Soooo, in reading my devotional the other day it directed me to Luke 15... the section known to be “the Prodigal Son” story. The story isn’t about the Prodigal Son though. It doesn’t tell the tale of “a man with a father and a big brother”, but the story starts “there was a man with two sons”. The story isn’t just about the prodigal son, it’s about the father and his love for his two (very different) sons. Great story, one that is widely used to illustrate God’s forgiveness, acceptance, and His unconditional, fatherly love. So I read the part that my devotional suggested; then I moved on to the part after that, the part that is less often told... the part about *dun dun dunnnnn* the other brother!
If you feel so compelled, go read the story. The well-known part is verse 11-24, but the part I’m referring to starts in verse 25. If you don’t have a bible handy, and getting it out is more than you bargained for when you opened this link, I’ll give you the skinny: The prodigal son returns to his father after running away and shaming the family. He’s dirty, poor, and he stinks, and the father is waiting for him on the front porch, embraces him, clothes him in some nice things (restoring honor) and then begins a celebration. The other brother, who is in the field WORKING at the time, hears the music and dancing, and then is informed of the celebration of his estranged brother’s return.
Imagine the frustration of this brother. He was the faithful one. He stayed. He worked. He did what a son should do. He probably had his own sense of hurt and abandonment from his brother’s absence. Not to mention he probably had twice as much responsibility on him because his brother went rogue and wasn’t there; but he, the faithful brother had never been celebrated like this. So his lazy, irresponsible (embarrassing) brother returns and gets what seems like more love and appreciation than he got for doing the right thing. For being faithful.
I think it’s easy to relate to this brother. I think it’s easy for any of us who have struggled to do what’s right and watched others not even put up a fight for it. It’s frustrating when we are daily working on doing better, being better, and not falling into temptation, then we see others who indulge in those sins and are still celebrated. It’s easy to develop or fall into “OtherBrotherItis”. Sometimes we feel the need to talk about all the mistakes they’re making, and draw attention to their mistakes, so that our “righteousness” stands out more. Sometimes we start justifying more sin for ourselves (because if they can get by with it, so can we). This is something that can really damage our spiritual life.
When the brother shared His frustration with his father, the response from the father was “you are always with me, and everything that is mine is yours”, which I’m sure wasn’t comforting in the frustration of the moment. The father’s response was basically to say, “Yes. I appreciate you and you have your own rewards for your faithfulness,” but He was saying that his love for a flawed prodigal son was just as great. It didn’t take away from his love for the faithful son, and God is saying the same to us. Our faithfulness is not something that God compares to others’ as a reference tool. He deals with us individually. To try to come up with a system or equation to compare everyone, we would have to eliminate grace and all the cross did for us, and go back to the law... and none of us can live without that grace. We are all different, and God deals with us accordingly.
God doesn’t grade on a curve. His standards for us are His standards for us. We will all fall short; it’s not the mistakes of others that will validate us, or the righteousness of others that will condemn us. We’re saved by grace, and as Ephesians 2:8 says, it’s not something we earned, it’s a GIFT from GOD. It would drive us insane to have to earn or “compete” for the favor and acceptance of God. We can’t make Him love us more and we can’t make Him love us less. He loves us and there’s nothing we can do about it.
The lesson most often seen here is the one for the sinner, that God loves you and is eagerly waiting for your return. The lesson is not to tell you how wrong you’ve been or to condemn you, but to let you know that He welcomes you and wants to be in your life (which, if you’ve ever experienced, is humbling all in itself). BUT, the lesson in this for those of us who are in the body of Christ, trying to do what is right (the other brother/sister), is not to compare your level of faithfulness or righteousness to others. Do what you are called to do, and receive your reward; and don’t get caught up in trying to decide who does or does not deserve God’s love, grace, acceptance. While we were still sinners, Jesus died for us (Romans 5:8), so who are we to differentiate?
Your relationship with God is just that, your relationship with God. He will not judge you more harshly because of how faithful Mother Theresa was, and he will not judge your sinful brother more harshly because of how faithful you were. Don’t let His grace for someone else that you deem undeserving skew your view of the grace He’s had with you. That’s a quick way to find yourself being ungrateful for the best thing that ever happened to you. We shouldn’t focus on the flaws and failures of our brothers and sisters in Christ, we should celebrate their victories and be rooting for them every step of the way.
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