Don't jump in the pigpen

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Mal316

Guest
#1
#1
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke 15:11-32&version=NASB/

I heard a preaching on the famous parable of the Prodigal Son this past Sunday. One point that stood out to me was that the father did not go to the pigpen and pull his wayward son out of it.

"Don't jump in the pigpen" was how the priest put it.


A person who has rebelled against God, who has "gone to a distant country" and squandered all he had, must "come to his senses" and repent. It is not our job to reach down into the pigpen and pull them out.

But I thought we were supposed to help each other?

What's the balance between letting a person come to the realization that they sinned and helping up one who has fallen?

As a new father, I'm sure this will be a really hard lesson to learn. When my child gets into trouble, through her own bad choices, I will want to rescue her from them. I will want to pull her out of the muck and mire and set her on her feet again. I know that this will not help her learn the lessons required but how hard it will be to let my child suffer.

What's the tipping point? When is it ok to help her up? Do I wait for her to ask? Even if she asks, do I say, "you got yourself into this mess, you get yourself out?"

Of course I will be waiting and willing to take her back just as the father saw his son from a long way off and ran to him and embraced him and kissed him and restored his son as before with the robe and sandals and ring and prepared a great feast. It's just.... how do we know where the tipping point is?
 
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glenwood74

Guest
#2
#2
I agree with the statement, don't jump in the pigpen. I have in the past tried to live with my unsaved friends and family, thinking that I would rub off on them and they would see the light. It wasn't the right time for them and I wasted precious time and energy. Perhaps I planted some seeds, but even now looking back, it seems that the only thing that happened was that I was unequally yoked to the ungodly and they brought me down into the mire. I like the pearls before swine comment Jesus made. Also He tells us to shake the dust off our feet when leaving a situation of hardheartedness. We can shine our light in the darkness, but there will always be those who love the darkness more than the light. Jesus tried to show the light to everyone, and He was literally the son of God, and even He couldn't convince the rich man to give up everything to follow Him. We choose to stay in the muck, or to be washed by the blood of Christ, and sometimes a pig is simply a pig, and we must move on to another mission.

Great thread topic....God bless!
 
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Mal316

Guest
#3
#3
Thanks for your post, Glenwood. :)

I think there's a difference between preaching the Gospel to the unsaved and trying to help someone who has strayed from the path. Good food for thought, though. :)
 
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Mal316

Guest
#4
#4
Yeah, you "rubbing off" on the unsaved doesn't make them "see the light." In the same way that if a clean cloth was dropped in a pigpen, the pigpen would not become clean, but the cloth would become dirty.

This raises another interesting situation. Jesus sat and ate with tax collectors and sinners. He showed them compassion and love and he said (elsewhere) that it is not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick. His parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son were in response to the Pharisees and teachers of the law who condemned him for eating with the tax collectors and sinners. Jesus was teaching that it is better to bring the lost to repentance than to condemn them for being lost. More rejoicing is had for a sinner who repents than for one who does not need to repent.

But considering what has been said above, how does one minister without becoming "polluted by the world?"
 
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glenwood74

Guest
#5
#5
Good point. Perhaps the pigs in the pen that I was living in were too blind to see their need for a cleansing, and I was too proud to see how filthy I had become for a time, but then I returned from the mire in humility and shame for my failure, and realized God's happiness for my escape from the stagnant life I was living. Come to think of it, I was the prodigal son in my story.....nice.

If you figure out the whole avoiding pollution of the world thing; I could use some advice in that area.
 
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Mal316

Guest
#6
#6
glenwood74 said:
If you figure out the whole avoiding pollution of the world thing; I could use some advice in that area.
Click to expand...

Heh. I am nowhere close to figuring out the whole avoiding pollution of the world thing. So I could use some advice as well. :)
 
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DeaconDave

Guest
#7
#7
I don't think we witness to hope we rub off. I think that is the wrong motivation. I hope that my friends and family will see the love of Christ and will want what I have. Along the way, I hope I have planted seeds of faith. Because of my nomadic lifestyle since I was a kid, I often have not seen the fruits of many labors.

As for don't get in the pig pen. We are only caregivers for God. He is the cure giver. If that father reached out to his son and pulled him back, would he have changed? I doubt it. That father had to let his son grow up, make his mistakes, and realize he needed more than he could provide to himself. The neat thing about the father in this story is that he was there - waiting and very open to his son. What about the eldest son and his reaction?
 
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DeaconDave

Guest
#8
#8
"But considering what has been said above, how does one minister without becoming "polluted by the world?"

I think the key is our spiritual disciplines, a rhythm we build in our lives that keeps us close to God and helps us remember who we are and why we are here. Some call it a rule of life.
 
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glenwood74

Guest
#9
#9
The eldest son was just full of pride, thinking himself better, and thusly more worthy than the sinful brother. I agree that our position should be to let the Light of God shine from us, as the Lord tells us not to hide it. I suppose my meaning of the rubbing off was to offer an analogy of the closeness of the relationships I shared with my heathen family and friends. Perhaps I was too close and was unequally yoked. Thank you for your wise words, DeaconDave. I have been reading a lot of Eph. 6 and I am trying to establish the putting on of the full armor of God as one of my spiritual disciplines.
 
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DeaconDave

Guest
#10
#10
It's not always easy setting up your spiritual disciplines. and they don't all have to be Biblical - they just need to be those things that you do that keep you close to God and keeps you in place. Part of my rule is to go away on vacations, away from home and the demands of church. Heathen friends are good - we just need to have those things in our lives that help top clean us.
 
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Mal316

Guest
#11
#11
I appreciate y'all's replies. My question is what do I do, as a father, if my child "falls into the pigpen," due to her own sinful behavior? [Mind you, this hasn't happened yet. I'm thinking down the road. ] If I'm not supposed to jump into the pigpen and pull her out, what am I to do when she asks for my help? Should I say, 'you got yourself in this mess; you get yourself out'??? How do we know when a person has truly repented of their behavior?
 
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