Episode 20 with Piet Van Waarde

Elim MPower

PODCAST OUTLINE

In this episode we are chatting with Piet Van Waarde, a pastor at Shoreline Church in Texas, America - a longstanding friend of 'Discipleship For Busy Blokes' podcast host, Nick Whittome.

We are discussing a parable both of us have gained so much from over the years – the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Piet shares how the younger son in the parable reflects his own experience as someone raised in a Christian home who decided to go off to live a life of wild living, self-indulgence and drug-taking.

He shares a ‘coming to his senses’ moment after a huge party that totally trashed his apartment. A friend was delighted at the mayhem afterwards, declaring to Piet: ‘We’re always going to live like this’ – but a realisation rose up in Piet that this was really not the life he wanted.

Piet contends that wild living, partying and drinking is really not all cracked up to be – and he agrees that some blokes do have to reach the end of themselves before turning to God.

There seem to two main reasons that turn people to a different way of life: the pain of the present existence makes an alternative necessary; or the hunger for a better experience is what turns into a search. Some guys are a little thick-headed and have to go through the pain!

We explore why the younger son seems to cast himself in the role of a servant. Piet identifies the source of this lowered status as rooted in shame at the former lifestyle and wastefulness. The rehearsed speech of the younger son is a sign of genuine repentance, and is exactly the point where God loves to extend his grace.

A background for the story is that the Pharisees were critiquing Jesus’ outreach to the lost, and the parable was Jesus’ response to them - and the older brother is emblematic of a lot of the Christian church today, where we tell ourselves that we would not ever be rebellious like the younger son, and yet we can also so easily slip into a dangerous disdain for those who have not figured out how to live life with God in a healthy way.

It’s about the three Rs – rebellion (younger son), religion (older son) and relationship (right connection with the Father).

Another teaching hinted at in the parable is the need for us to live with margin. Wild living makes a presumption on our own future, that there will never be a crisis coming – and yet the younger son does get caught out. Part of his restoration is to realise that margin is a blessing of relationship with the Father.

Our contemporary culture sells us the lie that independence from the Father is the way to go, but it is essentially empty. The enemy does a great job of twisting things that are meant to be deeply life-affirming, like sexual relations and genuine celebration.

The welcome, the embrace, the cloak, the ring and the celebration are all expressions of the extravagant grace of God as Father towards us – and a picture of how we ourselves should welcome sinners, in turn.

There are big parallels between the older brother and Jonah’s sulk out in the desert! Piet counsels that to avoid being like the older brother we need to make sure we have people around us who can speak to our attitudes about others – do we see every single person as a beautiful expression of God’s creative work, in which every person is valuable to God?

Piet closes the episode in prayer. A great chat Piet- thanks!