from Easter...What Do You Think?

Each year around this time, I tend to go back to the gospels and read about the week before Jesus was crucified. There's a lot of material...the writers of the gospels obviously considered this period pretty important. Today I was particularly struck by a story about two sons:

"What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.'
'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.
"Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go.
"Which of the two did what his father wanted?"
"The first," they answered.
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you."
Matthew 21:28-31

What do you think? I think there would be a lot of "Christians" who would be pissed off to know that there are prostitutes and tax collectors entering the kingdom of God ahead of them. I like how King James says it..."the publicans and the harlots." Or, let's be even more brutally honest...what if the passage said, "I tell you the truth, the homosexuals and Democrats are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you"?

What do you think? I think that this passage reminds me of another tale of two sons, more commonly known as the "prodigal son." This is the story where the rebellious/promiscuous/prodigal son comes home smelling like a pig and gets the royal treatment. What most people don't remember is that the other son gets jealous of him and won't join in the party. I think that the same judgmental attitude exists in the church today. I think we fail our brothers and sisters when we compare ourselves to them and come out smelling less like a pig. I think we are deceiving ourselves if we think our sin is "better" just because it's easier to hide. I think the fig leaves we sew for ourselves are inadequate at best and downright pornographic at worst. Because they do little to hide our nakedness from a Holy Father.

What do you think? There is only one other place where Jesus says, "what do you think?" (Matthew 22:41) And I think that the question "What do you think about the Christ?" is the most important question you will ever have to answer.