Evangelicals as Elder Brothers

In a post last month, I reviewed Tim Keller's book The Prodigal God, in which he focuses much more attention on the older brother than is often given in our treatment of Jesus' well-known parable. His assertion is that most Christians are careful to stay away from the gross sins of the younger brother, yet miss the kind of relationship with the father that we were meant to have because we are operating on the basis of merit: "I deserve my share because I played by the rules." You can tell you're acting this way if you respond to the sins of others with a grumpy attitude instead of compassion and concern.

In an article here, Marvin Olasky notes how our efforts at reaching (or at least influencing) our culture are often self-destructive because the world sees us acting like older brothers. He helpfully describes what he calls a "third brother" approach.