The Prodigal Son and the Older Brother in America

I was driving to work yesterday at 6:30AM when I decided to turn on the radio. It happened to be on CSN Radio and a segment from Norm Nelson's Compassion Radio was playing. Norm was interviewing a man named Brian, a former member of the Mafia in New York; a drug runner. Brian accepted Christ when a woman, unafraid of his rough exterior, presented the gospel to him. I tracked down the radio program and put up a link. This isn't your average "bad man turns to Jesus" story. It's a lot closer to the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. "'... and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’" -Lk 15:23, 24 The father rejoices when the lost son comes home, and the older brother who remained at home did not cause rejoicing. "... he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’" -Lk 15:29, 30 Jesus used this parable to illustrate 2 things. 1.) All of Heaven rejoices when a lost son is found. The Father receives him with open arms. 2.) The "older brother," "pharisee," or "Christian-on-the-outside" is in a much more dangerous position than the vilest offender who accepts Christ. When Brian was interviewed, he was quick to tell of his former life in darkness and how he needed Jesus as LORD (not just savior), but he also pointed out the "older brother" in America: the sea of churches full of unrepentant "Christians" just looking for a "savior," or just the benefits of a savior. Please, please, please listen to the radio program. I cried in my car after the program was over, not because the story of his conversion was emotional, but because I had been convicted by an ex-mafia drug-runner, a better Christian than I. The program can be found here: http://broadcast.compassionradio.com/cr20091027-tue.mp3