Life has been frustrating of late. I find myself hot and bothered. I need some clarity. So I decided to do what every pastor does during trying times: I grabbed my bible, shut my eyes, licked my  index finger, raised it into the air, and then opened the bible while randomly picking a passage to read. 

Here is the first thing my finger pointed to, “He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.” (Luke 15:16)

Look at that last line, “no one gave him anything.” The poor guy, hungry, hanging with pigs, and no one cares. He is stuck in a muddy, messy, miserable world without someone to help him out. Maybe that is why I am hot and bothered, maybe that is why my soul is frustrated, NO ONE GIVES ME ANYTHING!

Does it ever seem like everyone is against you? No one is volunteering to help. You are being purposely ignored. And the misery you now feel you are convinced was done to you.

But wait, before I soak myself in this warm, soothing bath of bitterness and despair, I forgot to do one thing before I arrived at my conclusion: I first need to put the verse in context! 

Here is how the story in Luke begins, “The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them. Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need.” (Luke 15:12-14)

Hmm, wait a second, I missed something the first time, the son chose to leave his good father. He had it made, but decided to run away and do his own thing. The word “squandered” is a pretty harsh, almost judgmental word about his choices. 

I looked up the definition of “squandered” and it reads, “waste something, especially time or money, in a reckless and foolish manner.” Now wait a minute, can we really hold people accountable to their choices? What right do we have to call someone’s actions “foolish?” What if the son just wanted to “live his best life now”? Maybe he was trying to “be true to himself.” Right? How could his misery be his own fault? It always is someone else’s fault, isn’t it?

Or is it?

Well, you probably have picked up on my tongue-in-cheek rendering of the “Prodigal Son” story told by Jesus. And if you notice, where you start on the story can have completely different lessons to learn – and they bring you to different conclusions. 

If we start from a perspective that “no one gives me anything” we fail to realize it was his choice to be put into this position. This way of seeing the world is known as “sentimentalism.” Sentimentalism is always starting from the position of innocence. You really believe you were done dirty by a world that is against you. 

I like how the theologian Gerhard Forde describes sentimentalism, “We apparently are no longer sinners, but rather victims, oppressed by sinister victimizers whom we relentlessly seek to track down and accuse.”

As one pastor said, “We live in an age in which everything is permitted and nothing is forgiven.”

So instead of starting at the beginning, where we leave the wonder and grace of the Father, modern man begins the story from the middle. Lost and alone, blaming everyone else for their misery. This is where hate begins. “It’s your fault!” Most people have forgotten that by nature “we suppressed the truth of God and exchanged it for a lie.” So God gave us over and we have found ourselves eating with pigs.

But that assessment is so mean. Uncaring. Cruel. Or is it?

A good doctor will tell you, “If you don’t diagnose the problem correctly you can’t offer the proper medicine.” And according to this story, the proper diagnosis starts at the very beginning. We are born rebels. We chose to leave. So our strange perversions and debased delights are not the result of how we were born, but the habits we learned when we ran away to the far country.

I think the reason why politics is so talked about and popular in our day and age is because it gives the person stuck in victimhood a villain to blame for their miserable plight. The reason your poor neighbor is stuck eating the pig slop is because of the President. If our government cared more, we would be happier. If the church had more programs and the pastor was not so controlling, people would all love Jesus. It’s the patriarchal system that doesn’t really care. And just wait until the orange man gets into office, he can’t wait to leave you lost and alone, with nothing but pig slop to eat.

Sentimentalism screams, “It is always someone else’s fault.” That sentiment is what lurks at the sinner’s core. And when you live by sentimentalism, hate will soon be coming to a theater near you. Here is how you can tell that sentimentalism may have a hold on your heart:

1. You are always looking for someone who hurt you. And when you think you found the culprit, forgiveness is not possible. Sadly, those you hold accountable for your hurt often don’t even know you are furious with them.
2. You love only those who love you and will help you as you want to be helped. Anyone who disagrees with you, or offers solutions that confront your sin, are written off by your hurt.
3. You see in God a sappy deity who is suppossed to feel sorry for your pain, but he has no ability to stop it from happening. Often he seems caught off guard to your plight and is impotent to help. While the real truth is he is using the pain as his way to get you to come back to his love.
4. You believe the lie that things will only get better if others change. So you use progressive self-talk, “I’m happy, I’m healthy, and I feel terrific.” When the truth is you are not, nor will you ever be. Repentence is the only way out from sentimentalism’s iron grip.
5. You believe if only people were nicer the world would be a better place. 

Never forget, “”A man that hath friends must show himself friendly!” (Prov. 18:24) As one writer said, “God’s love creates out of nothing, man’s love expects to be loved.”