The Vindicated Prodical

The story of the Prodigal Son found in Luke 15 is one of the most popular Bible stories out there and we would probably lose count on how many times it has been preached from different perspectives. To sum up the story, the younger of the two sons gets sick of living at home, so he demands his inheritance and leaves the family. After a time of living it up and reckless abandonment, he is out of money in a far far away place. To he decided to get a job feeding pigs (which for a good Jewish person, that is blasphemy) and after awhile of feeding and eating what the pigs ate, he game to his senses. He would go home and be one of his fathers hired hands, because they had it better than he did. When he almost got home, his father came out runningnot only greeted him, but had a long embrace. The son was restored to full sonship and he was a part of the family. The older brother had a tantrum because the dysfunctional brother not only came home, but was restored member of the family and there was a party.

I just wonder how many of us carry the attitude of the older son. It is the attitude of making sure everyone stays happy and we do not do anything wrong and we stay on the straight and narrow. The problem with the older brother, like a lot of us is that we are not children but slaves. Being a slave has several destructive tendencies that will keep us a slave if we do not over come them. The first one and I think the most important one to over come is vindication. A person who has a slave mentality is that they always have to be proven right and are always justifying what they do. This attitude is that there is always an explanation for what they did or didn't do, or place the blame on someone else. They are willing to do or say anything or nothing as long as they can justify it and it helps them sleep at night. Whether its justifying crappy eating habits because they claim that they don't have time or the money to eat healthy. This type of justification is based on our own standards or our interpretations of certain standards. Other people can do what they want, just as long as people fit things into your standards and justifications.

When we start using our own justifications to live life, we are going down a winding path that often leads to no good. When our own standards and heart are corrupt, it is really hard to come up with healthy ways of living when its coming from a broken person. It is like trying to turn out an award winning apple pie with rotten apples, it just doesn't happen.

Another problem with having the slave mentality is the concept of trying to play catch up or hooking yourself to the latest whim or bright idea. I am not saying that all the latest fades or whims are bad, but trying to play catch up can be exhausting. If and when the idea fails, we often sit in shambles because we don't know how we got there. One of the problems with this mentality, is that we are prone to not having a backbone. Going from whim to whim often shows a lack of planing and a lack of integrity/backbone because we either don't plan things out, or we are to stubborn to change our ways .

One of the biggest areas that I see where a person with a slave mentality comes from is seeking people's approval and wondering if they are making a difference. This often comes from two different sources. The first one is that we are to blind to see the big picture and we have tunnel vision. We just see what is in front of us. The second issue is that we are not willing to grow up and deal with our own issues. We either minimize our problems and say that they are not that bad and that everyone has problems. At least with me, I do enough reflection, but putting into practice to make those changes is hard. A slave does not want to admit that there is a problem or the severity of the problem. Therefore the problem doesn't change, because one does not want to put in the hard work to make it change. We are comfortable in our own little bubble and in all honesty, we enjoy sitting and our own crap where we don't want to change. With this mentality, we often wonder if we are ever making an impact and doing any good and I am comming to realize that the impact one is making is not as big as it could be if at all.

Or its not my problem its everyone else. The blame game often goes back to self justification and it is a terrible circle to get on and one that is very hard to get out of. Hopefully in the near future I can write about what it means to be a child