Prodigal or Apostate?

Is there a difference between being prodigal or apostate? The journey between the two may look almost identical. However the end result is vastly different.

The journey has an outwardly similar appearance. Both the prodigal and the apostate begin associating with the church and the things of the Lord. Inwardly they could not be more opposed to each other. One (the prodigal) experiences genuine rebirth from the Spirit of God. He is a child of God. The other (apostate) has not been born from above. He is not a child of God. This one is an imposter. He may play the Christian, but he has no real part in the family of God.

As the journeys continue, the Christian knows Christ and lives in fellowship with Christ's body. The unbeliever may attend church. He may read a Bible and say prayers. He may volunteer for ministry projects. But basically he has modified his behavior to fit in with those who are Christ's.

The final similarity between the prodigal and the apostate is that of falling away. No longer does the prodigal pursue Christ above all. No longer does the apostate attempt to maintain his charade. Both live like the world or perhaps even worse than the world. We would expect this from the one play acting. We do not nor should not expect this from the believer.

Both wind up in the pig sty eating the slop. One is in alien territory. The other is at home.

The difference between the prodigal and the apostate generally rests in whether they remain in the sty. The prodigal will return home -- one way or another. The apostate never does (unless they experience the new birth from the Lord).

While meditating on Psalm 137, these five signs emerged regarding the fallen people of God. Keep in mind that these signs are general observations. When somebody is in the pig sty, we may not know whether they are a prodigal or an apostate. In this psalm the people of God have been taken captive into a foreign land. They are away from the land promised to them by God. Put another way, they are away from the home that the Father had bequeathed to them. Why were they in captivity? Because they had sinned against God. They were walking a prodigal path. God sent captors to make it clear that they no longer were honoring their Father in the home he had established for them.

Sign #1: Prodigals tend to remember their previous times with the Lord.

By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion.
--Psalm 137:1

As they sat by those strange waters of Babylon, they realized that they were not in Zion anymore. This realization caused them to weep. Their memory was filled with the thoughts of their homeland.

When the Prodigal Son realized his miserable estate in a "far country", he said,

How many of my father's hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish her with hunger!
--Luke 15:17

One who is a prodigal is like these sons and daughters of Zion and like this son in Luke's account. They compare their current messy situation with all that they had previously with the Father. They come to long for the days yore.

I spent many a day in my prodigal path wondering if and how I could get out of the mess I had made of my life and return to my Father's house.

Sign #2: Prodigals recall but cannot sing the Lord's song in the strange land.

The psalmist recounts that the captive people of God hung their musical instruments in the Babylonian willow trees. Why?

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?
--Psalm 137:4

When roaming far from God, how I would have loved to sing Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound... But I could not. The hymn writer's lyrics would bring tears to my eyes knowing that I had strayed so far from the God who is gracious.

In my early twenties I received numerous phone calls in the middle of the night from a guilt ridden male prostitute. He so wanted to be free from his guilt, but he would not, could not repent and believe. What was interesting is that during every call he had gospel music playing in the background. He was not a believer gone astray. He was an unbeliever who, like the Babylonians, wanted to hear the songs of Zion.

I remember watching a TV documentary about a very well known entertainer. This man often played the part of a Christian, but seems to have only played the part. One scene of the film showed him riding in the back seat of a vehicle surrounded by his buddies. He was regaling them about the adulterous exploits he had experienced the previous night. When he realized that he was being filmed, he switched from his bawdy story and began mockingly singing Amazing Grace. This man could sing and did sing the song of Zion while being firmly planted in the land of captivity.

Sign #3: Prodigals have a deep down desire for the things of the Lord.

The psalmist records the desire of the captives to recall and relive the joy of the Lord.

If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill! Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you, if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy!
--Psalm 137:5-6

The Prodigal Son longed to be back in his Father's house. The captives set their desired return above their highest joy.

In my prodigal story, the major breaking point arrived in one sentence spoken to my by a young pastor named Daniel. We had never met each other, but I was encouraged by a Christian brother to meet Daniel. I was at a crossroads and at the height of my frustrations. We met in a coffee shop and I unleashed all of my putrid bitterness to this stranger. Had he given me one more Christian platitude, I probably would have walked away and never turned back.

After listening to me rant, Daniel said these words, "Frank, it seems to me that you still have a heart that longs for God." My first reaction was to wonder if he had even listened to the garbage I had spewed. My second reaction was to burst into tears in that very public place. More than anything I wanted the Lord. I so wanted to hear his voice again. What I wouldn't give to walk with him again. I wanted to know the sweet fellowship of my blessed Savior.

Had I been an apostate, I would have laughed and left thinking this man to be deluded. But deep down I wanted the Lord more than I wanted anything.

Sign #4: Prodigals understand that those who led them into captivity are the enemies of God deserving of his judgment.

O daughter of Babylon, doomed to be destroyed, blessed shall he be who repays you with what you have done to us!
--Psalm 137:8

The captives understood that those who had taken them captive and those who required of them a song were not their friends or brothers. They were the enemies of God himself.

The Prodigal Son did not attempt to live in the pig sty by mimicking the ways of his father. No, he had to leave behind those in the foreign land in order to head back home to his father.

The apostate will typically become great friends with those who oppose God. Their friendship with the world will endure and further strengthen the grip of the wicked one on their lives.

Sign #5: Prodigals tend to eventually come back home.

The surest way to know if somebody is a prodigal or an apostate lies in whether that wayward person returns to the Father.

How do we know that these captives in Babylon were really the people of God? Because God would eventually lead them back home. God had promised that he would not forsake them, and he did not. He keeps his word.

God will bring back his wayward sons.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
--Philippians 1:6

The apostate does not return. He goes away and stays away because he was never really one of God's.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
--1 John 2:19

If you have strayed from the path of Lord, the only assurance you can have that you are really a child of God is that you will repent and race back to your Father. I urge you to do so.

[reminder preface="Reminder: "]If you have a question or comment, please email me at frank.c.gantz@gmail.com.[/reminder]