The Prodigal God
Too often in Christian circles, we see legalism and loose living as two totally different problems; therefore, we treat them differently. To the former, we tell them to “loosen up.” To the latter, we tell them to mind their “p’s and q’s.” In those instances, what we are doing most is mere behavior modification. They fail to get to the heart of the issue - man’s relationship with God. What if I told you that legalism and loose-living were two sides of the same coin? What if I told you that they both needed the same solution? Herein lies the premise of Timothy Keller’s The Prodigal God.
We often refer to Luke 15 as the story of the Prodigal son; however, the parable contains two prodigal sons - one who ended up in the pig sty and the other who refused to attend the party. As Timothy Keller says, “The hearts of the two brothers were the same. Both sons resented their father’s authority and sought ways of getting out from under it. 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.” Could a statement better define the Bible Belt today? Too many times, the message of the gospel becomes mere background noise while we dance to the tune of “being good.” The mentality often breaks forth in moments of suffering when we say, “God, I’ve been good. You owe me!” Though we may never use those exact words, they do encapsulate much of our heart because we have stopped being shocked at the graciousness of the Father.
If legalism and loose-living are not the keys to open the Father’s heart, what is? The answer is simple: loving the Father who gives us an inheritance, loving the Father who welcomes us home, loving the Father who slays the fattened calf, loving the Father who invites us into the feast. Where legalism and loose-living love what the Father has, true Christianity loves the Father. As our Youth and our Women’s Ministry both read this book over the summer, would you read it with us? Would you allow an old story to define what is sin and salvation, love for the world and love for God, and our true Elder brother.
