{"id":518,"date":"2021-02-18T09:48:31","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T14:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=518"},"modified":"2021-02-18T09:48:31","modified_gmt":"2021-02-18T14:48:31","slug":"the-power-of-parables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/18\/the-power-of-parables\/","title":{"rendered":"The Power of Parables"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Throughout Lent, we\u2019re exploring the parables of Jesus \u2013 the two dozen or so stories that were his chief means of describing the reality of God\u2019s rule on earth. <\/strong>

\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be that difficult to eat healthy food.\u201d

That\u2019s the assertion of Nell McShane Wulfhart in her book Off Menu<\/em>, a sweeping study of what Americans choose to eat.

Anyone who can read a package label has immediate access to more nutritional data than any previous generation. 

But information has not led to dietary transformation.  That\u2019s because our choices are \u201cundermined at every turn by food marketers, tempting aromas, slick packaging, and yes, by our very own brains.\u201d 

Americans are lousy at reading the messages our bodies are sending to us \u2013 whether we\u2019ve already had enough to eat, for instance, and what we\u2019re actually hungry for.  We\u2019re routinely fooled by pictures.  If a half-pound cheeseburger is garnished with a slice of tomato and a piece of lettuce, that must mean it is healthy.  It isn\u2019t.  According to a recent study, a large percentage of consumers believe that organic Oreos have fewer calories than regular Oreos.  They don\u2019t. 

The most dispiriting discovery is that expressions like \u201chealthy,\u201d \u201clight,\u201d and \u201cgood for you\u201d actually turn people off. 

According to Dr. Traci Mann, who oversees the Eating Lab at the University of Minnesota, the word \u201chealthy\u201d has come to mean \u201ctastes bad.\u201d  It\u2019s understandable that most people would rather have a chocolate milkshake than a kale smoothie.  But even when presented with colorful, delicious, low-calorie, high-energy options, American diners tend to be skeptical. 

The prospect of \u201ccomfort food\u201d makes us salivate.  \u201cHealth food\u201d triggers a surge of disappointment. 

We know that we know better.  But just because we have potentially life-changing information at our fingertips doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019ll joyfully adjust our diets. 

The same thing is true when it comes to walking with God.  We have all the information we need \u2013 insights that have the potential to enrich our lives in this world and the next.  Do you want to be spiritually healthy?  Then don\u2019t lie.  Don\u2019t cheat on your taxes.  Don\u2019t sleep with someone who\u2019s not your spouse.  Don\u2019t hold grudges.  Don\u2019t ruin your life by trying to control everything.   

Don\u2019t, don\u2019t, don\u2019t<\/em>.  The word on the street is that religion is nothing but a set of spirit-crushing restrictions. 

If that\u2019s true, who wants to be healthy?  If Christians were honest, they would admit there are times they think that sinners are having all the fun.  No wonder people gravitate to lifestyles that feel more like spiritual comfort food than the drudgery of eating veggies for Jesus. 

It would seem that Christianity has a major public relations problem.

The truth, however, is that God so loved the world that he didn\u2019t send his Son to deliver a new list of rules.     

Instead, Jesus primarily told stories. 

\u201cParables are to Jesus what jokes are to a comedian,\u201d says author Brian McLaren.  Matthew 13:34 makes this remarkable statement: \u201cHe did not say anything to them without using a parable.\u201d  We know that when speaking to specific groups (like his inner circle of disciples), Jesus did not always tell stories.  But parables were his chief means of declaring to a general audience, \u201cThis is what it means to have a Father in heaven.\u201d 

Why tell stories?

Parables are sneaky.  Most of Jesus\u2019 stories are deceptively simple.  Some even seem childish.  But they are full of surprises and unexpected twists.  Jesus is able to communicate \u201cspiritual nutritional information\u201d in delightful, memorable ways. 

Ways that may actually make us want us to know God better.  

In that sense, his parables are subversive.  Just when we think we\u2019ve figured out everything about Us vs. Them, and feel absolutely certain that Jesus loves Us and will be sending Them straight to hell, he comes up with a story that forces us to see things in a different light. 

Maybe we\u2019ve been a bit off the mark.  OK, maybe we\u2019ve been way<\/em> off the mark.  That\u2019s the power of parables. 

The astounding thing about these stories is that they don\u2019t seem to age.  Perhaps you first heard about the Good Samaritan back in third grade Sunday School.  And after just one reading of the Gospels, you could rattle off the essential message of the parable of the Four Soils.  But the meanings of these stories aren\u2019t static.  They become deeper, richer, and increasingly surprising as we grow older.  The more we experience life, the more we will find ourselves thinking, \u201cI never saw that before.\u201d 

McLaren observes, \u201cHuman kingdoms advance by force and violence with falling bombs and flying bullets, but God\u2019s kingdom advances by stories, fictions, tales that are easily ignored and easily misunderstood.  Perhaps that\u2019s the only way it can be.\u201d 

Parables make us think.  They invite us to listen to God in new ways. 

Which, when you think about it, is a wonderful foundation for a healthy spiritual diet.   
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Throughout Lent, we\u2019re exploring the parables of Jesus \u2013 the two dozen or so stories that were his chief means of describing the reality of God\u2019s rule on earth.  \u201cIt shouldn\u2019t be that difficult to eat healthy food.\u201d That\u2019s the assertion of Nell McShane Wulfhart in her book Off Menu, a sweeping study of what Americans choose to eat. Anyone… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":519,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[177],"class_list":["post-518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-parables"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":520,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518\/revisions\/520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}