Where Are You?

Which one are you?

I’m currently in the midst of a fascinating small-group study of Timothy Keller’s book The Prodigal God. It’s a wonderful analysis of a familiar story—I highly recommend the book, unless you’re opposed to having old ideas challenged a bit.

Most of us are familiar with The Parable of the Prodigal Son. (Luke 15:11-32) Cliff notes version: younger son demands his share of the inheritance, wanders off and squanders it. Homeless, hungry, and humiliated, he decides to return home and beg his father for a job. Dad sees him coming, rushes to greet him, and throws a lavish party. Older brother resents Dad’s unconditional welcome.

Those who read this story commonly identify with one of the two brothers. Personally, I’ve always figured I was the classic younger brother—messed up in about every conceivable way and welcomed home only through generous grace.

So, which one are you?

You probably noticed that the diagram is a continuum. That’s because few of us are purely one or the other. So perhaps a more real question might be where would you place yourself on the line?

A SUBTLE TWIST

After thinking about your current position, twist the question slightly: where would you WANT to be?

If you read Keller’s book, you’ll realize it’s a trick question.

Everyone sees the issues with the younger brother: disrespectful, disobedient, wasteful—a long list of obvious mistakes. He’s a total loss, rescued in the end only because of his father’s generosity and forgiveness.

The older brother’s a little more complicated. At first he looks like the good son—he stayed home, obeyed, worked hard. We might think he has a right to be at least a bit annoyed at the end of the story. But a closer look reveals a different picture. A short list of issues:

He disrespects his father publically, an extreme offense in that culture.
He resents not getting credit for doing what was expected.
He never pursued his lost brother, which would have been a cultural demand on the oldest brother.
He resents his own brother’s welfare and restoration.
He refuses to enter the party. At the end, the younger brother’s inside. He accepts his dad’s forgiveness. But the elder brother stubbornly refuses to enter.

In the surrounding context, the younger brother symbolizes the sinners with whom Jesus associated. That part’s pretty clear.

But the elder brother represents Jesus’ other audience, the Pharisees and religious leaders who valued rules and traditions above people. Like the elder brother, they judged, classified, and condemned. They were focused on obeying the laws, but they lost sight of the Father.

You may have missed it in the diagram, or thought it was a typo; Keller maintains that a more fitting title for the story might be The Parable of the Lost Sons.

For me, the plural on “Sons” changes my entire perspective on the story—especially when you consider the ending, which brother was inside at the feast, and which brother was outside in the dark.

Now do you see why it was a trick question? I invite you to leave a comment with your response:

Where would you want to be along the continuum?

(A personal note: I was honored to write a guest post at a wonderful site called 300 words a day. I highly recommend that site for regular inspiration and challenge, and I invite you to check out do you want to get well? and see a wheelchair user’s perspective on Jesus’ encounter with a paralyzed man in John 5)