The Elder Brother’s syndrome:

I was doing my devotion on Luke 15:11-32, which is the parable about the prodigal son. But the Spirit led me to the older brother.

I find it funny that the older brother never persuaded his brother when he was about to leave home. I also find it funny that he did not see his brother from afar as he was coming back home. And this really got me thinking: aren’t we sometimes like the older brother?
Do we become concerned when we no longer see our sisters/brothers coming to church or we are just happy to fill the chairs of the church, while others leave? Are we even praying for those who’ve backslidden?

And when those who had left the church come back, do we rejoice like the Father, opening His arms to his beloved son? Do we accept them in our arms lovingly and not give them the condemning look?
I remember this instance when a brother who had committed a crime and had been in jail for quite some time came back. When I saw him, the first thing that came in mind was the crime, rather than the joy of seeing him alive. How selfish and cold of me!

Are we like the older brother, who instead of rejoicing was angry? When those who had left the church and are now back, what do our faces say? What do we say behind their backs? Are we still condemning them of the “sins” we heard they were doing? Do we go on to judge them/speak behind their backs, when they become active? Instead of rejoicing, do we become stumbling blocks in their journey,reminding them of their past?

I pray that we may not only work for our own salvation, but that of others-including those who’ve left the church. May God grant us with the Spirit of Christ-which does not seek to condemn but to lift the sinner away from sin, the spirit that does not remember the sins of others and looks beyond the current condition of the sinner.I pray that we hurt when our sisters and brothers fall into sin and pray for them.

“Let’s love in words and in deeds”