The Purpose of Parables

We had our Winter Bible Study this past week at church--it's been a very enjoyable time of studying the various parables Jesus told during His short time of ministry. It isn't as if I haven't heard these parables before--I had the privilege of growing up in the church, so the stories are "old." Yet, listening to them during the past few evenings, imagining Jesus sitting on a hillside or in a boat or in the center of a group of people, sharing a lesson through story... I guess you could say I've let my imagination have a little free rein, and that's made them "new" again.

Several years ago, when my first book had been contracted for publication but wasn't yet in print, someone asked me what I wrote. I responded, "Christian fiction." The person grimaced and replied, "Christian fiction is an oxymoron. Fiction is lie-telling. You can't tell lies under a Christian umbrella." I remember standing there, embarrassed and hurt, unsure how to reply. But if I received a comment like that today, especially after spending the past evenings studying how Jesus used parables to bring understanding to His listeners, I'd have an answer.

There is power in story. A person might turn away from a rebuke, but few can resist a story. (Remember Paul Harvey's "The rest of the story..."? Weren't you captured by it?) Jesus used story to reveal spiritual truths, to teach right and wrong to His followers, and to help listeners recognize areas in which they needed to change.

As a writer of Christian fiction, my goal is to share spiritual truths through the telling of a story. If readers relate to the characters, perhaps they will recognize the lessons learned by the characters and apply them to their own lives.

It's hard to choose a favorite parable--they each have a special meaning--but if I were forced to choose one, it would probably be the one found in the opening verses of Luke 15, commonly referred to as the parable of the lost sheep. The Pharisees were muttering about Jesus eating with "sinners," and Jesus responded by telling the story of a man with 100 sheep who loses one, and the man searches until he finds that one sheep. A celebration follows. Jesus completes the story by saying, "I tell you in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."

I imagine those self-righteous leaders struck silent, absorbing Jesus' words. How many of them, I wonder, crept away wishing to be the sheep which brought about such cause of celebration instead of one of the ninety-nine...?

There is power in story. And after listening to Jesus' stories again, I'm all the more determined to honor my Saviour through the telling of stories that point readers to the truth of His love and grace.

May God bless you muchly as you journey with Him! ~Kim