control
I've been re-reading an essay on the Prodigal Son / Older brother parable (Luke 15) by Tim Keller. Interesting excerpt:
"First we learn that the gospel provides a radically deeper view of the concept of sin....the governing theme in the parable (and all the stories of Luke 15) is that sin is running from God - avoiding, escaping, saying, 'I don't need you!'
This is a much more profound concept than 'breaking rules.' Why? Flannery O'Connor grasped this when she said of one of her characters, 'There was a deep, black wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin.' How could that be? Here is a man who knows that the only way to avoid Jesus as Savior is to avoid sin. If I feel I am a good person, I may look to Jesus as an Example, or as Helper, or as Strength - but I won't need to utterly rely on him for every breath and obey him unconditionally. If I am a good person, then I have rights - Jesus owes it to me to listen to my prayers, to protect me and reward me.
This is clearly the attitude of the elder brother. Why is he so angry with the father? He feels he has the right to tell the father what he should do with his robes, rings and calves. It shows he is just as resentful of the father's control of his goods as the younger brother....Both were trying to escape the authority of the father, both resented his control and rebelled. But one did it by breaking the father's rules, and the other did it by keeping them.
Now we see why 'running from God' is a deeper definition of sin than 'breaking the rules of God,' because you can run from God either by breaking his rules or by keeping them. The difference between a religious person and a true Christian is that the religious person obeys God to get control over God, and to get things from God, but the Christian obeys just to get God. Religious persons obey to get leverage over God, to control him, to put him in a position where they think he owes them. Therefore, despite their moral and religious fastidiousness, they are actually attempting to be their own saviors. Christian who know they are only saved by grace and can never control God, obey him out of a desire to love and please and draw closer to the one who saved them."
-Tim Keller "The two prodigal sons"
"First we learn that the gospel provides a radically deeper view of the concept of sin....the governing theme in the parable (and all the stories of Luke 15) is that sin is running from God - avoiding, escaping, saying, 'I don't need you!'
This is a much more profound concept than 'breaking rules.' Why? Flannery O'Connor grasped this when she said of one of her characters, 'There was a deep, black wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin.' How could that be? Here is a man who knows that the only way to avoid Jesus as Savior is to avoid sin. If I feel I am a good person, I may look to Jesus as an Example, or as Helper, or as Strength - but I won't need to utterly rely on him for every breath and obey him unconditionally. If I am a good person, then I have rights - Jesus owes it to me to listen to my prayers, to protect me and reward me.
This is clearly the attitude of the elder brother. Why is he so angry with the father? He feels he has the right to tell the father what he should do with his robes, rings and calves. It shows he is just as resentful of the father's control of his goods as the younger brother....Both were trying to escape the authority of the father, both resented his control and rebelled. But one did it by breaking the father's rules, and the other did it by keeping them.
Now we see why 'running from God' is a deeper definition of sin than 'breaking the rules of God,' because you can run from God either by breaking his rules or by keeping them. The difference between a religious person and a true Christian is that the religious person obeys God to get control over God, and to get things from God, but the Christian obeys just to get God. Religious persons obey to get leverage over God, to control him, to put him in a position where they think he owes them. Therefore, despite their moral and religious fastidiousness, they are actually attempting to be their own saviors. Christian who know they are only saved by grace and can never control God, obey him out of a desire to love and please and draw closer to the one who saved them."
-Tim Keller "The two prodigal sons"
posted by piper979 @ 8:17 AM
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