The Prodigal...Son?

It is not an uncommon experience for those of us who've grown up in the church to discover, as adults, that we've harbored misconceptions, prejudices and distortions about Christ, the Bible, or Christianity, from our childhood. These can be as comical as my mother singing, "Lead on, O Kinky Turtle" (Lead On, O King Eternal), or her thinking that "Gladly" was the name of a "cross-eyed bear" (Gladly the Cross I'd Bear). Other times we learn that our misunderstandings were doctrinally significant and require a major shift in our thinking.

One false impression which I carried into adulthood, which turns out to be rather innocuous, is that the word "prodigal" meant something like "returning from rebellion." Afterall, the story of The Prodigal Son was primarily about him rebelling, going away, then returning to his home. Though I knew he wasted his inheritance along the way, I never associated the word "prodigal" with his spending habits. So...imagine my consternation when I first heard suggested that the story should instead be called "The Prodigal Father." WHAT?! Oh, wait! The word actually means "lavish or extravagant expenditure."

In the story, who is it that manifests the greatest prodigality? Indeed, the son would have had no inheritance to blow if the father had not given it to him! The father knows his son will waste it. He knows he's rebellious. Yet, when the son asks, the father gives.

Then...when the son returns empty-handed, the father doesn't lecture him about personal responsibility and facing consequences. No "you-made-your-bed-now-lie-in-it" mentality here! He gives forgiveness freely and joyfully!

There is no sermon, no penance required, no hoops through which to jump to prove his sincerity...NO! Instead, contrary to all our instincts, the father gives deeply from his own resources to host an extravagant celebration!

As if all those expressions of generosity were not enough, he also gifts his son with all his familial rights, restoring him to sonship!  


All this generosity is scandalous!  What about reaping what you've sown?  What about justice?  What about proving yourself before you're restored?  What about blessings and curses?  Is this father foolish to extravagantly push all his resources toward this son who has wasted his earlier gifts in riotous living?  The older son certainly judged his father harshly for his prodigality.

The father is indeed the True Prodigal...the truly lavish spender! Imagine for a moment how re-naming that story might alter our viewpoint. The emphasis shifts from the foolishness of the wayward son to the generosity of the faithful father. This necessarily carries huge implications for the way I view my relationship with God the Father and then, in turn, should alter the way I parent my own children.

My tendency is to let them bear the full weight of the consequences from their sins...or at least to make them suffer a little...or to hold back full and free forgiveness and love until they prove they've really repented! Ah, how much I still need to be transformed by this simple story I've known all my life! How much I have to learn from our Prodigal God!

Meditate on that and rejoice with me in His generosity.