himself for us. One of the best examples in the Bible demonstrating this is found in Luke 15 in the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Read the rest of this entry »