“I have the honor of being the black sheep in our family. It wasn’t till I was pretty far along in my teenage years that I even realized that,” he says. “So I was one, and I’ve got a lot of friends that are dealing with this as well. It’s a big problem right now — it’s an epidemic.”

(Stock photo courtesy of Steiner Engeland via Unsplash)

Why do kids wander?

Hutchcraft says it’s important to remember that you can be the most godly, Jesus-loving, Jesus-serving mom or dad… and still see your child wandering from their own relationship with Christ.

The number one reason kids become prodigals, Hutchcraft thinks, is that they haven’t made Jesus their own. 

“Even if they were going to Sunday school or church, they never quite got to the point where their heart all belonged to Jesus,” he says. “So it never quite became their own relationship.”

(Check out a resource from Ron Hutchcraft on this topic, “A Jesus of Their Own.“)

Praying parents

During his tumultuous teenage years, Hutchcraft’s parents depended on Scripture and prayer. His dad later told him, “We would go into our room, we would close the door, and we would get on our knees, and we would pray, we would pray, we would pray, remembering that this isn’t the final story [of our son’s life], this was just the chapter.’” 

“I remember knowing they were praying for me then,” Hutchcraft says. Their steady love eventually led him to turn around. 

“I remember my mind kind of being blown, even as a 16-year-old, that, ‘Why are they treating me like this?’ I knew in the back of my mind I wasn’t treating them well, I wasn’t pleasing them. Yet they were still coming back and being patient with me and loving me and praying for me.”

“If that’s who Jesus is,” he thought, “this is something that I want, that I have to dive deeper into.”

Encouragement for parents

If you have a wandering child in your life today, Hutchcraft lifts up Ephesians 4:29 as a key verse.

(Stock photo courtesy of Eye for Ebony via Unsplash.)

“It’s tempting to be angry. It’s tempting to say, ‘What’s wrong with you? I thought you were a Christian. I thought you loved Jesus?’” he says. “But taking the 10-second rule, you [instead] go, ‘The only thing I’m letting come out of my mouth is only what is going to be useful for building them up.’”

Being respectful of your young person is important too, especially when things are going haywire. 

“You might not respect what they’re saying, what they’re doing,” Hutchcraft notes. “But if there is a way for them to know that no matter what, you still love them, that your love for them is unconditional, [then do it,] remembering that we are Christ’s ambassadors — and that’s never more true than with your kids — as if He is making His appeal through us.”

So ask yourself every day, “Am I really representing Jesus to my kids?”

“The enemy loves to accuse us. He is the accuser, and he will want to discourage you,” Hutchcraft says. “Be patient and remember in God’s Word, don’t give up. That’s what Jesus told his disciples: ‘pray and don’t give up.’ Because what? You’re going to see a harvest. It happened in my life, and I think it’s going to happen in your prodigal’s life too.”

Hear more! 

There’s a way to receive more insight and encouragement on this topic from the Hutchcraft brothers. Listen to their March 4, 2025 podcast episode of Go M.A.D. with Doug and Brad, “A Jesus of Their Own Pt. 1: Pursuing the Prodigal.” It’s available wherever you listen to podcasts. Look for part 2 coming later in March! 

Header photo courtesy of Denis Pozdeev via Unsplash.