Relational Gospel
Over the years, I have heard many great Biblical messages. However, one stands out rather clearly. Years ago at a leadership conference in Tanzania, my Kenyan colleague Benson got on stage to teach. With 40 years of Bible training, I was excited to hear what he would say.
Benson began to recite from memory the story of prodigal son, with every detail. This is just one of many Bible stories that he has memorized. The story came to life for me. He told the story like a grandfather would share around the dinner table. It was so fluid and natural, you’d have thought it was his own story.
When Benson finished, everyone was intently listening. I suspect many people did not realize it was a parable of Jesus’ because Benson was not holding a Bible and reading from it. After he finished, he asked one simple question. “Should the father have let the come back?” I was shocked at the heated debate that ensued. One said, “No, I would beat that son!”
If you have been going to church for a long time, you probably know the right answer. But let me assure you it is not the natural or logical answer. If you were to hear that story for the first time, your natural response would not be a loving warm welcome for a son that disrespected and disowned you.
For those who have heard the story many times, we have certainly taken the story for granted and lost the awe and wonder that Jesus’ audience would have felt. Our familiarity has done us a disservice for we have failed to apply this magnificent parable to our lives in a profound way.
The story of the prodigal son, and the gospel, cannot be understood in religious or transactional terms. It makes no sense to the pious. In fact, do-gooders hate it! For many of us if we were honest, just like the older brother, we disagree with the penalty-free approach of the father.
The father was anything but legalistic, and neither was the son who was saved from a broken life. Jesus’ story is about raw faith, moving to the Father, and the radical parenting approach that God takes with his children- that is, more freedom than we deserve.
For those of us who have heard the gospel a thousand times and grown numb, myself included, we need to look a little deeper. We need to understand why the Father lavished such overwhelming grace and love upon his sons.
Our gospel is radically relational, not religious. To see it rightly, we need to understand the “why” of God’s love for us so we can appreciate the gospel in a new way.