Fred Craddock preached one Sunday in a neighboring town when the regular minister happened to be away. Fred preached on this text ... not by choice, so much as by assignment. Leading a fellow to say after the service: "I really didn't care much for that, frankly." Fred continues:

I said, "Why?"

He said, "Well, I guess it's not your sermon. I just don't like that story."

I said, "What is it you don't like about it?"

He said, "It's not morally responsible."

I said, "What do you mean by that?

"Forgiving that boy," he said.

I said, "Well, what would you have done?"

He said, "I think when he came home he should've been arrested."

This fellow was serious. He's an attorney, I thought. I thought he was going to tell me a joke. But he was really serious. He belonged to this unofficial organization nationwide, never has any meetings and doesn't have a name, but it's a very strong network that I call "quality control people." They're the moral police. Mandatory sentences and no parole, mind you, and executions.

I said, "What would you have given the prodigal?"

He said, "Six years."