STORIES FOR ALL PEOPLE: CROSS-CULTURAL
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Stories For All Peoples
a) The parables that Jesus told were part of his gospel; therefore they are parables for all peoples throughout all nations and throughout all time.
b) When Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation" (Mark 16:15), he had already presented the gospel in a form suited to that great commission. He'd carefully crafted his parables to make them cross-cultural, meaningful far beyond his own teaching environment, effective far into the future and across the wide world.
2. Cross-cultural
a) Parables like the unforgiving slave, the sower and the seed, the ten virgins, the houses on rock and sand, are vivid, unforgettable, and disarmingly simple. They implant the word of truth firmly in the hearer’s mind. Jesus had to sometimes explain his parables, but once explained they succeeded in teaching a lesson forcibly.
b) Jesus, in most of his parables, chose settings from his own culture, however because he spoke in simple terms of things such as family, farming, fishing, building, finance, banquets and celebrations, the stories translate to most cultures without loss of impact. Even when cultural differences are noticeable and exotic, people may well find such parables more colorful and interesting than a story set in their own culture.
c) The ten virgins is arguably the most culturally specific parable that Jesus told (Matthew 25:1-13). Even people whose marriage customs are quite different to those in the parable, have no trouble relating to the attitude and subsequent predicament of the foolish girls in the story.
The End ...
1. Stories For All Peoplesa) The parables that Jesus told were part of his gospel; therefore they are parables for all peoples throughout all nations and throughout all time.
b) When Jesus said, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation" (Mark 16:15), he had already presented the gospel in a form suited to that great commission. He'd carefully crafted his parables to make them cross-cultural, meaningful far beyond his own teaching environment, effective far into the future and across the wide world.
2. Cross-cultural
a) Parables like the unforgiving slave, the sower and the seed, the ten virgins, the houses on rock and sand, are vivid, unforgettable, and disarmingly simple. They implant the word of truth firmly in the hearer’s mind. Jesus had to sometimes explain his parables, but once explained they succeeded in teaching a lesson forcibly.
b) Jesus, in most of his parables, chose settings from his own culture, however because he spoke in simple terms of things such as family, farming, fishing, building, finance, banquets and celebrations, the stories translate to most cultures without loss of impact. Even when cultural differences are noticeable and exotic, people may well find such parables more colorful and interesting than a story set in their own culture.
c) The ten virgins is arguably the most culturally specific parable that Jesus told (Matthew 25:1-13). Even people whose marriage customs are quite different to those in the parable, have no trouble relating to the attitude and subsequent predicament of the foolish girls in the story.
Comments
Post a Comment