03. The Story for People Who Have Wandered
The Power of Stories — Series
Story: The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11–32)
If you spend enough time loving people, one truth becomes impossible to ignore.
Everyone knows a prodigal.
Some are parents whose hearts ache every day for a son or daughter who once walked with God but no longer wants anything to do with Him.
Some have a husband or wife who has drifted spiritually.
Some have a close friend who once served faithfully but quietly disappeared.
Some are praying for a grandchild who has never known Christ.
And sometimes… the prodigal is the person staring back at us in the mirror.
That is why every disciple-maker should carry the story of the Prodigal Son.
No matter where you minister, you will meet people who believe they have gone too far.
Too much sin.
Too much failure.
Too much shame.
Too many broken promises.
They assume God is waiting to lecture them, reject them, or remind them of everything they have done wrong.
Jesus tells a completely different story.
A younger son demands his inheritance before his father has even died — an act that was deeply insulting in Jewish culture. He leaves home, wastes everything in reckless living, and eventually finds himself feeding pigs, hungry enough to eat what they are eating. For Jesus' Jewish audience, it would have been difficult to imagine a lower place.
It is there, at rock bottom, that the son comes to his senses.
He decides to return home — not expecting restoration, but simply hoping to survive as one of his father's hired servants.
He rehearses his confession.
He prepares for rejection.
He expects consequences.
Instead… Jesus gives us one of the most beautiful pictures in all of Scripture.
"While he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." (Luke 15:20, WEB)
Everything changes in that moment.
The father had apparently been watching.
Waiting.
Hoping.
Looking down the road every day.
And when he finally sees his son, he does something no respected patriarch in that culture would normally do.
He runs.
He doesn't wait for the son to reach the house.
He doesn't demand an explanation first.
He doesn't make him earn his way back.
He runs toward him.
Before the son can finish his carefully prepared speech, the father interrupts with grace.
He orders the best robe to be brought.
A ring is placed on his finger.
Sandals are put on his feet.
The fattened calf is prepared.
A celebration begins.
Why? Because restoration — not punishment — was the father's desire all along.
Jesus was revealing the very heart of God.
God delights in repentance.
He celebrates restoration.
He welcomes home those who return.
He is not reluctant to forgive.
He is eager to forgive.
But Jesus was not finished.
He introduces another son.
The older brother never left home, yet he had become just as distant from his father's heart.
He measured grace by fairness.
He valued performance more than mercy.
He resented celebration when someone else received forgiveness.
His story reminds us that it is possible to be physically close to God while our hearts slowly become cold toward the very people He longs to restore.
Both sons needed the father.
One needed forgiveness.
The other needed compassion.
Every disciple-maker should carry this story because we will encounter both kinds of people.
You'll meet the rebellious.
You'll meet the religious.
You'll meet people drowning in guilt.
You'll meet faithful parents who wonder if they should stop praying.
You'll meet believers who quietly think, "Maybe God can forgive everyone else — but not me."
When those conversations come, don't begin with a theological lecture.
Tell them a story.
Tell them about a Father who watches the road.
Tell them about a Father whose compassion is greater than our rebellion.
Tell them about a Father who runs.
Stories have a way of opening hearts that arguments never can.
Many people who would resist a sermon will gladly listen to a story.
And once they see the Father Jesus reveals, they often discover enough hope to take their first steps home.
That is why this story belongs in every disciple-maker's tool pouch.
You never know when someone in front of you is only one story away from believing they can come home again.
Carry This Story When…
- Someone feels far from God because of past sin.
- A parent is praying for a prodigal son or daughter.
- A believer wants to return after drifting away.
- Someone believes they have gone too far for God to forgive.
- A religious person needs to rediscover the Father's heart of grace.
- You want to help someone understand that God welcomes repentant sinners with joy, not reluctance.
Want to go deeper in disciple-making? Join Terry's Zúme training class at zume.training/join-a-training.