WE'VE ALL HAD PRODIGAL MOMENTS
- TONY VANCE
- Oct 28, 2015
- 4 min read
(This article first appeared on Kevin Small's site here, that I wrote as a guest BLOG there)
We have all had Prodigal moments. Drifting from the Father and seeking to do our own thing, our own way, that’s being a prodigal, in my eyes. Maybe, being a prodigal is seeking to live contrary to the way we should. In that sense, we all have been prodigals. Isaiah 53:6 (KJV) “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Jesus came to die for the prodigal in us all.
Is it possible for a Christian to become a prodigal? Is backsliding, a concept taught in scripture? Sure, in concept and name. Now, lest someone think this is a debate about ‘losing’ your salvation, it’s not. No, the prodigal in Luke 15 is, was, and forever will be the son of the father. Hosea 11:7 (KJV) “And my people are bent to backsliding from me: though they called them to the most High, none at all would exalt him.”
I believe Christians can become prodigals. I did. It may not seem significant, on the surface, to say, a Christian backslid (became a prodigal, if you will) but what if I told you a pastor became a prodigal. I was that pastor. I was the husband of an amazing wife, father of two fantastic children, pastor of a wonderful little country church. Yet, in my weakness, my failure, my sin, I became a prodigal.
Hosea 14:4 (ASV) “I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away from him.” This verse, spoke to my heart, not when I was in my far country, but later. See, Luke 15 is my story, my journey to a dark, forbidding place, where it seemed safe, but wasn’t. I had become the PRODIGAL.
There is a very important ministry in the New Testament, Paul points to it in his second letter to the church at Corinth. 2 Corinthians 5:18 (HCSB) “Everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:” Reconciliation, the Greek word καταλλαγή, literally means ‘restore’. This reminds me of the verse in Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia, Galatians 6:1 (ASV) “Brethren, even if a man be overtaken in any trespass, ye who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; looking to thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”
As a prodigal, myself, it was apparent that I had to do as the prodigal in the story in Luke did. It said, “he came to himself” Luke 15:17 (KJV). I had to come to a place of realizing I had to change, I had to make the path back home. Just as the younger son, in stark realization of his despair, I did, I felt the father could take me back, as a lowly servant, for I was less than that, in my eyes.
In my denomination, there is no formal plan of reconciliation of a minister that has had a moral failure. So no plan was implemented. It was assumed I would not be back in ministry, who would listen to the message of a prodigal. I spent the first year, just trying to survive the days. So much hurt had come from my prodigal living. I had hurt my family and many others. In the next few years, after that first year, there was a reconciling. Steps were made, teaching a small group, helping lead worship, teaching in a more formal church settings. These were steps, slowly implemented at the local church level, not in any formal way, just moments of filling in gaps. Still, reconciliation had not become restoration. No, a dear brother, Pastor Chad Neil, put me on the path of restoration…by asking me to preach.
That was a little more than a year ago. God used a dear precious brother in Christ to move me into the path of restoration. After wrestling with the thought of preaching in a pulpit, once again, I met with my pastor. His council, grace, and patience with my journey, reminded me of the father in Luke 15. “I was waiting on you,” he said to me in his house, as I told him I wished to return to the ministry, to preaching. “I saw no need to rush you. God’s plan seemed better.” Yes, the Father was waiting, waiting for me to return, to the former relationship He had for me, formerly.
Romans 11:29 (KJV) “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” God had called me to preach his word, as a sixteen year old boy. I was called to take the Gospel to the world, the world I encountered. I had seen God use my ministry in amazing, miraculous ways, but would I be able to go BACK? Restoration was the key word God used to awaken my calling inside. When we restore a car or furniture, it is back to original as possible, it’s not exactly, but we do the best we can, with what we have to work with.
I will be the vessel God can use, prodigal worn, and the stench from my prodigal pigpen still lingers in the air. In Luke 15, the son, fresh (oh, fresh here is not meant to be pleasant) from the hogs, has a robe, draped upon his filth, clothed as a member of the household, now RECONCILED! The dirt, from slopping pigs, still stained his hands, when a ring was placed on his hand, signifying his ability to speak for his father. The shoes, placed on the feet that sought destruction, “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace” Ephesians 6:15 (KJV).
A robe of righteousness, a ring of authority, and feet shod with Gospel preparation is a story of reconciliation, of restoration, and a prodigal received. There is hope, ‘Hope for the Journey’, as my friend Kevin Small keeps pointing you to. See your prodigal journey could be physical, emotional, or mental addictions or it could be moral failure, burn-out, or catastrophe of a myriad of causes. My message is: there is a path of reconciliation, of restoration. God seeks to bring you back to Him, His gaze is on the path, you will return on. It’s the path He will meet you on, kiss you and welcome you back home, His son, His restored, reconciled one.