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Written by: Rex M. Rogers

Published: 03 March 2025

Have you ever been a prodigal and welcomed home, or do you know individuals now who are prodigals adrift in a fallen world?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #194 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

In the New Testament book of Luke 15:11-32, the Word of God gives us the parable of the prodigal son. In the title of the podcast, I call it the “glorious” parable because it is a story of second chances, hope, and redemption.

For the record, parables in the Bible are simple stories, as told by Jesus in the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—to illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson, to provide information and spiritual insight in terms the public could understand. So, parables often reflected circumstances people could and did experience in everyday life. The fact that these parables or stories were not an account of an historical event does not mean the principles they taught are untrue. Quite the opposite. The story helped elaborate and illustrate the principles in a way they could be quickly grasped and applied to real world living.

In Luke 15, Jesus shared three parables, sometimes called the “Redemption Parables,” because they each illustrated the love and mercy God extended to those who seemingly were without hope. Jesus shared these three parables about loss and redemption after the Pharisees and religious leaders accused him of welcoming and eating with "sinners." The father's joy described in the parable of the prodigal son reflects divine love: the "boundless mercy of God," and "God's refusal to limit the measure of his grace.”

The first parable is about the Lost Sheep. In this parable a man leaves his flock of 99 sheep to find the one which is lost. And the Scripture says, “I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.” Lk 15:3-7

The second parable is about the Lost Coin. A woman had ten coins, lost one, lighted her lamp, swept the house, and sought diligently until she found it. When she found the coin, she called together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.' The Scripture says, “Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting” Lk 15:8-10.

The third parable is about the Lost Son. This parable is about a younger brother who decides he wants his inheritance now, long before his father passes.The father grants the younger brother’s request, and the son takes his inheritance into what Scripture calls “a far country” where in due time he “squandered his property in reckless living,” (or as the Old King James presented it, “wasted his substance with riotous living”). Shortly thereafter there is a famine that adds to his woes and soon he hits rock bottom, no resources, nothing to eat, able to secure an unpleasant job feeding swine, and there his reality comes home to him. He realizes the pigs are eating better than he is and that in his father’s house back home even the servants are living well.

So, the destitute young man thinks, “I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.”’ But while he was yet far off, his father saw him—which implies the father was watching and hoping for his son’s return—and runs to him, places a fine robe on him, calls for a “fatted calf” to be slain in celebration, declaring, ‘For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’” Luke 15:24.

The character of the forgiving father, who remains constant throughout the story, is a picture of God. In telling the story, Jesus identifies Himself with God the Father in His loving attitude toward the lost.

The glorious message of this parable is that no one is so far gone, so lost as to be beyond hope. God is faithful, forgiving, always there, waiting, ready to redeem or restore.

This applies to us all, for I do not think it is a stretch to say, “everyone has either been, or is,” a prodigal son? We know there are “none righteous, no not one,” Rom 3:10, that all are born in sin. In Psalms the psalmist says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” Ps 51:5. In Genesis, God noted that “the intention of man's heart is evil from his youth” Gen 8:2.

We have all strayed, maybe not into debauchery or great evil, but nevertheless into sin far from God. Yet God is there, waiting, inviting, making possible our redemption, giving us hope.

God never gives up on anyone, and if you or I are not the prodigal, then likely we all know someone who is a prodigal in some manner. Our task is to emulate the Father, to pray for them, to look for their return unceasingly. Think of the faithful Mothers, Grandmothers, Uncles, Pastors, who year after year pray for the prodigals in their lives – and some live to see the prodigal come back to the Lord. We are to love them and speak the truth in love regarding their sin. This does not mean preach at them every time we meet or stand in holier-than-thou judgment. It means we commit them to the Lord who is ultimately the only one who can reach them and bring them to restoration.

One common challenge is that if you have a loved one who is living away from the Lord, likely he or she knows what you believe, even perhaps about their specific sin, like immorality or compulsive gambling or substance abuse. Generally, the prodigal does not want to hear truth or to be held accountable, so rather than react just to the truth, they react to you. You become the enemy and may be rejected. Sometimes we may need to stay faithful in openness, prayer, and support even as we pray for the Lord to perhaps send someone else into their lives who can reach them. The prodigal son in Scripture spent a period in his reckless living. For a time, he was not ready to think and behave differently. But there came a time when he hit the wall, in this case physically but finally in his understanding spiritually. Then he was ready to consider the truth.

Lest we forget, in the parable of the prodigal son, there is an older brother who surprisingly reacts negatively to the father’s celebration – slaying the “fatted calf” – upon his younger brother’s return. If prodigal sons or daughters exist today—and they do—does this older brother or sister personality exist as well? If so, how do we relate to him or her?

Certainly, the older brother persona exists. Maybe these are the judgmental or legalistic or I’m-better-than-you people in our midst. Or maybe these are just people who seem to live for the Lord on the outside while not always being faithful on the inside.

Frankly, I sometimes think of myself in this person. As it happens, there was never a time when I went completely off the deep end as a prodigal, but I certainly still engaged in sinful attitudes or behaviors, drifted along in my relationship with the Lord, and was not always faithful doing what he called me to do.

Our task with the older brother—sort of a prodigal heart—is the same as with the prodigal son who ran from God into a far country of sin and degradation. It is to pray for them, to be a testimony before them, to help them see truth and righteousness as the brother’s father did in the parable, saying, “‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

On another level, I happen to believe there are prodigal Christian organizations, so to speak. Sadly, we’re seeing more of this today wherein once biblically and doctrinally sound Christian ministries, even churches, are now caught up in beliefs that run counter to Scripture, things like pro-choice, or embracing a moral relativistic belief that LGBTQ+ is somehow OK with God because to think otherwise might hurt someone’s feelings, emphasizing humanitarian activity—which in themselves may be needed and good—to the exclusion or displacement of sharing the Gospel, or, for reasons hard to understand, embracing antisemitic views.

Our responsibility as ambassadors of Christ in this fallen world is to keep praying and presenting HOPE based not upon politics, partisanship, or political leaders, upon salvation in Jesus Christ.

This is the “glorious” nature of the parable of the prodigal son. As human beings, we want hope, need hope, and hope is available to us in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Never forget. As long as he or she is still breathing, no prodigal is beyond hope.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. Or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers for more podcasts and video. 

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2025  

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/ or my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers or https://x.com/RexMRogers.

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Written by: Rex M. Rogers

Published: 05 June 2023

Have you ever been asked who you are? Or maybe, where are you from? What is your identity is what people seem to be asking.

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #90 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

Identity politics argues that demography is destiny. Human beings are all reducible to our race, ethnicity, gender, and beyond this, our individuality nolonger matters, what matters is the group identity. This is identity politics.

Identity politics refers to the political movements and ideologies that focus on the interests and perspectives of specific social groups based on their shared characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or other aspects of their identity. It involves organizing and advocating for the rights, representation, and social equality of often self-defined marginalized or underrepresented groups. Identity politics argues that different groups experience social and political issues differently due to their differing historical, cultural, and systemic contexts.

Proponents argue that recognizing and addressing these differences is essential for achieving social justice and challenging systems of oppression.

Critics of identity politics argue that it leads to a narrow focus on individual group interests at the expense of broader unity and shared goals. They argue, with considerable evidence, that emphasizing group identities can contribute to polarization, exclusion, and a fragmentation of society. Critics also contend that identity politics perpetuates divisions and hinders constructive dialogue between different groups.

Identity politics asserts identity is wholly socially determined. We are products of our sex, race, and something socially invented called gender identity.

But Christians believe we are made in God’s image. “The Bible affirms the importance of every individual.”

In Why Social Justice Is Not Biblical Justice, Scott David Allen says, “The groups we belong to shape us. They do not define us. The bedrock of human identity is found in our common creation (we are all created in God’s image and likeness, with equal value and dignity) and in God’s gracious open door to redemption.”

Identity politics, and its intellectual suite mate, critical race theory, teaches a person’s identity cannot be separated from your group. No individuality. These ideas are antithetical to Christianity.

For identity politics, redemption is separating a person from oppressors not being freed from sin. Salvation in the radical view of identity politics is to gain power over your oppressors. 

In his book, We Will Not Be Silenced, Erwin Lutzer observed, “The Gospel does what critical race theory (and identity politics) can’t do…We believe the root cause of evil is not only external systems, but rather, the sin that lies within every human heart. Therefore, we strive for commonality among the races, not accentuating our differences. At the foot of the cross we confess that there is common ground between all the racial and ethnic diversity in the world. We stand together as sinners confessing our common need of personal redemption. We see the source of evil not outside us, but within us. We acknowledge, as someone has said, that we don’t have a skin problem, but a sin problem.”

Identity politics has contributed to race division, hatred, and confusion. But worse, identity politics, and its supporting cast in critical race theory and the sexual liberation movement, have turned the world upside down for children.

“Perhaps nowhere do we see the work of Satan in America as clearly as we do in the specialization of children—destroying their identity, confusing their gender, and creating unresolved guilt and self-hatred.”

Focusing upon ones “identity,” self-defined or socially determined, rather than understanding who we are created in the image of God, leads, sometimes in stages but inevitably, to narcissism, neurotic self-indulgence, increased anxiety, fear, detachment, alienation, suicidal actions, and nihilism.

The emotional/psychological/spiritual impact of celebrating ones “identity” to the exclusion of other values and considerations, is one of several reasons we’re seeing a developing mental health epidemic, one of several reasons we’re seeing more young men reacting in killing sprees of emptiness, loneliness, and rage, and one reason we’re seeing young people hammer themselves with toxic drugs.

Meanwhile, Scripture offers an entirely different formula, one that actually fits the reality God created and therefore meets the need of the human heart. We are to find our identity in Christ.

The biblical view of identity in Christ is rooted in the teachings of the New Testament, particularly in the letters written by the apostle Paul. According to the Bible, when a person becomes a believer in Jesus Christ, they experience a profound transformation and their identity is fundamentally changed.

Christian believers are made and called a New Creation: In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul writes, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" This verse emphasizes that when a person embraces Christ, they are spiritually reborn and given a new identity. The old sinful nature is replaced by a new nature that is aligned with God's righteousness. There is nothing. Let me repeat that, there is nothing that a person can do—short of deciding to reject Christ—that can place a person beyond the power of the Holy Spirit of God. There is nothing we can get ourselves into that is too big a mess for God to fix. There is nothing we face or may face in this world, no circumstance, no persons or power, no sin on our part, that makes it impossible for God to make us a new creation in him.

Think about what the Scripture promises—a “new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here.”

That, my friends, is reconciliation and hope writ large.

Christian believers are made and called a Child of God: In John 1:12, it is written, "Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." Through faith in Christ, believers are adopted into God's family and become His children. This identity as a child of God brings with it the privileges, responsibilities, and assurance of God's love and care.

Christian believers are united with Christ: Paul often speaks of believers being united with Christ. In Romans 6:5, he says, "For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his." This union with Christ means that believers are connected to Him in a profound and inseparable way. They share in His death, burial, and resurrection, experiencing the power of His victory over sin and death.

Christian believers are made and called Ambassadors of Christ: In 2 Corinthians 5:20, Paul describes believers as ambassadors for Christ, saying, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us." As ambassadors, believers represent Christ to the world, carrying His message of reconciliation and demonstrating His character in their lives.

Christian believers are made and called part of the Body of Christ: The Bible also teaches that believers are members of the body of Christ, with Christ as the head. In 1 Corinthians 12:27, Paul states, "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." This imagery emphasizes the interconnectedness of believers and the importance of each person's unique role and contribution to the functioning of the body.

The biblical view of identity in Christ emphasizes that believers are new creations, children of God, united with Christ, ambassadors for Him, and part of the body of Christ. This identity shapes their worldview, purpose, and behavior, as they seek to live in accordance with God's will and bring glory to Him.

Identity politics advances our sex, race, ethnicity – to what end? Perceived political gain that in the end is nothing but a path to power for those who promote it. There is no ultimate meaning or satisfaction, only disappointment.

A Christian sociologist once said that all human beings, living in a fallen world as sinners in need of grace, are beset with a “relational dilemma.” Like Adam and Eve being sent from the Garden, we are cut off from God. Accepting Christ immediately addresses that relational dilemma by establishing our identity in Christ. We are a new creation. 

We are not without trials and troubles in this old world, but we are loved, forgiven, blessed. We are sons and daughters of God, part of the family of God, the Body of Christ.

Your identity in Christ is forever.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com.

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2023  

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.  

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Written by: Rex M. Rogers

Published: 12 April 2022

Have you ever met someone who hasn’t forgiven another person who’s been dead for 15 years? Unforgiveness is rampant in the human experience, and in the Church.

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #18 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

Your son steals the family car and eventually calls three weeks later from three states away. Your spouse has been unfaithful. Your pastor absconds with several thousand dollars of your church’s funds. You are the focus of a slanderous attack that undermines your reputation. Your business partner finds some way to cheat you, legally, and walks away with your investment. Someone abused you in terrible ways. Your father or mother have been gone for decades, but you’re still haunted by the memory of how one or both wronged you.

The “normal” response pattern to all these circumstances might include disbelief, hurt, anger, bitterness, and maybe vengeance. Some people might even argue that such emotions are justifiable and understandable. Some claim that certain acts perpetrated against us are forever unforgiveable.

People expect a certain amount of “righteous anger.” It’s a part of our American code of individualistic ethics. Kill or be killed. Hallowed self-defense. John Wayne rides again.

But I’ve got to believe that most of us are not very good at separating “righteous anger” from unrighteous, carnal wrath. That’s why forgiveness seems like an even more unlikely response. At least with anger, righteous or otherwise, you get the satisfaction of directing your feelings toward the offender. With forgiveness you don’t even get that. You let go and walk away.

Actually, forgiveness is a rather un-human thing to do. Think about it. Forgiveness goes against the grain. If someone hurts us, why should you forgive them? What’s in it for us? Forgiveness isn’t the typically human response.

Forgiving seems too much like yielding. It smacks of injustice and weakness. It’s almost as if we’re allowing for some legitimacy in the offender’s actions.  Besides, if we want to be religious about it, doesn’t the Old Testament say, “an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”? Shouldn’t we retaliate? Can’t we all think of a couple of people whose teeth we’d like to knock out?

You see, forgiveness really is un-human. Forgiveness does not fit our human psyche. It’s not natural.

But then again, who said we should be natural? Being natural means that we’re following the nature we were born with and that, according to Scripture, is an evil nature, a heart that is deceitful and wicked (Jer. 17:9).  

My wife and I did not teach any of our four children (now adults) to lie, but they all did sooner or later. We didn’t teach them to cheat, but they did that too. They did what comes natural. They sinned. I’ve done the same things and more.  I’ve let the “natural man” control my heart and my response.

Yet we should not want to do what comes “natural.” We should be interested in the supernatural. We should allow the Spirit of God to work in our hearts to redeem the natural and make us useful for his service in the here and now. It’s only through submission to the Lord that we can do the “un-human” thing and forgive those who hurt us.

If forgiveness is un-human, unforgiveness is inhuman. Unforgiveness eats away at the spirit of the unforgiver and sometimes the unforgiven.

We describe torture, cruelty, and vicious violence as inhuman. We detest “man’s inhumanity to man” as evidenced in slavery, killing, genocide, or unlawful capture and detainment. Inhuman action is hurtful, destructive action.

Unforgiveness is inhuman because it hurts us, you or me. Unforgiveness binds and restricts. It chokes and destroys. It cruelly works emotional and spiritual violence on the soul.

Unforgiveness is to the spirit what disease is to the physical body. Unforgiveness debilitates, slowly and steadily. It begins to determine what we do and who we are.  

Unforgiveness captures our future.  

But unforgiveness has a remedy. We don’t have to live in spiritual and emotional ill health. Forgiveness is the remedy that frees us from the bondage of sin. Life, liberty and joy are ours to embrace.

This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends.

Our ability as Christians to forgive others is rooted entirely in the fact that God through Christ has already forgiven us. Through Christ’s shed blood we enjoy redemption, the forgiveness of sin (Col. 1:14). We are “free from” sin and “free to be” what God wants us to be.

I conclude every podcast with the powerful biblical statement, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free” (Gal. 5:1).  

The fact of God’s forgiveness literally gives us a new lease on life.

Think with me about the ways that God’s forgiveness liberates us.   

1. Forgiveness frees us from rendering vengeance.

When we forgive, we leave vengeance and justice to the Lord (Rom. 12:17-21).  We don’t have to become buddies with the one who hurt us, but we don’t need to retaliate either. God will bring all things to account. 

2. Forgiveness frees us from possibly thwarting God’s purposes.

Forgiveness frees us to acknowledge the sovereignty of God even in the hurtful things he allows to come into our lives. Esau eventually forgave Jacob for stealing his birthright, and Joseph forgave his brothers for their treachery in selling him into slavery. At the time of the offense, none of them knew that what some meant for evil, God meant for good.  

3. Forgiveness frees us to testify to God’s love.

Jesus forgave the wicked woman at the well, he forgave the Christian-killer Saul who became the Apostle Paul, and he forgave me. When we forgive others, contrary to human nature, we are a testimony of the grace of God.  People simply cannot understand it.

In October 2006, people worldwide were amazed when Amish families forgave the man who shot ten and killed five young girls in a Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania schoolhouse, then killed himself. The families then attended his burial, hugged his widow, and donated money to her and the man’s three children, victims all.  How could the Amish families do this?

In December 2014, an 11-year-old Iraqi girl, Myriam, was interviewed by Essam Nagy of Christian channel SAT-7 KIDS. In the video that eventually went globally viral and was reported on news agencies in multiple languages, she says she forgave ISIS for what they did to her hometown of Qaraqosh, Iraq, driving she and her Christian family from their home, killing others, and destroying the community. How could she do this?  

In February 2015, ISIS theatrically beheaded 21 Christian men on a Libyan beach.  Later, one man’s brother, and a mother of two of the men and mother-in-law to another, called the Christian channel SAT-7 to express forgiveness of the ISIS men, praying for their salvation. How could these aggrieved families do this?

Forgiveness is a supreme act of spiritual maturity. It is only possible in those who have grown in Christ to a point where his grace overwhelms their (our) grudges. 

    4.  Forgiveness frees us to be blessed by our own acts of mercy.

Ironically, showing mercy to another person is a selfless act that is ultimately in our self-interest.Solomon told us that a gracious woman retains honor and a merciful man does good to his own soul (Prov. 11:16-17). When we are merciful, longsuffering, and forgiving, we allow God’s grace to be shed on both the forgiver and the forgivee. 

Forgiveness liberates. It’s like unhooking a ball and chain from around our necks. Forgiveness frees us to enjoy the Christian life as God intended.  

Jesus told his disciples to forgive unto seventy times seven (Matt. 18:21-22). In other words, our capacity to forgive should know no limits. Forgiving is not an option.  It is a biblical mandate. We must forgive even if the offender is 100% wrong and even if the offenses occurred repeatedly.  

Unforgiveness is a rather common part of the human condition. It’s all around us. Sometimes it’s within us.

I’ve long thought that unforgiveness is the number one sin in the Christian Church, though I cannot prove this.

Forgiveness on the other hand is all too rare, which makes it special, a light in a darkened world. Forgiveness is a way for Christians to let the Son shine in.

Well, we’ll see you again soon. For more Christian commentary, be sure to subscribe to this podcast, Discerning What Is Best, or check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2022   

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.  

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Written by: Rex M. Rogers

Published: 16 March 2022

Have you ever been betrayed? I mean you discovered your trust had been misplaced and the hurt is real? Betrayal is sadly a part of life in a sinful world, but the Lord did not leave us without perspective and support.

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #14 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

A few years ago, I visited the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum, and I was glad for the opportunity. It brought back a lot of memories.

When Richard Milhous Nixon was re-elected in 1972, I was a 20-year-old college student studying political science. I was thoroughly into the issues and the campaign, and Nixon became the first president I excitedly voted for. He was “my president” in the same way the college students who campaigned for President Barak Obama will forever feel a special attachment to him.

Later, as I walked to my car, I realized I felt down and a little twisted inside, and I thought, what’s this? Then it hit me. I felt betrayed, even a little angry.

The politics of Nixon’s second term had turned quickly to Watergate chaos.  “What did he know and when did he know it?” In a painful few months Nixon’s presidency collapsed under the weight of malfeasance and an unexplained 18½ minute gap in a White House audio tape.  

August 8, 1974, Richard Nixon announced his resignation. August 9, 1974, Nixon resigned, and Gerald R. Ford was sworn into office. August 10, 1974, Sarah and I got married. It was an eventful week.

It’s been over 40 years but viewing Nixon’s gravestone rekindled emotions I didn’t know remained. I’d been energized by this man’s leadership. I’d agreed with a measure of his policy perspectives, but he’d fooled me, Billy Graham, and many others. 

Nixon squandered enormous political talent and experience. His personal character was exposed and didn’t match his public persona. He cheated to win re-election. He covered up. He lied. He did this to his country. He did this to me. 

I felt betrayed because I’d put my trust in his leadership. 

This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends.

I’ve also felt betrayed a few times in more personal ways than a distant president. I’m guessing you have too. It’s more realistic than cynical to say that if you live long enough someone will eventually trade on your trust. 

And then there’s our behavior toward others. I don’t like to think that I may have betrayed someone, but as a sinner saved by grace, who’s still a sinner, I probably have.      

Betrayal comes in many forms. Maybe in your workplace: people you trusted said things publicly about you that you later heard and could scarcely believe. People close to you, or so you thought, stayed faithful while they worked for or with you but verbally kicked you on the way out the company door. People were your friends as long as they got something out of the transaction; when circumstances changed, they stabbed you in the back.  People lied about what really happened, or worse, they lied about you and assassinated your character. People you helped gain their positions used their newfound empowerment to undermine you.     

By the way, criticism and betrayal are not synonymous, particularly if you hold a leadership position. Criticism rightly given and rightly received, iron sharpening iron, makes us better, stronger. Criticism seeks to help. Betrayal seeks to harm.     

Maybe your company leaders betrayed the trust of thousands of employees, of which you are one, and now your pension fund or your investments are diminished or gone.  

Maybe a spouse you loved was unfaithful.      

And, of course, there are many more ways in which people betray people.  Human beings are infinitely creative, so they keep inventing new ways to betray. It’s one of the sins of the human race that began when Cain betrayed Abel, and it’s not going to go away this side of heaven. It’s not fun and in fact it can hurt deeply. 

Given the sin nature in all of us, betrayal, or the experience of being betrayed, is probably unavoidable. Betrayal comes to us all. So now what?       

We have a choice on how we respond to betrayal. We can retaliate, hitting back in some tangible way that attempts to hurt others who’ve hurt us. We can seek revenge (kidding ourselves that it’s justice we’re after). We can contract for legal redress (I recognize that such remedies may at times be biblically justifiable, but I’d recommend mediation or arbitration before pursuing lawsuits as a last resort). We can dissolve into bitter recrimination.  

Or we can look to the Lord for another way toward resolution that may or may not ultimately result in reconciliation. The Bible tells us how.      

1-Pray. James 5:13 - “Is any one of you in trouble?  He should pray.” My Mother used to tell me this. I’d come home from school with some story of what an evildoer had done to me and she’d say, “Have you prayed for him?” I didn’t want to pray for him. I wanted to punch him. But I did discover that one cannot pray sincerely for someone and continue ill feelings in your heart. The Spirit takes over, changing our feelings if not the circumstances and directing our response toward life.     

2-Never respond in kind. James 4:11 - “Brothers, do not slander one another.” Never put in print what you’ll be ashamed of later. Print possesses a shelf-life longer than your life. Cyberspace magnifies your responses even broader and faster, potentially to billions. Besides, vitriolic responses are about hurting, not healing.      

3-Never over-react. Proverbs 15:1 – “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” This too shall pass. It’s amazing how different personal battles appear from the vantage point of time. Not long ago I spoke with a man with whom I’d battled a few times. He and I were just different, and it came out, not in things we’re ashamed we said but in periodic friction. Funny thing was, when we talked, neither of us could remember the substance of the issues involved. All we could remember is that we used to butt heads and now we wondered why.     

4-Never seek vengeance. Romans 12: 17-19 - “Do not repay anyone evil for evil…If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge…I will repay, says the Lord.” Turning the other cheek may be one of the more difficult things we’re called upon to do in our lives. God is sovereign. He knows. He’ll make things right in his good time.          

5-Forgive. Colossians 3:13 - “Forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Responding to betrayal with forgiveness brings resolution to us even if the other person(s) never change or are never open to reconciliation. Forgiveness is not only right; it’s a release. It literally liberates us. What mattered no longer matters. When we forgive, we don’t work to make the offending parties “admit” or “apologize.” We don’t work to “win.” We simply ask the Lord to enable us to forgive when it’s beyond our ability to do so. And he does.    

6-Bless and be at peace with them. Romans 12:14, 16 - “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…Live in harmony with one another.” No one’s ever been betrayed like Jesus. Judas used his three-year relationship to identify Jesus with a kiss and betrayed the Savior for 30 pieces of silver. Peter denied Jesus three times. The Disciples deserted him.

Yet Jesus loved them all, even calling Judas “Friend,” and he continued in the Father’s mission to sacrifice the Son to make forgiveness and reconciliation possible.     

I know that responding to betrayal with forgiveness is not the natural thing to do. But that’s the point. Christians aren’t supposed to be natural, but spiritual.       

Jesus is the only one who can enable us to overcome betrayal.    

Well, we’ll see you again soon. For more Christian commentary, be sure to subscribe to this podcast, Discerning What Is Best, or check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2022   

*This podcast blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.  

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Written by: Rex M. Rogers

Published: 29 September 2020

Today, to say someone engaged in questionable behavior is involved in something wrong, or worse, sin, can mean you are quickly labeled uncompassionate, judgmental, intolerant, bigot, or hater.

This can include alcohol and substance abuse, promiscuity and a now infinite array of pansexual proclivities, compulsive gambling, even anger management and more. 

The alternative view is these addictive behaviors are defined not as sin but as illness, a disease. Of course, the point here is that if these behavioral choices are a disease, you are not responsible. 

The problem with this view is that it offers no fix, no “out.” If one has a deadly disease, there’s nothing you can do. There’s no hope.

Calling wrong moral choices sin, as God did, sounds harsh, but it can be the beginning of repentance, reconciliation, and restoration. 

The Apostle Paul once called himself the “chief” or “worst” of sinners. But in the same verse he said, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Tim. 1:15).

Samson rebelled, and God answered his prayer for strength one last time. 

Jonah rebelled and from the belly of a great fish God heard him. 

David committed murder and adultery, and God forgave him.

There is nothing in which we can get involved, no depth to which we can sink, no addictive behavior, no immorality or brokenness, no sin so awful, that we are beyond the reach of the Holy Spirit of God. 

The old hymn lyrics said it all: 

“Grace, grace, God’s grace, Grace that is greater than all our sin!”

© Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2020    

*This blog may be reproduced in whole or in part with a full attribution statement. Contact me or read more commentary on current issues and events at www.rexmrogers.com/, or connect with me at www.linkedin.com/in/rexmrogers.