Second critique: repentance, and the prodigal son
Mike reads the article's second critique: repentance appears rarely, and when it does it is optional or undefined — one pastor ties a daughter's repentance to healing from migraines, another quips the prodigal son 'wasn't repentant, just hungry' and hints 'fire insurance Christianity' is enough. The hosts push back hard: the prodigal's 'I have sinned against heaven' is plainly repentance, and the parable's main point is the second son — Israel — not the runaway. They call the hungry-only reading bad exegesis that sacrifices the text for a quip.
More on Repentance
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Do accountability partners actually work?
- Do accountability partners actually do anything?
Mike raises his accountability-partners question: the standard dude-circle advice to get a buddy to hold you accountable for Bible reading, porn, church attendance, and drinking.
From No. 598 · Emphasis | Accountability, Worship and Praying with Strangers
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Restitution after conversion: the Walmart shoplifter
- Do you owe restitution for sins committed before your conversion?
From Paul's unpunished past the hosts pivot to earthly consequences after repentance. Mike tells of a man converted fifteen years ago who had been shoplifting from Walmart; Mike told him to go confess to the store, and now isn't sure that was the best advice.
From No. 579 · Wanted: Paul and Hope | Paul’s Persecution of Christians and Radical Redemption
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Dear LFTP: the married man who wants her as his side piece
- Should I block the married man who lied to me and wants me as his side piece, or stick around?
- When someone is cheating, do you tell the wife?
Ben reads a Dear LFTP letter from a woman who fell for a coworker who claimed his ex was out of the picture, then learned via internet research that he is married and bought the house with his wife — and now he wants her as his side piece.
From No. 535 · Solo Contendere
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Does God affirm our struggles or call us to repent of them?
- Does God affirm our struggles or call us to repent of them?
Mike frames two camps: one that says God affirms our struggles as-is, another that says He calls us to repent of what is in our control.
From No. 534 · The Antagonistic Bison