Bringing home the prodigals

This month sees the publication of ‘Bringing Home the Prodigals’ - a new book from Rob Parsons. It’s different from his previous books - but one very much written from the heart. Wendy Bray spoke to him about the challenge of the book and the vision behind it.

Where did you find the inspiration for a book about prodigals?
It was born out of an event that Dianne and I attended a few years ago at the Birmingham NEC called ‘Bringing Home the Prodigals’. Essentially it was a day to pray for those who seemed to have turned their back on everything they once believed. There were thousands there and at the front of the hall stood a huge cross, where people were invited to write the names of their prodigals on a small piece of paper and lay them at the foot of it.

After a short while, I was asked to leave the stage and go to the cross to pray with those who were gathered there. I had no idea of the emotion that was about to hit me. There were hundreds of names scattered there: names of brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, friends, but most of all, names of children - all of whom were prodigals. There were many tears that day, some of them mine, but there was also a wonderful sense of expectation that God, in his mercy, was going to bring the prodigals home. The passion I have to see this happen has remained since that day.

It would be easy to think this book is written for the parents of prodigal children - but that’s not the whole picture is it?
No, it’s not just for parents - it’s for every one of us. We all have someone in our life who we would love to see come back to a relationship with God. But there’s more to it than that. I believe that the Church has played a part not only in creating prodigals - making it easier for them to leave, but also making it harder for them to return. Some of our so-called prodigals have not turned their backs on God - just on some rules and regulations the Church held dear, that never mattered to God at all.

Many of our local churches are racked with division and a lack of love. One old man put it like this: “When the Father’s house is filled with the Father’s love, the prodigals will come home.” And finally, we have to remember that ‘elder brother’ in the parable - because his character is alive and well today. His welcome for his brother wasn’t quite so great. So when the prodigals do come home, we must pray with all our heart that they meet the father, before they meet the elder brother.

What difference are you hoping the book will make to those who have prodigals?
I have so many hopes. I pray that the book will release many from a wrong burden of guilt that they carry for their prodigals. Many parents, in particular, feel that way. They say, “Where did we go wrong?” The answer may be “nowhere”. The truth is, our children make choices. And we need to remember that God, the perfect parent, is a hurting parent too. I hope it will encourage us to stop judging each other - especially by comparing our kids with someone else’s - and that it will release us to be more honest and, in so doing, to actually help each other. Above all, I hope that it will turn us to prayer, both as individuals and as a church, so that we will see tens of thousands of our prodigals coming home.

How much does the book reflect your own experience?
God, in his wisdom, has decided that Dianne and I would not be much use in the work we do if we had a perfect family! And therefore, we have known the pains, tears and heartaches that hit most homes. Those times have also left us with an incredible sense of hope and an intense sense of dependence on God.

Books tend to grow and to develop their own personality. How has this book ‘grown’ since you began writing it?
I have ‘felt’ this book very strongly as I have written it. It has some of my tears on the pages and, at times, I have felt that I was the father, the son and the elder brother! It’s grown in that it has become a book with a wider brief - or mission - than a book for those who have prodigals. It has become a call to the Church to play its part in prayer, in repentance and in getting the house ready for their return.

The book certainly does have a pastoral feel and a capacity to help us articulate our cry to God through prayer and reflection. Why were those elements important?
No book, seminar, or video series will ever be enough to bring our prodigals home. Prayer is our best and only hope. So, yes, the book is written so that there is time to reflect on God, in the hope that this will lead us to prayer.

Does ‘Bringing Home the Prodigals’ also reflect the call of Father God into our own wayward lives?
Absolutely. And I think there are at least two elements to this. Firstly, half the prodigals are still in the pews. We might not have stopped going to church, but in our hearts we are far from God. Secondly, there is also a sense in which each of us has experienced something of the parable - we have looked at the dirty, tear-stained figure coming down the road towards the father and have suddenly realised - it is our face.

Taken from the Care for the Family magazine, March 2003