Category Archives: Relationship

Servant or Son

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In Luke 15:11-24, Jesus tells the story of the Prodigal Son. I’m sure most of us are familiar with the story of the youngest son who demanded to receive his inheritance from his father even though his father is still alive. We know that the young man then took the money, went to a foreign country, and squandered his inheritance, ultimately ending up feeding pigs.

The story goes on to say that the son came to a point where he realized that he would be better off as one of his father’s servants than where he was currently. The son begins the journey home, and when his father sees him, he runs to him, embraces him, and has the servants bring sandals, the best robe, and a ring, indicating that the son is restored to his position as his son. It is a beautiful picture of the love of our heavenly Father towards all who make their way back to His Presence.

However, during my recent studies of this parable, I’ve discovered that there is a lot more depth to the story than we normally see: more than space allows in this blog post. I would like to touch on one area, though, that I believe is significant. That is the area concerning the son’s motive for returning home, and his thought process for making that decision.

 In verses 17-19, the Bible says, “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ The son did not feel he was worthy of being a son, so he thought he would offer himself as a hired servant to escape his horrible situation.

At the time of Jesus, there were three levels of servants. One was a bondsman who was a servant who was part of the estate, almost part of the family. This would have been the type of servant Joseph was in Potiphar’s house. The second type of servant was a lower-class servant who was subordinate to the bondsman. They usually did most of the menial and undesirable work. The third type of servant is the hired servant, which is the one the son asked to be.

As a hired servant, the son did not belong to the estate and had no vested interest in his father’s business. He was a casual laborer- a day laborer who lived independently in the local village. His social status was not inferior to that of his father or his brother. He could maintain his pride and independence, and he could possibly even save enough money to pay off the debt he owed his father. In other words, the son was not even considering the possibility of being restored as a son—and he may not have even wanted to be restored; he was only seeking to improve his situation.

However, after the son returns home and the father runs to him and embraces him, the son begins his prepared speech (21). He makes it through the first part of the speech but stops at “Treat me as one of your hired servants.” The father cuts him off and tells the servants to bring the sandals, which represent his position as a son, since servants did not wear sandals. They brought out the best robe, which was probably the father’s robe, indicating to everyone that he was not condemning his son, but fully accepting him and covering him with his grace. They also placed a ring on his finger, which was the family seal, giving the son authority to conduct business. The father was making sure that everyone knew he was not a servant, but that he was fully restored to sonship. “This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased.”

I don’t believe the son was fully repentant when he first decided to return to his father. Either because he didn’t feel worthy to be considered a son, or he still wanted to maintain his pride and independence, he was only looking to serve his father to improve his current situation. It wasn’t until after he experienced his father’s grace and felt his embrace that he truly surrendered and entered fully into his role as son.

 After studying this, I couldn’t help but consider my own relationship with our Heavenly Father. I had to ask myself, “Have I truly experienced His embrace and responded to His grace by accepting my position of sonship, and I don’t have to walk in shame (Rom. 8:15-17)? Do I understand that I am fully accepted by Him through the blood of Jesus Christ and protected from condemnation because I am clothed with His robe of righteousness (2 Cor. 5:20-21)? And, do I understand that, as His son, I have been given authority to do the works of Jesus through His name (John 14:12-16)? Or, because of feelings of shame, unworthiness, or pride, do I only see myself as a servant who is merely using God to try to improve my current situation while missing out on the blessings and relationship that can come from sonship?”

How about you? Are you a servant or a son/daughter?

NOTE: If you continue reading the parable to the end, you will notice that the eldest son even struggled with his identity as a son (verses 29-32).

Stop Seeking Heaven

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Over the past several months, I’ve thought a lot about how much the church talks about heaven. A lot of our songs are about heaven. Pastors preach about heaven. When we evangelize, we focus on helping people find their way to heaven. We talk about the pearly gates, the streets of gold, the peace and joy we will experience, and that God will wipe away every tear. And we can’t wait until we get there!

However, I noticed that people talked about the place called heaven, but there was little mention of the God of heaven. There is an emphasis on being saved to spend eternity in heaven, but very little is mentioned about spending that eternal life with God. It seems that we have separated heaven from God. A. W. Tozer wrote in his book, The Pursuit of God, “Christ may be ‘received’ without creating any special love for Him in the soul of the receiver. The man is ‘saved,’ but he is not hungry nor thirsty after God. In fact he is specifically taught to be satisfied and encouraged to be content with little.”[1]

I liken this to going to an Airbnb. About every three years, we get together with our boys and their families for a large family vacation. We found that it worked well for us to rent a large home where we had plenty of room to sleep, relax, eat, and visit. And, everywhere we stayed, we always enjoyed the PLACE but never met the PERSON who owned the place. In the same way, we may be guilty, as Tozer says, of receiving salvation and looking forward to going to the PLACE called heaven but have not developed a special love for the PERSON of God.

And I have concluded that our focus is on the wrong thing for we cannot truly experience heaven without having a relationship with God. There is no heaven without God. We cannot separate the two. It is only in the Presence of God that we can experience the blessings and joy of heaven. It is only when we hunger and thirst for Him that heaven becomes a reality not only in the future but even here and now.

Therefore, I want to challenge you (and myself) to stop seeking the place of heaven and begin seeking the God of heaven. Ask the Holy Spirit to stir your heart to hunger and thirst for Him and the closer you grow in your relationship with Him, the more of heaven you will experience in your life.

[1] Tozer, A. W. 2013. The Pursuit of God. Minneapolis, MN. Bethany House: 23.

Servant or Friend

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Our church has been reading through the Bible together and I noticed something interesting in the first four verses when we recently read through the book of 1 John. John begins his letter by writing:

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.”

Do you notice how much he talks about his “experience” with Christ? He mentions several times how they saw him, looked upon him, touched him, and how Jesus, who was with the Father, was made manifest to them and now they can have fellowship with the Father through him. And, because of what he experienced, he can now honestly and authoritatively proclaim the truth of eternal life.

I believe the point John was making is that his message of salvation and eternal life is not just theory or religious ideals that may not be different from any other religious teachings. He is stating that his message instead comes from a true life-changing encounter with Jesus Christ. John is making a distinction between religion and a relationship.

John emphasizes this difference several times in his letter when he says, “If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth” (1 John 1:6). Also, “If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness” (1 John 2:9). Or “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20).

In short, John is saying that a true follower of Jesus Christ is not merely one who says he is or who performs religious activities or duties. Instead, a true follower of Jesus Christ is one who had a tangible encounter with Jesus that brought about a real transformation in his life. We could even add that, in the verses listed above, John states that if there is no transformation in the person’s life, there is no real relationship with Christ.

Of course, this is God’s desire for each of us. He does not want us just to know ABOUT Him: to obtain information about Him and then try to live out that knowledge in our lives through “good works” in our own strength. This is what all other religions focus on. Instead, God wants us to KNOW Him intimately. He wants us to have such a deep relationship with Him that we can hear His heart, experience His Presence and love, and know His will for our lives. In other words, we can have an encounter with Jesus Christ similar to what John was referring to in this letter. And it is through these encounters that our lives are transformed.

Jesus alludes to this in John 15:15 when He tells His disciples, “No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you” (ESV). The Greek word for servant used here is doulos which means someone in bondage, a slave who is obedient but does not have any rights or will of their own. They just do what they are told to do. The word for friend, though, is philos which refers to an acquaintance, a beloved associate or trusted confidant, someone who is held in a close bond of personal affection, a companion.

Jesus is saying that the disciples’ relationship with Him is moving from a slave where they just do what they are told to do without knowing or understanding the reason for it, to one of a close friend: a companion with whom He shares His thoughts and desires. Even as a friend, though, we are still required to obey His commands (John 15:14). The difference, however, is that as a servant we obey out of duty or obligation, while as a friend, we know the Master’s heart and we obey out of love for Him. The picture presented here is that the servant represents religion—those who have information about God and obey Him out of duty. The friend, on the other hand, has had an encounter with God and experienced His love and grace. His life is being transformed and he obeys God’s commands because he loves God and because of the transformation that is taking place in his life.

 So, the question is, how can we move from being a servant to becoming a friend of God? I would recommend two things: First, follow God’s advice in Ps. 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” When you pray, don’t do all the talking. Set some time aside to just be still. Quiet your heart and mind and allow the Spirit of God to speak to you. You’ll be amazed how much God wants to share His heart with you.

Second, allow Him to fill you more with the Holy Spirit. In John 16:13-15, Jesus teaches us that the Holy Spirit will reveal Jesus to us and guide us into a deeper understanding of the truth. This is connected to the first point of being still in our prayer time. When we quiet our hearts before God, we are allowing His Holy Spirit to “saturate” us like a tea bag in water. The more time we spend in His presence, the more His Spirit works in us and transforms us more and more into His image. We become like Him as we build that relationship with Him.

So, which one are you? Are you a servant or a friend? Are you religious or are you in a relationship? Are you merely saying that you are a follower of Jesus, or have you had a real encounter with Him that has transformed your life? If you conclude that you are more a servant than a friend, I encourage you to “Be still” and allow the Holy Spirit to bring you into a true experience with the glory of God.