Favorite Quote: "Jesus's teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect…If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did" (19).
My Impressions: It's so sweet to me how friends of friends become your friends over time. This book recommendation came from a friend of a friend, who has also become a friend over the years even though she lives far away and we've only hung out in person a few times. It seems like everyone knows who Tim Keller is, but he really wasn't on my radar until last year, when I finally listened to The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast (only two years after it came out). He was recorded on a bonus episode, and I was absolutely intrigued by his interview. Maybe you can relate to this, but do you ever just hear someone speak or have a conversation with someone and leave thinking, "wow, that person knows God"? I was immediately very curious about his books, and around that time, this book was recommended to me by the above-mentioned friend.
Having grown up in the church, I honestly didn't expect to be surprised by this book, in which Keller examines the parable of the prodigal son. But it shook me up. I think it clarified a perspective that I've often struggled to articulate. I absolutely loved it, to the point that I ordered several copies that I've been passing out like candy (the only other book I've ever done this with is The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer; if you know me well, you've probably received a copy at some point). This review will be a quick overview of the points that struck me the most—but the book is short, so if you're interested, please just take an afternoon and read it (and if you ask me, I will totally give you a copy).
If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did.
The Prodigal God
Keller opens with the observation that this parable was written to, in essence, the "older brothers" who were listening to Jesus teach. He writes that there "were two groups of people who had come to listen to Jesus. First there were the 'tax collectors and sinners,' [who] correspond to the younger brother…the second group of listeners was the 'Pharisees and the teachers of the law,' who were represented by the elder brother" (10). While this parable is often taught in churches as a plea to younger brothers to turn and repent of their sin, Keller argues that this parable is directed at the second group, the scribes and Pharisees: "The parable of the two sons takes an extended look at the soul of the elder brother, and climaxes with a powerful plea for him to change his heart" (11). I love Keller's words a page later: "Jesus's purpose is not to warm our hearts but to shatter our categories…[He] is saying that both the irreligious and the religious are spiritually lost, both life-paths are dead ends, and that every thought the human race has had about how to connect to God has been wrong" (13).
Keller's bold statement leads naturally to my favorite chapter of the book, titled "Redefining Sin." It feels to me as though Christians today struggle to articulate what sin actually is. We have lots of cliché phrases that describe sin as "missing the mark" or "breaking God's law", but I think it actually goes a lot deeper than that. Keller opens the chapter, "Jesus uses the younger and elder brothers to portray the two basic ways people try to find happiness and fulfillment: the way of moral conformity and the way of self-discovery…Each is a way of finding personal significance and worth, of addressing the ills of the world, and of determining right from wrong" (34). Both "ways," if you will, are subtly focused on ourselves and what we can accomplish. And both brothers completely miss the point. Keller observes that "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" (42). Branson Parler, in his book Every Body's Story, fleshes out the myths of individualism and legalism in similar terms, and defines sin in a similar way: "Legalism doesn't take sin seriously enough because it focuses primarily on behavior modification, not heart transformation. A good biblical doctrine of sin recognizes that sin is fundamentally a heart problem, disordered desire and love, not a behavior problem" (Every Body's Story, 65, italics mine). All of this points to the fact that sin is not an act, per se, but a condition of the heart. Keller writes:
Here, then, is Jesus's radical redefinition of what is wrong with us. Nearly everyone defines sin as breaking a list of rules. Jesus, though, shows us that a man who has violated virtually nothing on the list of moral misbehaviors can be every bit as spiritually lost as the most profligate, immoral person. Why? Because 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" (50).
The next chapter is titled "Redefining Lostness," and Keller discusses several ways in which elder brothers are "lost." First, "Elder brothers base their self-images on being hardworking, or moral, or members of an elite clan, or extremely smart and savvy…When you look at the world through those lenses, it becomes easy to justify hate and oppression, all in the name of truth" (61). Additionally, "elder brothers live good lives out of fear, not out of joy and love" (66). This second point—being motivated by fear—well describes the first twenty or so years of my own life. So much of what I did was not out of love and joy, but simply fear of consequences. A final sign of an elder-brother spirit is "a lack of assurance of the father's love" (71). Keller hauntingly observes, "If you have not grasped the gospel fully and deeply, you will return to being condescending, condemning, anxious, insecure, joyless and angry all the time" (79). For me, reading Desiring God several years ago was a huge turning point in my spiritual journey, because for the first time I truly understood that freedom in Christ is actually freedom. It's not just forgiveness of sins or freedom from the enslavement of sin (though it is all that); it is also the freedom to fully embrace and enjoy the life God's given me, to love and care for others with reckless abandon because of how He has loved and cared for me. This isn't drudgery, and it should never cause us to look with disdain on others who are struggling. If we find ourselves to be condescending, condemning, anxious, etc., maybe we need to spend some time figuring out what we truly believe about God and ourselves.
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.
The Prodigal God
Keller's next chapter is about Christ — the "True Elder Brother". He explains that in first century culture, with the way families and finances worked, the father had given the younger son his inheritance, which would have included much of the money and assets the father held at that time. The entire household is now essentially living on the older brother's inheritance. When the younger brother returns, Keller writes, "Indeed, it is only at the elder brother's expense that the younger brother can be brought back in…Every penny that remained of the family estate belongs to the elder brother" (92). I found this observation striking. So often we read this parable thinking the older brother is just being kind of a jerk, but in reality, he is being asked to share his part of the inheritance with the younger brother, who willfully squandered all he had. Christ is the perfect elder brother; when we are the younger brother, he willingly shares his inheritance with us. But it comes at a cost. This reminder that forgiveness is never "free" is important. Forgiveness always comes at a cost to someone, in our interpersonal relationships as well as in our relationship with God.
Keller goes on to flesh out more big-picture applications of this story, and I love how he articulates the gospel message through the message of this parable. In closing, I'll share a quote from his final chapter titled "The Feast of the Father":
What is the point? What makes you faithful or generous is not just a redoubled effort to follow moral rules. Rather, 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 reconstructs 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 (133).
Buy the Book: If you found this helpful, you can purchase the book here on Amazon. Purchases through links on this page help fund my book addiction.
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