You probably know the Biblical parable of the prodigal son- or do you? The story- where a wayward son demands his inheritance, wastes it, and in desperation returns to be (surprisingly) welcomed back by his loving father, while the older (obedient) son watches with disdain- often focuses on the disobedient child.* But should it? In The Prodigal God, Tim Keller points out that the story would be more suitably referred to as the tale of two lost sons- for the obedient child is just as rebellious, albeit differently. He looks at the "parable's basic meaning," demonstrates "how the story helps us understand the Bible as a whole," and shows "how its teaching works itself out in the way we live in the world."
Summary
The two sons represent two types of people:
1) "The younger brother in the parable illustrates the way of self-discovery." These people do what they want, and spurn authority. They are selfish.
2) "The elder brother in the parable illustrates the way of moral conformity." These people do what tradition/authority want them to do- but not for a good reason. They are self-righteous, and think that obedience is a way of gaining leverage. In other words, "I'll get what I want if I'm good."
"The person in the way of moral conformity says: “I’m not going to do what I want, but what tradition and the community wants me to do.” The person choosing the way of self-discovery says: “I’m the only one who can decide what is right or wrong for me. I’m going to live as I want to live and find my true self and happiness that way.”"
Though acting very differently, "underneath the brothers’ sharply different patterns of behavior is the same motivation and aim. Both are using the father in different ways to get the things on which their hearts are really fixed. It was the wealth, not the love of the father, that they believed would make them happy and fulfilled." Both "resented their father's authority . . . [and] they each wanted to get into a position in which they could tell the father what to do. Each one, in other words, rebelled—but one did so by being very bad and the other by being extremely good. Both were alienated from the father’s heart; both were lost sons."
Wow. Think about this. "Neither son loved the father for himself. They both were using the father for their own self-centered ends rather than loving, enjoying, and serving him for his own sake. This means that you can rebel against God and be alienated from him either by breaking his rules or by keeping all of them diligently. It’s a shocking message: Careful obedience to God’s law may serve as a strategy for rebelling against God."
What's the point? Whether you do define right and wrong for yourself (younger brother) or obey out of fear (older brother), it shows that "we habitually and instinctively look to other things besides God and his grace as our justification, hope, significance, and security. We believe the gospel at one level, but at deeper levels we do not." In effect, we are our own god. "There are two ways to be your own Savior and Lord. One is by breaking all the moral laws and setting your own course, and one is by keeping all the moral laws and being very, very good. "
"Everybody knows that the Christian gospel calls us away from the licentiousness of younger brotherness, but few realize that it also condemns moralistic elder brotherness." And in fact, the focus of the tale is on the older brother. Why? "the younger brother knew he was alienated from the father, but the elder brother did not." "Elder brothers obey God to get things. They don’t obey God to get God himself—in order to resemble him, love him, know him, and delight him. So religious and moral people can be avoiding Jesus as Savior and Lord as much as the younger brothers who say they don’t believe in God and define right and wrong for themselves." In fact, the older brother may be in greater danger, as he doesn't realize his need.
Whether your life more resembles the younger or older brother, this story is about all of us. "the Bible teaches that, as in Jesus’s parable, God was the “father” of that home and we chafed under his authority. We wanted to live without God’s interference, and so we turned away, and became alienated from him, and lost our home for the same reason the younger brother lost his. The result was exile. " We all sin, and "sin is not just breaking the rules, it is putting yourself in the place of God as Savior, Lord, and Judge just as each son sought to displace the authority of the father in his own life."
Enter Jesus. "Jesus does not divide the world into the moral “good guys” and the immoral “bad guys.” He shows us that everyone is dedicated to a project of self-salvation, to using God and others in order to get power and control for themselves. We are just going about it in different ways. Even though both sons are wrong, however, the father cares for them and invites them both back into his love and feast." Indeed, in the gospel view, "everyone is wrong, everyone is loved, and everyone is called to recognize this and change." How can we change?
"The first thing we need is God’s initiating love. Notice how the father comes out to each son and expresses love to him, in order to bring him in." Most people believe "religion operates on the principle of “I obey—therefore I am accepted by God.”" This is incorrect. "The basic operating principle of the gospel is “I am accepted by God through the work of Jesus Christ—therefore I obey.”" Christ died for us- to save us and bring us home, out of exile. And so "all change comes from deepening your understanding of the salvation of Christ and living out of the changes that understanding creates in your heart."
"Faith in the gospel restructures our motivations, our self-understanding, our identity, and our view of the world. Behavioral compliance to rules without heart-change will be superficial and fleeting." "But if we truly believe and trust in the one who sacrificially served us, it
changes us into people who sacrificially serve God and our neighbors." We must keep telling ourselves "how graciously loved and accepted" we are because of Him. We "need to be moved by the sight of what it cost to bring you home." The result will change "the inner workings of the heart . . . from a dynamic of fear and anger to that of love, joy, and gratitude."
In conclusion, the point of the parable is that "both the worldly life of sensual pleasure and the religious life of ethical strictness fail to give the human heart what it is seeking." "Jesus’s great Parable of the Prodigal Son retells the story of the entire Bible and the story of the human race. Within the story, Jesus teaches that the two most common ways to live are both spiritual dead ends. He shows how the plotlines of our lives can only find a resolution, a happy ending, in him, in his person and work."
Review
Keller says this book "is meant to lay out the essentials of the Christian message, the gospel." And it does, most excellently. It shows both the "freeness" and costliness of God's grace. Moving, humbling, convicting, profound, thought-provoking . . . I could go on. But this book was amazing, and it's so short (140 pages, or 2.25 hours on audiobook), I highly recommend it to all- Christian and non- as a good explanation of the gospel and how we all run from it. Keller's writing is simple yet powerful. I listened to it, but may buy it in paperback to highlight its gems- and there are many.
Rating: A
*You can read the whole story in Luke 15:11-32, here
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