I've had this thought rolling around in my head lately and I thought I would share it with my friends in the hopes that you could help me work through the details.  In the story of the Prodigal Son which I'm sure  you know very well as found in Luke 15, we follow the experiences of the younger son who takes from his father all that his father has to give and then leaves to live within the ignorance of youth. We follow the heartbreak of the father and can imagine him come day after day to the end of the road looking to see if there is any sign of his son who has abandoned him and the love he had offered and still longs to give. We follow with story of the elder son who comes into the story only at the end when the Father's extravagance is revealed and appears to much for the dutiful son. We can argue which we most resemble, the younger or elder son and debate ad nausium whether we can be the prodigal son welcomed home without eventually turning into the elder son with time. But that is not the purpose of this rant... Jesus tell the prodigal to an audience of primarily Jews, religious folk for you denominationalists, which certainly contained the Pharisees who could not conceive of why anyone would want to eat or associate with sinner, tax collectors, or, heaven forbid, gentiles. A "Prodigal" is characterized by profuse or wasteful spending as defined by Webster's dictionary. The transition for the younger son is when he comes to his senses. Here's the thing, what shall we make of this story for all those people who we live, work and play with in our lives who have no knowledge or experience of the Father's love. Who have not rejected because they do know know Him. Who are eating bean pods because they have no idea it can be better than this. Not everyone is a prodigal nor should they be treated like one. Sometimes I feel that we in the church feel that because our doors are open on Sunday morning, all those wayward prodigals will come marching home when they feel the need. I'm not so sure! Do they even know where home is? When you see people shopping, at sporting events, or at work making a living, do you assume they know about the Father's love and have simply rejected it?