The Prodigal God

I had an evening this past week when I was able to give some extra time to reading. I had just obtained Tim Keller's book The Prodigal God, a new take on Jesus' familiar parable from Luke 15:11-32 that we usually call "The Prodigal Son." I thought I would see if I could knock it out in one sitting.

It's a small and relatively short book, but that is not indicative of its impact. Of course, the title itself is provocative-- What does he mean calling God prodigal? Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan, explains:

The word "prodigal" does not mean "wayward" but, according to Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, "recklessly spendthrift." It means to spend until you have nothing left. The term is therefore as appropriate for describing the father in the story as his younger son. The father's welcome to the repentant son was literally reckless, because he refused to "reckon" or count his sin against him or demand repayment. This response offended the elder son and most likely the local community.

In this story the father represents the Heavenly Father Jesus knew so well. St. Paul writes: "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses" (2 Corinthians 5:19 - American Standard Version). Jesus is showing us the God of Great Expenditure, who is nothing if not prodigal toward us, his children. God's reckless grace is our greatest hope, a life-changing experience, and the subject of this book. (xiv-xv)

The uniqueness of this book lies in Keller's focus on the elder brother in the story. He notes that Jesus begins the story with these words: "There was a man who had two sons."

He then develops this basic idea: there are two kinds of sinners that correspond to these two sons. One is a blatant rebel, a free spirit, an iconoclast. He does not pretend to conform or respect tradition. When this person, like the younger brother, comes to the end of his sin, he freely admits to his wrongdoing.

On the other hand, you have those who do all the right things and yet still-- deep down inside-- they resent authority, seeking only to get what they want by following all the instructions and playing by all the rules. As with the elder brother in the parable, it becomes clear that his obedience has not been out of love for the father, but because of his calculated desire for what he thinks he has coming to him.

I trust you can see where this leads. This book is one that is most effective in challenging a compliant but complacent Christian. If you are one who has "doing the right thing" down but often find your heart not always inclined toward God in the way it should be, this will be a very helpful book. The author brings a clear gospel application to the problems he draws from the text. I'll need to go back and read it again-- this time more slowly.

Here's the simple website for the book, which also has free audio of Keller preaching a sermon on this text that covers some of the themes contained in The Prodigal God.