Parables and Stories ...

When does an analogy end and reality begin? Grimm’s fairytales are designed to pass along a moral to each story for children to absorb. Of course the stories are based largely in fantasy and usually only a single point emerges. The Bible is also full of stories, some intended to be real such as Creation, or the flood of Noah’s time; and some intended to be parables like the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus, or the King who forgives those who owe him. The New Testament clearly identifies when a parable or story or allegory is being told to make a point. But are the points always singular in nature or should we try to take more from the stories and the symbolism?

I sometimes wonder if we allow our perceptions about the character of God to be colored more by parables in the Bible, than by facts. For instance, the story of the King who forgives a man who owes him much money, and then the man turns around and is harsh with someone who owes him very little. This parable is designed to illustrate how many Christians miss the point of forgiveness and redemption. They eagerly accept mercy for themselves, yet withhold it from those in need. Once saved, the Christian begins looking down on those who are not so blessed, forgetting their own recent condition. The point of the parable was to illustrate that those who have been forgiven much, should be the most willing to forgive, instead of the least willing.

But this is not always the point well-meaning Christians walk away with. They examine the same story and determine that God will NOT forgive those who do NOT forgive others. In this way, they make our forgiveness “conditional” based on our subsequent behavior. This puts our ability to get a pardon back in our own hands again – we must earn it – based on how we treat others. They further reinforce this position using the phrase Christ spoke in the Lord’s prayer … “forgive us as we forgive our debtors.” This phrase too was designed to remind us of the gift of our forgiveness, the humility in which we are to receive it, and the mission to redeem those who continue in wrong doing through forgiveness. But instead the phrase and the story are used to create an atmosphere that forgiveness is based on our actions, not a gift given of God for our salvation.

This idea that salvation or forgiveness can be earned in any way denies the fundamental teachings of the entire message of the Bible. It reduces God’s unconditional love for us, by making it conditional. It says He really does not forgive, UNTIL He sees what we do with it. All of these ideas are perversions of scripture by the evil one. And all share a common theme, they tear down the character of God, making Him arbitrary and not nearly the definition of love that Truth would have us believe. But when someone uses a parable incorrectly, they can easily bring ideas into the story that were not intended by its author to make points that are not based in intentions of the author.

When being led by the Holy Spirit, these kinds of mistakes are all but non-existent. But ironically, those who misinterpret the story of forgiveness are the very ones for whom it was intended. Those with a personal experience with the Lord, those who have experienced the deep forgiveness of the Lord and therefore know His love firsthand, get the point. Those who know about God, and about forgiveness, but have never really taken it to heart – seem to miss the point. The least point of the story one could make centers around the punishment for our evil behavior. As God knows our evil is already our punishment. Forgiveness then is a tangible example of redeeming grace. Forgiveness is not something we deserve, but something we are given freely by our loving King. Forgiveness even though we may owe our lives as collateral for our debt is the point. We are all doomed to die, but forgiveness is designed to relieve our ultimate punishment. This is the point of the Bible and the story of the King.

Other stories are used in an incorrect way to color our perceptions of God’s character. The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus found in Luke 16 starting in verse 19 comes to mind. The rich man who lived a life of opulence and indulgence while here on earth dies and finds himself in hell. By contrast, Lazarus who lives a life of relative poverty and sickness dies and finds himself in heaven. The rich man pleads for relief, but is given none. Then the rich man pleads for his family that is still alive on earth, and the answer that comes is that the truth has already been revealed and it is enough for those who choose to believe. If they will not believe Moses and the Prophets they will not believe one who rose from the dead.

The central point of this story was about faith in Jesus Christ as the Messiah of God, according to all the writings of Moses and the Prophets. There are in fact several hundred prophesies about the Messiah that Jesus Christ filled in every detail. Yet the stubborn religious leadership of the day, rather than give up power to the true spiritual leader, determined not to believe in Jesus. They held to their beliefs, even though Christ had actually raised Lazarus (brother of Mary and Martha) from the dead. This resurrection was conclusive proof of His divinity, that even the priests could not deny. So rather than accept Him, they determined to kill Him.

Christ, in trying to reach the Pharisees, Sadducees, and priests was reminding them of the testimony of all their scriptures to date, and the actual resurrection of one Lazarus He had performed. The leadership was richly blessed with education, the scrolls, and easy access to the word of God. The poor had no such easy access. Yet the poor found in Christ, the redeemer He was. He was extending redemption to the leaders yet another time. He was reminding them that refusal to accept Him as their Messiah would leave them to the hell of separation from God. The story of the Rich Man and Lazarus is another attempt to reach a stubborn crowd of religious leaders who thought they knew better than Christ, the mind and intentions of God His Father.

But modern Christians lose this point completely. Like with the story of forgiveness, they focus on the idea of eternal punishment instead of redemption. They conclude that there is a hell of torturing flames that exists for people after they die. All of this without examining why the rich man went to hell in the first place. Which deducting from the story alone was because he was rich. And the poor man went to heaven because he was poor. Neither makes sense with what we know of Salvation. We are not saved by our poverty, or doomed by our affluence. We are saved by grace which is enough to cover the rich and the poor. So determining judgment and punishment could NOT have been the point of the story. Yet we assume it to be so.

In addition, the concept of an eternally burning hell, does not reconcile with the character of a just and loving God. But it did fit well with the Pharisees idea of God’s character. The religious leadership did not follow or preach about a God of infinite love. Rather they followed God in fear, developing lists of things that God would approve and disapprove of. They were devout legalists. They believed that the law was sacred and could save them from evil if they followed it exactly. They understood nothing of forgiveness or repentance and were mystified by the preaching of John the Baptist. Corruption had taken hold of their hearts and much evil was done in the temple of God that profited them personally. They presented themselves as publically holy, and when inwardly they were completely evil. The Pharisees believed firmly in punishment, even the eternal kind, as they could not comprehend grace. So this analogy designed for their redemption would be effective for them.

Yet modern Christians cling to the idea of eternally burning flames, rather than a punishment with eternal consequences. Those who embrace evil and refuse to accept grace, will like the priests who rejected Christ in His day, will find themselves in the lake of fire talked about in Revelations. However, after the appointed amount of punishment, evil will finally be consumed forever. Burnt up, not still burning. And then the world will be made new once again as also prophesied in Revelations. Evil eternally extinguished, and love eternally established. This is the reality of our God. But Christians hold to an idea of eternal flames over eternal sleep, and in so doing make God once again arbitrary and unjust. For at some point even the most evil of us, will have paid in punishment for our crimes. To continue to burn us beyond that point is not an act of love, but one of cruelty that cannot be denied. This false idea taken from a parable destroys the character of God, rather than proves His attempts at redemption of a stubborn few once again.

When we look at scripture to prove our guilt and determine our punishment, we look for the wrong things. Our guilt is easy to establish. What we deserve is easy to determine. The reason why we have a Bible is due to a loving God that is looking to redeem His fallen creation. The point of scripture is not to condemn us, but to offer us hope in Christ, salvation from our evil, and heaven in our future. When we remember that our God is one of infinite love, we can begin to interpret parables as they were intended. We must not let our perceptions of God be colored by ideas that denigrate his love, grace, and efforts to redeem us. Redemption is the goal of our entire communications with our God. Let us look at all the symbolism, analogies, parables, and texts in the light of this truth.