Q&A about Prodigals with Author Greg Ross Taylor

Was there a crisis in your life that led you to write Prodigals?
It’s this sense of lostness of our world that led me to write, and I’ll say more about this in a minute, but very personally, in 2020, when we were all experiencing a crisis in our world together, my father died. The last time I saw him alive, I was angry with him for ignoring something that was very important to me. Strangely, I do not hold regret for that last interaction. There was much more to our relationship, and I’m excited for readers to read about what happened between me and my dad in the book.

Most people talk about a prodigal as a wayward family member? What’s with the plural title?
Prodigals is plural because of a belief that I expand fully in the book: we are all prodigals on a journey back home.

What are the roots of the idea of being a prodigal?
Jesus told a story about a man who had two sons. Only one writer in the New Testament told the story and it’s the best of what we refer to as Jesus’s parables.

Without spoiling the plot, what’s the story about?
It’s about every one of us who squander something. It’s about every one of us who fail a family member. It’s about every one of us facing financial crises. It’s about every one who has ever left home and wondered how to find their way back. I didn’t spoil the plot but I also didn’t tell much about the story.

Why not?
The way the book unfolds tells the story in a way that I would love for readers to allow to happen like a good hike. There are things you will see, learn, and feel that you may not anticipate. So there will be a great payoff for readers who allow themselves to enter this story and put themselves in the shoes of each of the characters.

You are a man writing about a father and sons — is this a book that relates only to men and their daddy issues?!
Another part of the title Prodigals is an intentional way of not narrowly calling it the traditional name of the parable of Jesus, “the Prodigal Son.” Prodigals allows every person regardless of identity, to identify with the story of a loving parent who gives freely, a child who rejects the family and comes to their senses, and another child who is resentful of the way the parent chooses to love.

Can the book be read in book clubs, small groups, university classes, and church Bible classes?
Of course as an author I’m going to say all of the above places would be great spaces for reading and discussing Prodigals; even so, I really think Prodigals will open up groups to themes that will bring participants openness, confession, joy, and deep love for one another and the world.

Speaking of that, we live in a really messed up and divided world. Does Prodigals have anything to say about how to live in a polarized environment today?
I am the first to admit I have wrestled with how American society in particular has been shaped and operating in the past few years. In the book I do address our world situation with the teaching of Jesus as a challenge for those who would live or die by their American politics. I actually think with the proper outlook — faith shaping our politics not politics shaping our faith, politics are an important tool for positive change that helps bring healing and love in our culture.

I’m not going to say my approach is not political because politics refers to what we do in public life. I believe Jesus died because he made Jewish and Roman politicians and their followers angry with his teachings that had political implications. Jesus didn’t die because he prayed in the synagogue and tried to stay out of public life.

No, Jesus died on a cross because he spoke out against against cruel and unjust rulers who saw his teachings as a threat to their power. If we follow both the teaching and example of Jesus, we too will be threatened by powerful people trying to keep their power. We also have to ask if we are powerful people trying to hold on to power and harming people in the process.

That was a long answer, my head is spinning a litle bit. How are you going to make such a powerful and positive story of Jesus controversial in the book, and why?
The parables of Jesus were not sweet litle stories for sweet people. His parables made people angry! In fact, in the book you will see how I break down the setting of Jesus telling the parable and how it all started with religious leaders objecting to Jesus associating with unclean sinners! He calls himself a holy man and hangs out with addicts, prostitutes, and worst of all Roman-loving tax collectors! Jesus told the parable of the prodigal son, I believe, to show that those religious leaders are prodigals.

How are they prodigals if they are religious?
There is a part of the prodigal story that often does not get told. The first half of the story is about a father’s gift given generously to a son who then squanders it in “wild living.” There is some really amazing things that happens when the son decides to come home, and I really want readers to see and feel how powerful that is. The second half of the story often does not get told simply because the first half is so powerful we almost forget this coda at the end. But it seems to be how Jesus was angling the story toward religious leaders who are like the older brother who resented the love of the father for his brother. And it’s in this second half of the story that I really come back around to a deeper crisis in writing the book.

And what is that deeper crisis?
The deeper crisis was a rupture in my faith when I realized as a preacher in a church that I am a prodigal. I learned through this story and particularly the second half that we are all prodigals, even those of us who have spent our lives serving the Lord or acting like we are or struggling with loving others or dealing with our anger or confusion about certain relationships at work, home, and church. I’m so excited about how readers can walk with me not only through my crises but through their own.

Is there a sense in which Prodigals is like an epic journey for the reader?
I think it is, the book is short and focused and easy for readers to follow. I tried to tell a story in each chapter that is timeless, some very personal, confessional, and that would lead into each line of the parable I’m discussing.

So you weave the parable with your own stories?
Yes, the original idea for the book came when I wondered what it would be like to start each chapter with a line of the prodigal parable of Jesus. So I wrote out the parable’s lines into about twenty-five chapter scripture quotes. I gave the chapters one word names and dug into my life and experiences for the stories that would fit each chapter theme.

So Jesus told the story in about 600 words and it took you 40,000?
Basically, but I can’t hold a candle to Jesus! It’s his story and I hope I do him proud and that readers love it! I hope readers will pass this book along in Christmas gifts, to next generations and in a decade or two people will still be reading it!

And you opened an email address for readers to share their own prodigal stories?
Yes! I’m glad you mentioned that. The address is in the book, letters@prodigals.me. Tell me your own prodigal stories. Who knows, maybe I’ll ask if I can relay your story in a new edition of the book someday!