Introducing 7 Prodigals

On a Journey from Junk to Joy

If you google “prodigal,” one of the definitions is “Having (selfishly) abandoned a person, group, or ideal. Returning or having returned, especially repentantly, after such an abandonment.” Other definitions focus on reckless, foolish, or lavish living or one who has returned after an absence. For my writing, I’m going to define “prodigal” as “one on a journey from junk to joy.”

Each of us has been enamored by junk if we define junk as anything that distracts, interferes, or replaces our love, dependence, or interaction with Jesus. There’s worldly junk, personal junk, and church junk.

Worldly junk comes in countless packages from those things that most of us would classify as destructive – adultery, pornography, theft, addiction, drunkenness, racism, dishonesty… to more culturally accepted and even respected distractions like materialism, wealth, health, family, education, sports, careers, or business ownership when one becomes the primary source of security or hope.

Personal junk generally surfaces when one allows emotions to lead one’s thoughts, actions, or the shaping of on-going perspectives. Emotions are real and necessary. Yet, according to Scripture, they make terrible leaders. Examples of personal junk include jealousy, anger, selfishness, fear, pride, impatience, anxiety, unforgiveness…

Yes, while well intended, there are also mountains of church junk – those religious practices, expectations, teachings, rituals, and assumptions that create consistent blind-spots of comfort & complacency, self-righteousness, legalism, judgementalism, liberalism…

And then there is Jesus, who promises freedom from the junk of this world. Jesus offers us joy, peace, wholeness, fruitfulness, and fulfillment. He offers life after death, but he also offers us His power and His presence in life before death. He loves us unconditionally. He paid the ultimate price for our freedom. He loves us while we embrace our junk, and He accepts us back every time we choose to return from junk to Him.

In Scripture, the number 7 represents completeness or all. So the name, “7 Prodigals” is meant to be a simple, easily remembered call to all prodigals, those who are weary from the world and kicking tires when it comes to the church, those who have recently met Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and those who have long sought to follow Him, but found themselves with an on-going need to journey from their junk - worldly, personal, or church - back to Jesus.  My hope is to provide insight into Scripture to help you map your journey from your junk to the joy found only in Jesus.

For the sake of simplicity, I’ll use male pronouns. This is not to reflect misogyny,  political rebellion, or laziness, just simplicity. These writings are intended applicable to either gender.