A fatal error of indignant integrity - Chambers, Oswald

And he was angry, and would not go in. Luke 15:28

We get the idea that wrong views of god and of goodness arise from a life that is wrong; the bible shows that wrong views of god and of goodness may arise out of a life that is right. The parable of the two sons is an example of this. The younger brother was a wastrel; the elder brother was a man of integrity, there was not a spot on his characterneither transgressed i at any time thy commandment. Everything that led him to take up the position he did was perfectly justifiable, it was the protest of an upright man, but he made the fatal error of misinterpreting his fathers ways and refusing to enter into a love that was too big for this earth. Many good upright people misinter- pret gods ways because they do not take into account first of all the matter of personal relationship to god. They say because we are the creatures of god, we are the sons and daughters of god; Jesus Christ taught with profound insistence that we are sons and daughters of god only by an inner disposition, the disposition of love, which works implicitly. The bible states that love is of god. The difficulty arises out of our individuality, which is hard and tight, segregated from others; personality is never isolated, it always merges, and is characterised by an implicit under- standing of things. The attitude of the elder brother is individual entirely, he is merged into nothing of the nature of love, consequently he misunderstands his father and demands that his ways ought to be more clearly justifiable to human reason. Gods ways never are, because the basis of things fundamentally is not reasonable; if it were, god would be cruel to allow what he does. Our reason is simply an instrument, the way we explain things, it is not the basis of things. The problems of life are only explainable by means of a right relationship to god. If we ask for a reasonable explanation of gods ways in providence, such as are stated in the book of job, or of the puzzles of nature referred to by Paul in Romans 8:1923, we will end in misinterpreting god; but when we receive the disposition Jesus Christ came to give us, we find our problems are explained implicitly. There is no such thing as sin to common-sense reasoning, therefore no meaning in the cross because that view rules out what the bible bases everything on, viz. , the hiatus between god and man produced by sin and the cross where sin is dealt with. When common- sense reasoning comes to the cross it is embarrassed, it looks at the death of Jesus as the death of a martyr, one who lived beyond his dispensation. According to the new testament, the cross is the cross of god, not of a man. The problems of providence, the puzzles of nature, the paradoxes of Christianity do not bother everybody, they are the problems of men who are good and upright, but distinctly individual, and their individuality causes them to misinterpret gods ways and repudiate Christianity. . . . As soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou hast killed

For him the fatted calf. The elder brother is right, not wrong, according to all reasonable human standards, when he says of the prodigal, such a character ought not to be allowed in the home, he ought to be excluded. A bad man would have said oh well, it doesn’t matter, he has made mistakes, we all do. Embarrassment always arises in the domain of ethics when we make the basis of Christianity adherence to principles instead of personal relationship to god. What is called Christianity, our charity and benevolence is not Christianity as the new testament teaches it, it is simply adherence to certain principles. Jesus tells us to give to him that asketh thee not because he deserves it, or because he needs it, but because i tell you to. Ask yourself, do i deserve all i have got? The teaching of Jesus revolutionises our modern conception of charity. A false idea of gods honour ends in misinterpreting his ways. It is the orthodox type of christian who by sticking to a crude idea of gods character, presents the teaching which says, god loves you when you are good, but not when you are bad. God loves us whether we are good or bad. That is the marvel of his love. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentancewhether there are any righteous is open to question. The righteous have no need of me; i came for the sinful, the ungodly, the weak. If i am not sinful and ungodly and weak, i don’t need him at all. The presentation Jesus gives of the father is that he makes no conditions when the prodigal returns, neither does he bring home to him any remembrance of the far country the elder brother does that. It is the revelation of the unfathomable, unalterable, amazing love of god. We would feel much hap- pier in our backslidden condition if only we knew it had altered god towards us, but we know that immediately we do come back we will find him the same, and this is one of the things that keeps men from coming back. If god would only be angry and demand an apology, it would be a gratification to our pride. When we have done wrong we like to be lashed for it. God never lashes. Jesus does not repre- sent the father as saying you have been so wicked that i cannot take you back as my son, i will make you a servant; but as saying, bring forth quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet: and bring the fatted calf, and kill it, and let us eat, and make merry: for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. (RV).