It's hard to know what to say about something as deliberately obtuse as Karla's reading of the Prodigal Son story, but in fairness to her, at least at the beginning of her piece she doesn't seem to be calling the parable itself cringe as much as the interpretations of it offered by evangelicals. By the end of her piece, the two things seem less clearly delineated.
Also, I think she's right in a way she doesn't realize with this line: "Maybe you were just leaving what was never home to begin with." It calls to mind this passage of scripture: "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us." (1 John 2:19)
So many things I could say here. I tire of some of the oft-repeated Gospel lessons, but never of this one. Karla lost me very early on by saying this:
"... the seekers of meaning beyond walls and steeples."
I mean. This is totally opposite of my experience of the thing. Sure, one can imagine a sense of the "sacred" outside of church, but it absolutely doesn't measure up. The glory of the things inside those buildings she hates is as much brighter than of those outside the church as are stained-glass windows, seen from within vs seen from without! Oh, and Eve was the first human to proclaim her "spiritual independence." We see how that worked out.
So many parts of her writing make me think that she must have had a bad father.
And, then, there is her overweening pride:
"That word always sat wrong with me. So wrong that I even questioned the translation. Turns out, it’s probably accurate. But even so? I don’t care."
That about sums it up. Even when the research proves her wrong, she's going to believe just what she believed before the research.
Finally, a note about the older brother: It is clear from the parable that his love for his father and brother were, at best, defective. He CLEARLY doesn't love the brother, not referring to him as "my brother", but as "this, thy son."
"... the seekers of meaning beyond walls and steeples."
That passage, along with a lot of the statements surrounding it, are familiar cliches that predominate among the progressive and deconstructing writers. It's lazy writing and could probably be produced by a bot.
Yikes, there's so much to unpack with this one. But I think overall this "take" by Rev Karla shows how very far away from "reading a text as intended and understanding the objective truth of it" we have come. I understand that *perhaps* she is talking mostly about how the church has used the text, and maybe it wasn't objectively true either (I don't know what her teachers or pastors taught). But it sounds like she takes modern, progressive ideas and tries reinterpret/misconstrue (?) based on ideologies that were never in the scope of the original writing or intention of the parable. I guess we can just impose our own imaginations and experiences on the scripture and get some sort of narrative that fits our idea of what the world is, or what is has done to us. But it wouldn't be true. At least not about that text. Or what God says. Maybe you can make up your own parable to suit your story.
And this leads me right back to how I was taught IN CHURCH, to read scripture. Again, these deconstructioners are doing exactly what they were taught to do in evangelical churches over the last 20-30 years. And that's to read a bit of the Bible and decide "what it means to you." It was overemphasized that we find the personal implication of the verse or text, instead of finding what God says, or who He is, or what He really means. Maybe it wasn't explicitly stated, but the implication was that there are many ways to read the Bible and therefore many "truths" to take from it. I almost fell into this, and that's why I say that. It has taken so many years to readjust the way I read the Bible or even how I see God. Thankful for the Holy Spirit who guides us into Truth. I also pray for Karla that her eyes would be opened and her heart would be set free.
She sounds terribly self-absorbed, a state indistinguishable from being miserable and depressed. The antidote would be to become like a little child, stop cherishing her precious preciousness, and enter God's kingdom.
A lot of the progressive, progressive adjacent, and deconstructing church crowd come off as terribly self-absorbed. I was in that environment for years and saw it.
What a sad commentary she writes. It sounds as if the politics of feminism has become her religion. Before I read your post I was reading the Gospel lesson for this coming Sunday (John 10:22-30) in which Jesus seems to answer Karla Himself:
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
If that is the definition of patriarchy, I will take it. (When did patriarchy become a bad word?) Oh, that Karla will repent and come to really know the Father's love and appreciate how Jesus took all of our brokenness upon Himself so that we could be part of His flock. Imagine the joy in heaven if Karla would become part of Jesus' flock.
The older brother is also analogous to the Pharisees in Matthew 9 - Matthew 9:10-13
[10] And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. [11] And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” [12] But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [13] Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Hint to reader, if you’re siding with the brother who stayed, you’re wrong, or you’re like Jonah, looking out over a Nineveh, spared by the unfathomable mercy of YHWH, clinging to your withered vine and hating everybody. Or let’s go back a little bit more an remember Cain, and maybe some similar words shared to a brother, Then the Lord said to Cain:
“Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
A person doesn’t even need the Holy Spirit to prevent such a boneheaded reading. Or. Perhaps rather, a person has to have missed all of the oh so many narratives that excoriate those who have bought into the notion of false scarcity, and who doubt the goodness of God, from Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, Abraham, Sarah and Pharaoh, Sarah, Abraham and Hagar, and on and on. It also fails to notice that Jesus is literally talking to a people who have within their psyche the shared memory of decimation and exile and are still somehow blocked from a return. It seems to me that what this reading reveals most is the first world privilege of the current deconstruction mindset, a sort of exhalation in holding a grudge where characters like Iago in Othello or John the Bastard in much Ado About Nothing are somehow celebrated as long-suffering heroes.
"One thing have I desired of the Universe, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the temple of my own greatness all the days of my life, to behold the fair beauty of my own soul, and to be seen and validated forever." Psalm 27:4 (KKDV)
For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, [6] and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. [7] For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; [8] but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
This passage from Hebrews came to mind as I read about the churched Prodigals, the spiritually spoiled brats who haven't appreciation for the riches lavished on them. I pray that they will return to the Father's household, humbled and chastened by the emptiness of worshiping themselves.
It's hard to know what to say about something as deliberately obtuse as Karla's reading of the Prodigal Son story, but in fairness to her, at least at the beginning of her piece she doesn't seem to be calling the parable itself cringe as much as the interpretations of it offered by evangelicals. By the end of her piece, the two things seem less clearly delineated.
Also, I think she's right in a way she doesn't realize with this line: "Maybe you were just leaving what was never home to begin with." It calls to mind this passage of scripture: "They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us." (1 John 2:19)
Linking the 1 John passage to her comment is insightful. Thanks
So many things I could say here. I tire of some of the oft-repeated Gospel lessons, but never of this one. Karla lost me very early on by saying this:
"... the seekers of meaning beyond walls and steeples."
I mean. This is totally opposite of my experience of the thing. Sure, one can imagine a sense of the "sacred" outside of church, but it absolutely doesn't measure up. The glory of the things inside those buildings she hates is as much brighter than of those outside the church as are stained-glass windows, seen from within vs seen from without! Oh, and Eve was the first human to proclaim her "spiritual independence." We see how that worked out.
So many parts of her writing make me think that she must have had a bad father.
And, then, there is her overweening pride:
"That word always sat wrong with me. So wrong that I even questioned the translation. Turns out, it’s probably accurate. But even so? I don’t care."
That about sums it up. Even when the research proves her wrong, she's going to believe just what she believed before the research.
Finally, a note about the older brother: It is clear from the parable that his love for his father and brother were, at best, defective. He CLEARLY doesn't love the brother, not referring to him as "my brother", but as "this, thy son."
Karla lost me very early on by saying this:
"... the seekers of meaning beyond walls and steeples."
That passage, along with a lot of the statements surrounding it, are familiar cliches that predominate among the progressive and deconstructing writers. It's lazy writing and could probably be produced by a bot.
Yikes, there's so much to unpack with this one. But I think overall this "take" by Rev Karla shows how very far away from "reading a text as intended and understanding the objective truth of it" we have come. I understand that *perhaps* she is talking mostly about how the church has used the text, and maybe it wasn't objectively true either (I don't know what her teachers or pastors taught). But it sounds like she takes modern, progressive ideas and tries reinterpret/misconstrue (?) based on ideologies that were never in the scope of the original writing or intention of the parable. I guess we can just impose our own imaginations and experiences on the scripture and get some sort of narrative that fits our idea of what the world is, or what is has done to us. But it wouldn't be true. At least not about that text. Or what God says. Maybe you can make up your own parable to suit your story.
And this leads me right back to how I was taught IN CHURCH, to read scripture. Again, these deconstructioners are doing exactly what they were taught to do in evangelical churches over the last 20-30 years. And that's to read a bit of the Bible and decide "what it means to you." It was overemphasized that we find the personal implication of the verse or text, instead of finding what God says, or who He is, or what He really means. Maybe it wasn't explicitly stated, but the implication was that there are many ways to read the Bible and therefore many "truths" to take from it. I almost fell into this, and that's why I say that. It has taken so many years to readjust the way I read the Bible or even how I see God. Thankful for the Holy Spirit who guides us into Truth. I also pray for Karla that her eyes would be opened and her heart would be set free.
Great point, Char!
She sounds terribly self-absorbed, a state indistinguishable from being miserable and depressed. The antidote would be to become like a little child, stop cherishing her precious preciousness, and enter God's kingdom.
A lot of the progressive, progressive adjacent, and deconstructing church crowd come off as terribly self-absorbed. I was in that environment for years and saw it.
That makes so much sense, the same old temptation (become a DIY god!) framed in modern language and talked of as if it's something new.
What a sad commentary she writes. It sounds as if the politics of feminism has become her religion. Before I read your post I was reading the Gospel lesson for this coming Sunday (John 10:22-30) in which Jesus seems to answer Karla Himself:
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
If that is the definition of patriarchy, I will take it. (When did patriarchy become a bad word?) Oh, that Karla will repent and come to really know the Father's love and appreciate how Jesus took all of our brokenness upon Himself so that we could be part of His flock. Imagine the joy in heaven if Karla would become part of Jesus' flock.
The older brother is also analogous to the Pharisees in Matthew 9 - Matthew 9:10-13
[10] And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. [11] And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” [12] But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. [13] Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
Hint to reader, if you’re siding with the brother who stayed, you’re wrong, or you’re like Jonah, looking out over a Nineveh, spared by the unfathomable mercy of YHWH, clinging to your withered vine and hating everybody. Or let’s go back a little bit more an remember Cain, and maybe some similar words shared to a brother, Then the Lord said to Cain:
“Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
A person doesn’t even need the Holy Spirit to prevent such a boneheaded reading. Or. Perhaps rather, a person has to have missed all of the oh so many narratives that excoriate those who have bought into the notion of false scarcity, and who doubt the goodness of God, from Adam and Eve, Cain and Able, Abraham, Sarah and Pharaoh, Sarah, Abraham and Hagar, and on and on. It also fails to notice that Jesus is literally talking to a people who have within their psyche the shared memory of decimation and exile and are still somehow blocked from a return. It seems to me that what this reading reveals most is the first world privilege of the current deconstruction mindset, a sort of exhalation in holding a grudge where characters like Iago in Othello or John the Bastard in much Ado About Nothing are somehow celebrated as long-suffering heroes.
Not-Very-Reverend Karla seems to enjoy the sound of her own.
"One thing have I desired of the Universe, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the temple of my own greatness all the days of my life, to behold the fair beauty of my own soul, and to be seen and validated forever." Psalm 27:4 (KKDV)
And thank you, Anne, for this post. You are always so good at communicating the gospel in your writing.
Hebrews 6:4-8 NASB95
For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, [5] and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, [6] and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame. [7] For ground that drinks the rain which often falls on it and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is also tilled, receives a blessing from God; [8] but if it yields thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
This passage from Hebrews came to mind as I read about the churched Prodigals, the spiritually spoiled brats who haven't appreciation for the riches lavished on them. I pray that they will return to the Father's household, humbled and chastened by the emptiness of worshiping themselves.