God and the prodigal

One of the most common misconceptions about Christianity is that it is for good people. That is the view that we earn our pathway to God by being good.

Jesus told a story that nails that misconception as a lie. The story is known as the prodigal Son. Why not grab a Bible and read the story for yourself at Luke 15: 11-31.

This story tells of a son who demanded his inheritance in advance – effectively wishing his father dead. Off he went to a life of wine, women and song until the inevitable happened and he hit rock bottom. His ‘rock-bottom’ was to be abandoned by the party crowd and to wish that he could eat pig food. His desperate action was to head back to his dad hoping for work as a hired farm hand.

But dad! The Bible’s language is graphic: “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.” All the initiative was with dad who oozed a compassion that turned into the actions of welcoming the prodigal and setting up a welcoming party.

The father in this story is clearly the God-figure. This is God who so loved the world that he sent Jesus into the world to rescue all who turn and believe. This is God as featured in the previous parables of Luke 15 – a figure filled with joy as the lost are found and return.

Let’s go back now to the saying that Christianity is for good people. The saying ‘only good people go to heaven’ expresses the same idea. Its makes Christianity about what we do and sets an impossible challenge of being good enough for God.

The story of the prodigal son inverts that message. The heart of Christianity is not what we do for God (being good) but what God does for us. From his heart of boundless compassion, he extends open, forgiving and restoring arms to those turning to him.

The story of the prodigal son has a dark side. It is seen in the older brother who comes across as a goody two shoes, censorious towards the returning prodigal and resentful of the father’s party. This older brother embodies all that is wrong about the ‘Christianity is for good people’ message. His picture of God is far from that of the Bible and he too is lost.

Many of us are good at being good and do not see our need of the compassion that forgives and restores. Perhaps we sneer at the prodigals around us. Meanwhile, underneath our goodness there is a heart of darkness in pride, envy, lust and such like. The reality is that some know that they are prodigals who need the father’s love while others of us deny it.

None of us is good enough for God. We are all prodigals of one kind or another. The father’s arms are there for all who seek him.