constantly returning to the basics

I'll admit it.  I'm a Tim Keller groupie.  If you're not familiar with Keller you should aquaint yourself with his works.  In an earlier post I summarized him as wise, winsome, and witty; but when it comes to clear teaching and effective delivery of timeless truths, in my humble opinion he's currently without peer.   

February saw the release of The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism which is now a New York Times Bestseller.  His newest book, The Prodigal God: Recovering the Heart of the Christian Faith is probably on its way to joining Reason for God on the bestsellers list.  

Keller has described these two books in the following way: Reason for God is his presentation of the gospel for skeptics while The Prodigal God is his presentation of the gospel for religious people (i.e. self-proclaimed Christians).  I had intended to write a post on Reason for God and never got around to it so I offer this one on Prodigal God instead. 

Basically, The Prodigal God is simply Keller's detailed exposition and application of what is commonly known as the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  Keller quickly shows that this parable is misnamed because it is not merely about a foolish younger brother who is lost because of his immoral ways.  It is that, but is also about a self-righteous older brother who is lost because of his moral ways.  However, more than either of these the main character in this story is the father who loves his children with reckless abandon and seeks the reconciliation, restoration, and redemption of each of his lost sons.  The father obviously represents God who is the true prodigal of the story. 

Buy the book.  Read it and reread it.  It's Christianity 101, but it's an invaluable journey back to the basics of the gospel.  If you are a Christian it's worth it to be reminded once again of the sheer, unthinkable - yet true, grace and love of our God.  If you're not a Christian, this book is worth reading to make sure you understand what Christianity is truly about.  It's not a list of rules, do's and don'ts.  Primarily it's about amazing, unmerited, all-encompassing, life-transforming love.  

Here are a few tidbits from the book.  Enjoy.

The targets of this story are not "wayward sinners" but religious people who do everything the Bible requires.  Jesus is pleading not so much with immoral outsiders as with moral insiders.  He wants to show them their blindness, narrowness, and self-righteousness, and how these things are destroying both their own souls and the lives of the people around them. 

Jesus's purpose is not to warm our hearts but to shatter our categories.

Jesus does not divide the world into the moral "good guys" and the immoral "bad guys."  He shows us that everyone is dedicated to a project of self-salvation, to using God and others in order to get power and control for themselves.  We are just going about it in different ways. 

The gospel of Jesus is not religion or irreligion, morality or immorality, moralism or relativism, conservatism or liberalism.  Nor is it something halfway along the spectrum between two poles - it is something else altogether.

Properly understood, Christianity is by no means the opiate of the people.  It's more like the smelling salts. 

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 Jesus did.