When Christian Schools Become Older Brother Factories

As a child, I was taught Jesus’ parable of “The Prodigal Son” (Lk. 5:11- 32) so I might learn to see God as a forgiving God to whom I can always return. I learned to resist becoming like the younger brother who squandered away his inheritance. Yet, if I do, God will still forgive me. I also gathered that the Older Brother was the more obedient one.

Contextually, Jesus tells the parable to an audience full of Pharisees within a series of similar-themed stories, because he wants them to understand how grossly they’ve missed what their religion is always about. The Pharisees struggled mightily with Jesus because they felt like they did everything right, yet Jesus didn’t give them the recognition they deserved. Rather, he welcomed children, women, the poor, tax collectors, prostitutes, and other forgotten classes. 

This context turns the focus toward the relationship between the Older Brother and His Father. At the end of the story, the Older Brother is indignant with his Father, focusing more on what he deserves than on his Father’s joy. Yes, the Older Brother is obedient for transactional purposes. In his mind, his obedience merits reward and blessing. He doesn’t obey out of love or gratitude, but because of what’s in it for him. The parable ends with the Father celebrating with the Younger Brother while the Older Brother sulks. The structure of the parable suggests that Jesus is far more critical of the older, obedient brother than he is of the younger, rebellious one. 

Clearly, it’s easier to teach a classroom full of “older brothers,” right? They do what’s asked of them; they follow the rules; they fit our “portraits of a graduate.” (by the way ... YIKES!) I’d wager that our “portrait of a graduate” statements function like mosquito zappers for Older Brothers who flock to the light and perish. There’s no question about what Jesus wanted the Pharisees to understand: they are the Older Brother who will not celebrate with the Father at His feast. Yet, these same pharisee-Older Brothers are the students we often elevate in our schools. Unlike Jesus, we are more critical in our schools of the rebellious, non-conforming students than we are of the self-righteous, compliant ones.

I know what you’re thinking; do we really want our graduates to look like the Younger Brother? Are we going to post updates in our alumni newsletters about graduates who have hit rock bottom? Probably not, and I’m not suggesting we necessarily should. Yet, I imagine our championed alumni stories aren’t too much different than what would be produced by secular schools. We most likely highlight those who accomplish great things and have their lives together ... for Jesus, of course. We do this because we want to attract families, but we do it by offering the very same definition of success the world runs after. All the while, the students in our schools download that the ultimate end of their schooling is to mimic these successful graduates.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t celebrate our students’ hard work and the Lord’s giftings (actually, I tend to think our fear of sinful  pride prevents us from proper celebration). Nor, do I think there’s something wrong with desiring student obedience, especially when God’s laws reveal how life works best. We just have to be extremely mindful that it was the Younger Brother who “got it” in the end while the Older Brother was entirely lost, despite doing everything asked of him. 

The Christian school which lives and dies by the gospel must endure and embrace the messiness of allowing Younger Brothers to be Younger Brothers. We’re left with the question: would we rather our students “get it” or meet traditional standards of success? They don’t have to be mutually exclusive, but what if “getting it” means it’s going to get pretty raw and messy along the way?

None of our schools are actively trying to create Older Brothers, but our inability to build cultures which prevent the tendency creates breeding grounds for students who put their hope in personal merit rather than the gospel. I once heard a sermon where Tim Keller said that our tendency toward merit is the “default setting” of our sinful condition. We revert to this  because we can “control” it. It’s the way the world works, and if we’re not counter-cultural, it’s what we will create in our schools.

What we see in the parable of the two brothers draws a very fine line between a relationship marked by conformation rather than by transformation. The Older Brother conformed to what he thought his father wanted. Just like the Older Brother, the Pharisees thought they could earn the favor of God by meeting a standard (one that was actually set in his mind, rather than one that was set by the Father). And, because they thought they were meeting this standard, they overlooked their deep, personal need. 

However, the Younger Brother’s relationship with his father is marked by a significant change. Granted, he blew it, and his story reveals the consequences of his poor decisions. Yet, he knew he blew it; he knew he didn’t deserve his Father’s favor (unlike the Older Brother who thought he had done enough to deserve it). And, that’s precisely where the gospel lives; it lives in a world where people know they don’t deserve God. I want my students to be changed by Jesus, and I long to have programs which are more geared toward that than nurturing conformity which often seems to dominate their school experiences.

What would it look like if our schools were more likely to produce students who realize how little they deserve than students who feel they met the standard and have their lives together? What would it look like if we drove a stake into the ground outside our schools and declared that we will not allow our schools to become Older Brother Factories?

By the way, not being an Older Brother Factory would be a rather rare thing to see among our Christian schools. Our culture almost necessarily forces schools toward hotbeds of conformity, where the desired goal isn’t persons deeply shaped by the gospel (which would look rather messy). Rather, the goal is “the good kid.” “The acceptable kid.” “The successful kid.” “The Older Brother.” That’s why parents seek our schools out. Without even thinking about it, they come to our schools because many of them subconsciously want their children to be Older Brothers. Maybe, so do we.