I’d Rather Meet A Whale Than My Neighbor

What if the person you least want to love is the very one you’re called to pursue? We open with a raw confession about writing a hard name on a card and the Jonah-like urge to run the other way, then follow Jesus into Luke 15 where lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son reveal the pulse of heaven. The thread is relentless: God moves first, searches thoroughly, and throws a party when one heart turns home. That vision collides with our inner Pharisee and our older-brother logic, the part of us that wants fairness more than family and audits more than celebration.

Together, we linger in the prodigal story’s details—the pigsty hunger, the rehearsed apology, the father’s sprint, the robe, ring, and sandals that signal full restoration. We ask why grace feels so offensive when it lands on someone we resent, and we name the risks of gatekeeping dressed up as discernment. Along the way, you’ll hear the humbling moment a co-worker’s honesty exposed judgment behind kind words, and how that encounter re-shaped a ministry posture from crowd-chasing to person-seeking. Babies don’t walk on day one; spiritual growth is a process, with setbacks, stumbles, and second chances.

If you’ve ever felt torn between conviction and compassion, this conversation offers a clarifying center: search for the one, pray for the one, and celebrate small beginnings. Success isn’t a stage or a tally; it’s presence, pursuit, and patience. Whether you identify with the runaway or the rule-keeper, there’s a seat at the table and music from the house inviting you in. Listen, share with a friend who needs hope, and if this moved you, subscribe and leave a review so others can find their way home too.

Transcript

Jonah, Nineveh, And Reluctant Obedience

Why Jesus Eats With Sinners

Three Parables Of Lost And Found

The Lost Sheep And The Lost Coin

Enter The Prodigal Son

Hitting Bottom Among The Pigs

Rehearsed Apology And Running Father

SPEAKER_00 1:06

And I've it's interesting because we've been going through this whole series. These cards came in the mail. I think they came in on Friday. And I was sitting there, and and I'll be honest, I I know the name that I need to write on my card, and and I'm telling you right now, I have not written it yet. Because I am mentally struggling with it. This is a person that I've known my whole life, and the relationship's not great, and and I know that all God wants for them is for them to find him. And there's a Pharisee inside of me that looks at it and says, nah, they they deserve. They deserve what they've done. They've earned their life. But I'm human. So I know the name. And I'm struggling. Because I realize that the moment I commit to this, I know what God's gonna call me to do. He's gonna call me to be a Jonah. And he's gonna call me to go to Nineveh. And he's gonna call me to share the gospel with people I'd rather see destroyed. And I'm gonna hope that there's a whale to eat me along the way. There's not wrong about that. I do though, Jugg. I hope there's a whale. I think I'd rather sit in the belly of a whale than have this conversation. I get Jonah sometimes. I think we give him a bad rap, but but the reality is, is those who are lost, they need Jesus more than anybody. Right? And so Jesus, he's sitting around with these Pharisees. We talked about this the last couple weeks. He's sitting around with all these sinful people, these tax collectors and these prostitutes and these religious, non-religious people. Jesus kept some interesting company in his life. And so the Pharisees, the again, Everett and I had this. Oh, by the way, I love when I get to tell this stuff to my kids because it does two things. One, it makes sure that I'm explaining it well. Because kids, if they don't know, they're like, what? But but two, it it prompts that that those questions, right? That we should be teaching our kids. What's a Pharisee? Right? So these are religious leaders. They're they're the ones who walked around in really nice clothes and and all of their robes, and and they carried themselves in such a way that they made people feel less than what they were. And so these Pharisees are outside this crowd and and they're almost mocking Jesus, and they're saying, How is this Messiah, the Son of God, sitting with with these awful people? Doesn't he know who they are? They wouldn't even be allowed in the temple. And so Jesus, in his response, and I love Jesus, he parables are some of my favorite ways that he teaches, because he says what he needs to say without saying what he needs to say. You ever had someone do that to you? Like you did something wrong, and they have a conversation with you, and you don't get it, and then you walk away and you're like, I think they were talking about me. It's not a new thing, by the way. The old testament prophets did it. So Jesus toggles these three parables and he talks about the coin, he talks about the sheep. And we're just gonna read them again. Luke 15 says, Now the tax collectors and the sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus, but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, This man welcomes sinners and he eats with them. Then Jesus told them this parable. Suppose if one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it, he joyfully puts on, puts it on his shoulders, and he goes home. And he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me, I have found my lost sheep. I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent. Jesus tells another parable. He says, There suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, Rejoice with me. I have found my lost coin. In the same way I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. And then Jesus makes it personal. Jesus says, There was a man who had two sons. 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 and wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to feed to his fields to feed the pigs. He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. But then he came to his senses and he said, How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death. I will set out and I will go back to my father, and I will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Just make me like one of your hired servants. So he got up and he went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him. The son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and against you I am no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, Quick, bring the best robe and put it on him, put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet, bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For the son of mine was dead, and he's alive again. He was lost and he's found. So they began to celebrate. Meanwhile, the older brother was in the field, but he came near the house, he heard music and dancing, so he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. Your brother has come, he replied, and your father has killed the fat and calf because he is has him back safe and sound. The older brother became angry and refused to even go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, Look, he said, All these years I've been slaving for you, and never disobeyed your orders. That you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when the son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you will you kill the fattened calf for him. My son, the father, said, You were always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad because the brother of yours was dead. He's alive again. He was lost. Now he's been found. He tells the the third part of these parables, he he strikes a nerve with his audience, right? So especially during that time, you know, taking your father's inheritance was something you could only get if they died. Just like it happens today. If any of you have a rich uncle that you know, when they die, you might get money. Right? That that's normally how things work. That every time I go to the hospital, one of the questions they ask me is, do you have a will? And I'm like, I should probably figure that out. I'm not 20 anymore. Right? So this guy, are you shaking your head, Everett? Sit down. Go downstairs with the kids. My own kid, man. Starts in your home, you know. So that the son goes to his dad and says, Listen, dad, I know you're gonna die someday. That's fine. I don't care. Really, I just want what's mine. So give me my money. I'm gonna take it. And so the dad obliges him. And the son takes it, and he goes off, and and like all young people, sorry, most young people don't understand money. So it's easy to spend money quickly. I I can tell you that my uh well, I started working at McDonald's when I was 16 years old, and my first paycheck from work, I bought a game system. My second paycheck from work, I bought a bunch of games. The next 20 paychecks, I bought a bunch of stuff that I don't even have anymore. Because I was dumb. Right? I I didn't really understand the value of money. So this son, he he takes everything his dad has given him and he squanders it. He wastes it. The Bible tells us that his brother at some point even says he wasted on prostitutes, he wasted on wild living. He he was out there living it up. We were at uh uh and oh uh we coached, I coach upward basketball and uh I coach Miles this year, and we're sitting uh so this story, this parable came up during one of our lesson times for um, so we do what preschool and kindergarten is our age group. And so I'm I'm talking to these little kids, and I'm trying to like how do you explain to them you can't say prostitutes to them. Like, it's not gonna work. One, if they repeat it, that's a whole thing that I don't want to deal with. So I'm I'm trying my best to convey to them that this son wasted their money, and I'm like, what would you guys waste your money on? And without fail, they said cheeseburgers and nerf guns. That was it. That's where they went. Everyone agreed. And so for the the rest of the season, we talked about how this kid wasted money on cheeseburgers and Nerf guns. But he wasted everything his dad gave him. He blew it all. He didn't invest it, he didn't do anything with it, he lived life to the fullest. And he comes to this moment where he has nothing left. And he finds himself working among pigs. And listen, if you're a Jew, that's the lowest of lows for you. He's feeding pigs, just trying to make it by. So hungry that he just wants to eat what the pigs are eating. I don't know if you've ever seen pig slot, but it is nasty. Pigs eat everything, like they have no qualms about what they eat. So Jesus tells the story. And I can imagine there's two reactions in his audience. You have the Pharisees who probably think, well, the son deserved it. He wasted his money. What do you expect would happen? He was irresponsible. You might you might even have some people on the other part of the crowd, the the sinners, who feel the same way. Well, his choice. He did it. But I like to think that there's someone in the audience that lived a similar experience. You know, maybe maybe there's a woman there who's who's in prostitution because she made some bad choices in life and now she's just trying to survive. You know, maybe maybe the tax collectors. By the way, being a Roman tax collector was a a good benefit for you, but but not if you were Jewish. They hated you. You hate you're hated by both. You're hated by your own people and the Romans. But but but maybe there's a tax collector, tax collector in the audience who who was just trying to make ends meet. Maybe he resonates with this son, and maybe there's someone there that just came from a home where he did a similar thing. He he walked away. He left everything. Maybe there's someone in that audience who understands what it is to be at the lowest of low in their life. So Jesus continues. Like I know that I've lost my inheritance. I've lost my title, I've lost my my idea of being a son. I can't, there's no way my dad, I can't do that. My dad's not gonna take me back. But but maybe, maybe, maybe if I go to him and I beg and I say, Dad, I'm so so sorry. Just let me let me serve you. Let me sweep the floor, let me let me tend to the animals. Just dad, I I shouldn't have done what I did. It was a mistake, and and and his rehearsing in his mind, what what am I gonna say? Uh Dad, I've sinned against you. God, I've I've made so many mistakes in my life. You don't know what I've done. You don't know the kind of person that I am. I thought I knew you, but I lost you. Dad, if dad, if I can just come home. Maybe. Maybe just a something, anything. Just I I don't I don't want this anymore. I I can't make this on my own. It's not gonna work for me. And the the son he he he gathers up his things and and he comes home and he's ready, man. He's got the speech in his head, and he says to his dad, Dad, I'm I'm sorry, I've I've sinned against you. I if I could just be just a helper. But before that moment, Jesus tells us that his father saw him while he was still off. I don't know how long that was. It's pretty flat over there. I can imagine maybe he saw him a mile away. Maybe he recognized his son. And he saw him walking, and his his shoulders were lowered, and his step was a little more cautious. Maybe as he got closer, he saw him with his head down and he was mumbling. You know, the sons were rehearsing the speech over and over in his head. And Jesus says that the father saw him and he had compassion on him, and he didn't wait for him, he went to him.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

He ran to where he was.

Robe Ring Sandals Restoration

The Older Brother’s Anger

SPEAKER_00 19:28

Can you imagine the son in that moment? Why is my dad coming at me? He's already convinced himself he's not worthy. And I can only imagine in that moment the son is scared now because he's like, why? What's he gonna do? What's he gonna say to me? And so the son gets to him and starts to say, Dad, I'm sorry, I've sinned against you. I love it because the father completely sidesteps the conversation and he says to his servants, Go home, get my son a robe, get him some sandals, get him some ring. By the way, the only people who wear that in the household are the ones who get the inheritance. The ones who are the son. He says, He says, he says to his servant, I need you to go and get everything I just told you, and I need you to put it on my son, because this is my son. He's not a servant, he's not a helper in my house. This is my kid. And I need you to put all of this on him, and I need you to go find the fat and the fattest calf we have, and we're gonna slaughter it, and we're gonna have a party, and we're gonna have a celebration at this moment. I can only imagine the sun's overwhelmed. What do you say to that kind of grace? What do you say to to that kind of compassion? What what's your response to that kind of acceptance? Everything that he's done, all all the money that he's wasted, every moment of it. And he comes home, and his dad doesn't miss a beat. He restores him, he celebrates with him. And again, the audience of Jesus is the Pharisees are probably thinking, ugh, this guy accepting sinful people. The son should have been cast out by, by the way, by Jewish custom, his servants could have got to the son first and banished him forever. They would have been well within their legal right to never let him step foot in the household again. The dad didn't even have to handle that part. The servants had the right to banish the son from returning home because everything that he did was so bad. But the father doesn't even let the servants get to him first. The father says, no, no, no, no. This one's mine. I've got it. I'm gonna take care of it. I can imagine the the Pharisees are they're mad about this because why would you do that? Why why would you restore the kid? Why? And and and and I I love I always imagine the interaction with Jesus. I can only imagine in his mind he was thinking, uh I still don't get it. I've given you two now three parables, and you're still missing it somehow. And then he goes and he continues to tell the story, and they're having a celebration, and we get to the older brother who's been there all along. We don't always talk about him enough, but but the older brother finds out what's going on and he's mad. And I I think it's rightful. I'd be upset too. I was a middle child. Anytime my other two brothers got to do something I didn't, it made me angry. So I get the older brother being mad. So so he goes to his dad and and he he won't even come inside. He's not even gonna acknowledge that that his brother's been found because in his mind he's probably thinking, I wish he was still gone. I mean, he disgraced us. He's not worthy to be called son. I I am. I've been here the whole time. I didn't waver. I didn't fail. I didn't squander. Dad, why me? Why why why aren't you celebrating me? What what could I have done? His dad looks at him and says, Listen, I'm sure you don't understand, but you will. Everything I have is already yours. This land, these animals, my wealth, my love, my it's all yours. I've never taken it from you. You you never had a moment in your life where you did not know that you were mine. But your brother.

SPEAKER_01 25:16

He lived for a time without me.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

He didn't know what his next steps were. He he didn't know where his next meal was coming from. He he didn't know listen, he came to me wanting to be a servant. Your brother. He he thought that there was no way that I could love him. But you, you my son, you you never had to question that. So come inside.

SPEAKER_01 25:50

Celebrate with us.

Grace That Offends The Righteous

SPEAKER_00 25:53

Your brother who was lost has been found. He no longer has to worry about whether or not he belongs here. Because I brought him home. My whole life.

SPEAKER_01 26:28

Fifteen years old when I gave my life to Jesus.

SPEAKER_00 26:32

I wasn't good at it. I struggled. My early days as a Christian were super judgmental. I think I've told this story before, but I had a girl one time that I used to work with, you know, I was trying to share the gospel with her, and she told me that my eyes were deceiving me. And I was like, I don't know what that means. It's like you tell me how much I'm loved, but then you look at me like I'm the worst person you've ever seen in your entire life. Because you and I have talked about things that I've done, and and I was like, you know. You're not wrong. That girl changed my life in the way that I approach things. And and I've been trying for the last 25 years to to live my life searching and praying and seeking for the one God who's next. Who needs to know you, who feels lost, who feels burdened, who's who's broken. You know, Jesus is one of the biggest names being spoken right now. A lot of places. The Olympics, award shows, a lot of a lot of sports teams. There's a lot of people talking about Jesus. There's also a lot of Christians who are, if I'm being honest, are a little more hateful than they need to be. They question this person and this person, and and they say they don't really believe, and and you know, they're just saying it because it's popular. And listen, I'm not saying it's it's not important to have discernment. It is. But you and I don't get to tell God what he's doing and how he's working. That's not our job. We can be like the older brother who someone comes to find Jesus and we're like, well, at least they're in church. Oh, they got baptized.

SPEAKER_01 28:41

Woo!

Personal Confession And Changed Posture

SPEAKER_00 28:44

Yeah, but but did you see what they did yesterday? I mean, they they just gave their life to Jesus and then they sinned. Listen, what baby comes out walking? They don't. It's a maturity process, it's a transformation. It takes time. You you and I, our job is to search for them, to pray for them, to look for opportunities to share the gospel. Jesus is talking to the Pharisees. He tells them three parables that say the same thing. You have made it hard for people to find me. I have come because someone needs to find them. They are lost, they are broken, they are hurting, they have no idea what they're missing. And all you've done is made it religious, and you've cut them off. Jesus says, yes, I will sit among the sinful. Because that's who I am.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

Church, that's who we are.

Discernment Without Gatekeeping

SPEAKER_00 29:57

When I was young in my ministry, I used to base my success in ministry on how many people attended the events. I I we went to Winter Jam last night and thousands of people there. When I was in my twenties, I would have given anything to stand on a stage like that. Because to me, success was the crowds and the big church and the big building and the really nice salary so I could afford a muscle car. I'm just being honest. I've won a 69 Camaro my whole life. I have a little matchbox card. My kids bought me. I love it, but I can't fit in it. But but I used to spend my life, I spent most of my ministry, convincing myself that I had to have the audience, and I've spent the last 10 years realizing that all I need is the one. I don't need a big audience. God, I don't even need the money. But if this one person can find you.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

That'll be everything.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Gotta thank you for who you are.