From Performance to Sonship
Rev. Aniekan "Mbomboyo" Okokon ·
So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. — Galatians 4:7
There are two sons in Luke 15 and only one of them left home. The other stayed, worked, obeyed - and at the end of the story he is outside the house, angry, saying "these many years I have served you". Served. He had lived in his father's house as an employee, and the feast for his brother exposed it. He had been performing for a love that had always been his.
Performance
The performer relates to God through output. Good week, good standing; bad week, bad standing. He keeps accounts. He is usually diligent and often admired, and inside he is tired and a little resentful, because nothing he does seems to settle the question of whether he is enough. He is the elder brother, and most churches have more of him than of the younger.
Sonship
The son relates to God through birth. His standing was settled before he did anything, and it does not move. He obeys, often more than the performer, but for a different reason: because he loves his Father and shares His purposes. He does not keep accounts, because there is no bill. When he fails he comes home, because home is where he lives.
Making the journey
- Notice the language. "I have served you" is the elder brother's tell. "Father" is the son's.
- Hear the Father's answer: "Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours." That was true the whole time.
- Stop earning what is given. Sit down at the feast. It is for you too.
- Expect it to take time. Performance is a habit of years; sonship is learned, like a language, by speaking it.
The end of the story
Jesus leaves the elder brother outside, still being pleaded with. He does not tell us whether he went in. That is the question the parable puts to every performer: your Father is at the door, and the feast is on. You do not have to earn a seat. You only have to come in as a son.