We currently live in the most fatherless generation in American history in which our fathers didn’t die in war! Think about that! Our fathers are alive, but their hearts aren’t in any way home.
Even though the effects of this fatherless generation run rampant across modern culture, I see the Lord touching the world in a way that will restore the hearts of fathers to their sons just as we see in Malachi 4:5: “Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, so that I will not come and smite the land with a curse.”
Malachi perceived a world absent of fatherhood, not fathers. And I see the same symptom in culture today. The million-dollar question is — how does a generation raised in a proverbial orphanage migrate home and successfully create healthy families for the first time in decades?
It’s easy to get excited about fathers returning home and reconciling with their sons and daughters, but if the reentry is going to go well we will need to prepare on many levels. Building trust and healing wounds are just a few of the challenges we’ll face in the next 50 years.
LESSONS FROM THE PRODIGAL'S PILGRIMAGE
On Sunday morning, August 20, 2019, as I was preparing to lead prayer at Bethel Church, I suddenly heard this phase in my spirit, “Prepare for reentry!” I stood there trying to understand the God-ordained context of this apparent prophetic proclamation.
Abruptly, the prodigal son’s story began to play in my head like a short film or a divine documentary. The tale is familiar to most of us; a farmer has two sons, of which the younger of them (the prodigal) is wayward, rebellious and worldly. He decides to exit his dad’s house with his (supposed) inheritance. He parties it up with prostitutes and pimps and soon he’s stone-broke.
Half starving to death, the kid winds up working at the pig farm slopping hogs. It’s actually quite ironic that he got stuck at a pig farm as the Jews in those days weren’t supposed to eat pork; it was unclean. So that place became a prophetic monument to the boy’s misery…a son in rebellion living an unclean life, feeding unclean animals, and all because he entertained unclean thoughts in his very clean father’s house! In the midst of his misery he has an epiphany; “What the heck am doing at this pig palace when I could be living at my father's farm?” So he comes to himself and heads home. This is where the story gets really good!
His dad has prepared for his son’s reentry because he’s been living in hopeful observation. Furthermore, the father, understanding that shame could derail his boy’s reunion and seeing his son a long way off; runs out to greet him. Throwing his strong arms around his son, he begins kissing him. The boy spills his guts, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” The father, in utter exhilaration, shouts to his servants, “Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.”
RECONCILIATION REQUIRES REAL REPENTANCE
So what can we learn from the prodigal’s pilgrimage that will help us prepare for this epic reconciliation of families? First of all, we must embrace the father's faith for reconciliation, which is demonstrated by his expectation of his son's return. He was able to meet him while he was still a long way from home because he was watching in earnest expectation.
I think it’s important to point out here that the father had faith for his son's return…his repentance, his change of heart. He wasn’t guided by unsanctified mercy. In other words, he didn’t accept his son's sinful lifestyle to woo the boy homeward.
And his son respected his father’s nobility and understood that he couldn’t bring his immoral lifestyle to the father’s farm, knowing prostitutes and pigs were unwelcome there.
No, instead there is an unspoken understanding in the story that the son must acknowledge his sin, and forsake the lifestyle of perversion in exchange for his family’s noble virtues.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN HOLY SPIRIT'S POWER?
Sometimes our love for people is not rooted in faith for their return. Instead, in fear, we undermine the process of repentance by circumventing the journey by renegotiating the terms of endearment. Metaphorically speaking, (and at the risk of sounding rude), we turn the farm into a whorehouse to entice the prodigal to return home because we reason that it’s our holy standard that is keeping them away.
Furthermore, we don’t believe in the Holy Spirit’s ability to convict them of their sin and give them the grace they need to change! Somehow, in our zeal, we mistakenly believe that the goal of God is to get them back in the building, when in fact God’s goal is repentance …to change their way of thinking, and to agree with the Father’s noble lifestyle.
The Apostle Paul said it best, “Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4) Let me point out again that God’s kindness leads to repentance, which then leads to restoration. But reentry without repentance isn’t restoration. It is human sympathy, not God-ordained compassion.
REENTRY AND CONFESSION OF SIN
The wayward son’s repentance is evidenced in his confession, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” The confession of sin is paramount in the reentry process because it’s the catalyst for grace, which is the power to change. The Apostle John put it like this, “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:8-9) In other words, you can't experience cleansing without confession!
The Bible is clear that sin is only overcome by God’s mercy and grace! The difficulty is that the only way to receive mercy, (which means you don’t get the punishment you deserve), is to acknowledge that you deserve to be punished, as mercy is only reserved for the guilty. Therefore, if we normalize sin , and refuse to admit that what we are doing is wrong, we undermine the power of grace, which is the supernatural ability to change.
WE'VE GOT TO DITCH RELIGIOUS JUDGEMENT
The prodigals (fathers, sons, daughters or even mothers) must repent not just return home. But conversely, fathers, family, and the community must ditch their religious, judgmental attitudes towards those who fail. If the family is a punisher, it’s unlikely that prodigal fathers, sons, daughters, and mothers are going to want to renew their relationships. In fact, the fear of rejection; i.e. reaching out and the family not reaching back, is often what hinders or halts the reentry. The Apostle Paul highlights the main secret of reconciliation in this passage. He writes;
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-20)
Did you catch the secret of re-connection? God’s policy of reconciliation is “not counting their trespasses against them!” He goes on to call us “ambassadors of reconciliation” who appeal to the wayward on “Christ’s behalf.” In other words, the preparation for the reconcilers (those living at the father's farm, so to speak) is to embrace the kind of forgiveness that restores the standard and opens the door for the reentry!
Today I want to challenge you to believe God for your miracle of reconciliation and encourage you to not lose hope no matter your circumstances. The more hopeless your situation seems the greater the glory of your restoration will be! Don’t give up!
Are you waiting for a prodigal family member to come home? How do you commit to partnering with true reconciliation? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!
