Article: Kris Vallotton Proof-Texts The Prodigal Son

"We've been given the ministry of reconciliation! What's your job? Not counting their trespasses against them. You're not the elder brother, you're the father in the story!" -- Kris Vallotton

Wow. How monumentally confused is Kris Vallotton at this point? We are never supposed to hold sins against our brothers and sisters -- that belongs to God. The ministry of reconciliation however begins with repentance. You do not get to reconciliation without repentance. The first words in the ministry of both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ was REPENT.

"The gospel isn't about judgement! It's about GOOD NEWS. We've been extended both mercy and grace!" -- Kris Vallotton

Let the real fluffiness begin. This is the sloppy agape theology that Bethel Church wallows in so it is no surprise that Vallotton traffics in it. While it is certainly Good News to have received mercy and grace to pretend there is no judgment involved is simply a biblical untruth. One must still turn from their sins beloved. It is not a magical seven word prayer. It is not about the sincerity found in the depths of our wickedly deceitful heart. It is about repenting to avoid judgment. When we hear John the Baptist say repent, or Jesus, or any New Testament prophet we are hearing the invitation to reconcile and it most assuredly Good News. Vallotton wants to skip the part required to get to reconciliation.

"Mercy is you don't get what you deserved. Grace is when you get what you don't deserve. If you're speeding and get pulled over and the cop doesn't give you a ticket, that's mercy. If you get pulled over for speeding and the cop gives you $1000 for speeding" that's grace. You got what you didn't deserve. You didn't just get mercy, but GRACE." -- Kris Vallotton

Yes Kris but what cop is going to not give you the ticket if you deny the crime? As for grace -- does God randomly bestow this grace upon all speeders? Of course not because that would be Universalism. He offers His grace to those who are willing to believe in Him and the result is that we should stop speeding because we see how it grieves God.

"We say stupid statements like: "The Twin Towers was God's punishment for the abortion epidemic in America!" Anyone with a brain can tell this is stupid! Why would a God, who is upset about lives being taken, respond with taking more lives!? I believe it's an elder brother mentality that causes such nonsense to come out of people's mouths. The elder brother is about punishment! But the KINDNESS of God, a good Father, leads to repentance!" -- Kris Vallotton

Beloved, it is a calling to divide the word of God. Yes we are all supposed to do the work of a Berean for our own walk and to hear from God but to divide the word for His people? That is an awesome responsibility and not one that should be undertaken lightly. When it is undertaken lightly, this is the result. The elder brother is not about punishment. That is not what God is conveying here. The key verses are all we have in terms of substantive dialogue from the elder brother. You can make the argument that this is highlighting the dangers of serving God but not being saved by God. Churchianity versus true faith if you wanted to go deeper. Certainly the elder brother is angry but he gives no indication of desire for punishment. His words are dealing with an affront that he feels about how HE was treated. Sure he uses his brother as a foil but the comparison is only to highlight his own grievances. I love this story because it shows the real dangers of superficial faith. He stayed home like many go to church -- because they feel they should. That is not saving faith beloved. The true irony of the story is the elder son ends up being the prodigal son. The lesson should not be missed. You can spend your every waking day in a church and still be far away from the Lord you claim to serve. But punishment? No beloved. Kris Vallotton approaches the Bible unfortunately as many poor teachers today do -- to confirm pre-concluded points. He had a premise that he made up. That Old Testament prophets were about judgment and now it is all puppies and pancakes so he scoured the Bible to try and find something to prop up his premise. This is known as proof-texting. He then settled on the concept of an "elder brother" mentality:

"Do You Have An Elder Brother Mentality? Take a look at the verses on this in Luke 15:25-32.

Let's break it down a little more. Here are some symptoms of an elder brother mentality: Respond to your siblings with a lack mentality. Instead of focusing on celebrating the good thing that happened, he complains about all the things he's NOT getting. Anger and an unwillingness to celebrate his brother. Comparison, leading to self-righteousness (I was always good and he was so bad! I deserve more! He deserves punishment.)" -- Kris Vallotton

That seems like 27 degrees of separation to get to this point about the elder feeling like the prodigal deserved punishment but no matter how he tries the text does not support this. Moreover the point of the parable is lost in Vallotton's pursuit of his talking points. This is a picture of salvation and the grace of God. The father in the story is God, eyes fixed on the horizon, waiting for a son to come back home. The prodigal is us before we knew Christ. Reveling in the carnality of this world until we come to our senses and come back home. The elder son as pointed out earlier becomes the prodigal. He represents a churched person whose gospel is focused on themselves and what they feel they should get for their sacrifices instead of on the sacrifice of Calvary. Self-righteous? Sure but not seeking punishment. That is simply a conclusion in search of a fact pattern to support it and it just is not there. Mercifully, Vallotton concludes:

"Choose the Father Heart. If any of those sound familiar then today is your day to repent (turn away) from that thinking and embrace your true identity in Christ. When we understand how much grace we ourselves walked in to enter the Kingdom, then gratitude, kindness and mercy will flow from us. The next time you catch yourself saying something stupid and judgmental, choose to be like the father in the story instead. He celebrated his son coming home, didn't rub his sin in his face, and threw a huge party! To keep it simple here's one truth that I hope will help you face both your own and other people's idiotic thoughts--kindness leads to repentance (Romans 2:4). Do you struggle with an elder brother mentality? What other action points do you get from the parable?" -- Kris Vallotton

Listen beloved. If the overall message was stop being jealous or be happy with what God has for you, I would be all in. You did not need to flip this story on its head though to get there. When you proof text the Bible like this you also miss the point God is trying to make. The prodigal son parable is rich in theology. Claiming that you can have an elder son mentality because you believe in an Old Testament prophetic paradigm of punishment is not one of them. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. His plan has not changed and neither have His design for prophets. They still are supposed to say what sayeth the Lord. Not what they think He is laying on their heart or any other Christianese version of prophecy. It is a shame because he had some solid points to teach about in this message. Christians do sometimes say the stupidest things. As do false prophets like Kris Vallotton.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- January

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