Chapter Four of Talent For A Mission ends with the final verses of Luke 15: 25-32 of the Parable of the Prodigal Son, where the brother of the prodigal son, who has always been faithful to his father and has always done the work his father required, becomes angry with the father because his "lost" and "riotous living" younger brother, upon returning to his father, is feted with a fatted calf—while this always faithful son was NEVER treated with such a reward! So this older brother gets on his dad's case for this "royalty" treatment to a wayward brother who wasted his inheritance when he could have not wasted it.
Below are the verses from Luke 15:25-32—
{15:25} Now his elder son was in the field: and as he came and drew nigh to the house, he heard musick and dancing.
{15:26} And he called one of the servants, and asked what these things meant.
{15:27} And he said unto him, Thy brother is come; and thy father hath killed the fatted calf, because he hath received him safe and sound.
{15:28} And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore came his father out, and intreated him.
{15:29} And he answering said to [his] father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment: and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my friends:
{15:30} But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
{15:31} And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
{15:32} It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.
To sum up, the elder son is angry because the younger 'prodigal' son is getting a hefty "fatted calf" reward just because he gave up the "riotous" lifestyle and returned to his father, a hefty reward father never had given to him. One would think the elder son would be thrilled his younger brother gave up that wasteful lifestyle and returned to his father after learning the negative consequences of that wasteful lifestyle.
Which begs the question: how many lifelong Christians have the same "angry" thought process regarding those who, after living the debauched lifestyle many associate with rock stars, rap stars, Hollywood stars, etc., repent and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and Redeemer and receive the same reward as believers that have believed on Christ their entire lives? Moreso, how do they feel regarding those who clearly lived evil lifestyles as oligarchs, world government leaders, cartel bankers…in other words, the elites who, on their death beds, repent and accept Christ? As one of my most evil characters, Baron Torquay-Lambourgeau, did on his death bed?
This reminds me of that other parable I love, from Matthew 20, the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. Workers in the vineyard, no matter when they were hired by the owner of the vineyard, are going to get the same wage—even those who only work a very short time. When the workers get their wage, some are pissed off that those who only worked a very short time go the same wage, but the owner of the vineyard rebukes them, telling them that they had been told they'd get the same wage, so stop complaining!
That is, whether you accept Christ as Savior at a young age as with some preachers I know, at middle age, like I did (a true commitment that is), or at old age—like a loved one I had who accepted Christ on her death-bed! (and like a certain evil character, Baron Torquay-Lambourgeau)—it does not matter—you will reside with Christ in Heaven no matter what. Stop complaining, thinking your reward should be greater than some 'devil worshiper' (as with my band characters) who accepts Christ later in life than you did.
Which leads to the following snippet from Chapter Fifteen of The Prodigal Band. The novel's narrator, Lloyd Denholm, encounters on a public TV broadcast a Scottish Presbyterian minister giving a sermon that rebukes Christians who believe it is a hoax that the prodigal band Sound Unltd—who these Christians believe are actually devil worshipers (because all rock stars are devil worshipers, right?)—have actually accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. The snippet features the minister's sermon and verifies that the prodigal band has indeed repented and accepted Christ. The snippet from The Prodigal Band (© 2018 Deborah Lagarde) is below:
July, 2003, on a Scottish TV channel rebroadcast on public TV
On a night in July, 2003, I, Lloyd Denholm, watched this special segment within a public television newscast. A Scottish Presbyterian minister resoundingly debunked what was then a consensus opinion of the vast majority of Christian pastors. They insisted that Sound Unltd's acceptance of Christ as their Savior was a hoax designed solely to sell what they thought was a 'fake Christian' album, The Way.
"Now suppose a local thief was caught in his theft, tried, and sent to prison for two years. What would be the chance of this thief repenting from his reprobate behavior and bowing down in repentance to Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and accepting Christ as Savior? According to a recent study conducted by the University here, there is a one-in-seven chance this could happen to this thief. Now let's go one step further and apply that to what in Jesus' day were considered thieves—also known as tax collectors."
Laughs from the congregation.
"Well, the Bible speaks of one in particular, a tax collector named Matthew, who did accept Christ as Savior and as we know became one of Christ's Apostles. And then there was Zacchaeus, chief tax collector. That's two out of about a hundred. But in the same vain can one accept that a religious ruler or a soldier of the occupying force, can also believe on Christ? And I'm not even talking about the wife of Pontius Pilate here. A centurion, a head of the Roman legion there, upon asking Christ to heal his servant and telling Christ that he was not even worthy of having Christ in his house, was not only rewarded with the healing of the servant, but was told by Christ that his faith was stronger than the faith of anyone in all Israel! From a Gentile no less! Further, Jairus, the head of a synagogue, called on Christ to heal his daughter knowing that the religious authorities would not exactly appreciate him calling on a blasphemer! And what about leading business owners and CEOs of the day? A key Apostle of Jesus was just such a man—Peter, who owned fishing fleets, and then also the two sons of Zebedee, James and John, who were in line to become owners of another large fleet. Thus we are talking about several likely rich individuals here.
"We are also talking right and upstanding citizens here. But what about people like that thief, reprobates within the Gospels? One of Christ's most avid followers was a woman possessed by demons. She was a prostitute who may have actually been what we might today call a devil worshiper. You know of whom I speak—Mary Magdalene. Yes, she was cured of demonic possession by Jesus Christ, and she became such an important follower that an angel actually appeared to her at the Resurrection. Now who would have thought in those days that a woman many may have considered a devil worshiper would and did become a chief disciple? What would the chances have been for that to happen? And there were others demonically possessed who were cured, but none as important as Mary Magdalene. I do not know how many demonically possessed whores existed in Israel at the time, but I will lowball the figure and say she was likely one out of maybe a thousand.
"And that brings us to today. I do not have figures on how many prostitutes around today are considered devil worshipers, but I do know of one profession where it is said by some that the vast majority of its practitioners are devil worshipers—rock musicians. You know, they've 'sold their souls to the devil,' right? That is popular conventional wisdom, anyway. So for many it is extremely hard to believe that six of the most notorious, wealthy, and reprobate of these people could actually proclaim, in public and on record, or on CD for that matter, that they are now believers in Jesus Christ. How can six supposed devil worshipers, not to mention drug addicts, alcoholics, womanizers, purveyors of obscene stage antics, including one bisexual who is known to have sodomized fellow rockers and others, and lovers of money and the debauched lifestyles they have led— how can such licentious evil doers ever possibly accept Jesus Christ and repent? For that is what many believe. That these six musicians are faking it for more mammon. But one would not fake nearly going down in flames on a jet that could have exploded over an ocean, or fake losing one's beach house, or one's dear friend who helped one of these six overcome drug addiction, or fake the kidnaping of another one of these six musician's wives. And survive these actual disasters, unless one has repented to God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Is it so far- fetched for Sound Unltd, one of the most successful rock bands in history—with all that wealth and fame and icon status on the line—to leave that all behind giving thanks to God and Christ for saving them and their families in dire situations? Whether they are as vital to the mission of spreading the Word of Christ to the youth as Mary Magdalene would be to the women of Jesus' day is not the point here. The point is they are doing it and doing it well and succeeding."
He then held up their CD.
"This CD, the album The Way featuring their repentance song 'He Is the Way,' is, as they say in America, selling like hot cakes. Plus one can download this song from their band's website for free as well. I am promoting this CD because it is too radical and too miraculous not to be promoted. And they aren't paying me to do it, either. Whether you or your children are fans of this band or not, I strongly suggest buying the CD or downloading the song from their website. For I believe this example could revolutionize the spread of the Word of Christ and the Gospels to the world's youth as maybe nothing else could today."
One thing I knew for sure happened after this broadcast over public television and then UK networks and various worldwide channels. Little by little, the doubters repented of their disbelief.
And to my fellow Christian authors of fiction or non-fiction—wouldn't you want to 'revolutionize' the spread of the Word of Christ and the Gospels to the world, youth or otherwise? You know, do your job? Your mission?
For it says in 1 Timothy 2:3-4, God will have all mankind to be saved, that is, God wants all mankind to be saved, including all 'prodigal sons' (and daughters, too).
Chapter Five (in whole or in part) will be posted in another week or two.
Use the menu above to purchase books or read trilogy snippet posts or download the Free PDF The Prodigal Band or The Murder Rule and more. Cheers!
No comments:
Post a Comment