Many Bible stories remain unknown and unheard by most people living in a 21st century culture. But others have actually become fixtures in our everyday verbiage and lingo—stories like Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son.
The story has many components and much to unpack for biblical exegetes and theologians alike, but the main point of the plot line is simple: A father has two sons—one of them leaves, squanders his inheritance, and later returns in desperation looking for forgiveness. The father, with joy, embraces his wayward son and celebrates his return. The father’s other son becomes frustrated with the situation, focusing primarily on his own obedience and his brother’s flamboyant sin.
The story, besides offering us a chance to analyze compelling themes related to a father’s love for his son and a brother’s ungracious heart, also serves as a picture of God’s own saving work in each of our lives. We see the father (the God figure) running to greet his son (the prodigal son), who, like us, receives forgiveness, despite how undeserving he really is.
It’s a story that points us straight to grace and to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The story of the prodigal son.
Some parents out there might read this story and pick up on grace, the gospel and themes related to God’s love. But many also can’t help but see their own family’s story sitting there between the lines. Some know all too well the challenges of loving a child who leaves not just the home, but the faith as well.
As a part of one of the first research projects I led at LifeWay Research, we conducted a study to look at the number of students who drop out of the church after high school or during their college years.
For many years, people have based their thoughts on this subject on the findings of one particularly famous study that suggested that 86 percent of evangelical youth drop out of church after high school never to return again.
This study, for the record, is not a real study.
What we found based on the study we conducted at LifeWay Research was that about 70 percent of young adults who attended church in high school do end up dropping out of the church during their college years. Their participation in high school can be minimal—only a year—to fully qualify as ‘involved’ in church. Many come back.
It’s also important to know that many of these dropouts were unplanned—80 percent did not initially expect to leave the church during high school. College life brings with it many twists and turns lending itself to brand new levels of busyness and distraction. Young adults find themselves outside of their parents’ home for the first time and often have to start asking the hard questions and making their own decisions about how to spend their time.
For many parents right now watching their kids slowly transition away from the church, it can be all too common to experience feelings of confusion, fear and a lingering sense of failure. Parents often blame themselves for their child’s poor decision-making long after they leave the home.
