Leaders in faith: A life-changing decision

Posted July 22, 2009 at 12:35 pm and filed under Faith.

By Jon McClarnon

Jon McClarnon

Jon McClarnon

Jesus was a master communicator. One of his primary means of teaching was through short stories called parables. More than one-third of all his teachings were in short-story form, which allowed him to take spiritual things that could be difficult to grasp and make them understandable.

What made teaching through story so effective for Jesus was that he used familiar images, combined them with intriguing plots and then introduced the element of surprise.

I believe every time Jesus told a story he wanted it to serve as a door and mirror for his listeners … a door because it was an opportunity for people to walk into a new understanding about God – how he operates, how he feels about people and what it’s like to live as a follower of Jesus. A mirror because every teaching was an illustration of how the truth should be lived.

As people willingly entered the story and connected with the characters, they could in turn connect the truth to their own lives. The stories force people to make judgments about their own lives and actions, so that we see ourselves and then do something about it.

Jesus tells a string of stories in Matthew 13 to talk about the Kingdom of Heaven:

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field” (v. 44).

Oftentimes the safest place to keep valuables was buried in the ground. The only way to lose it was to die, in which case those valuables would be unknown to anyone.

Apparently, a worker in the field is completely surprised to stumble across the treasure. He makes a quick decision to cover it up again so that he can go home and explain it to his family and do everything in his power to come up with the money to buy the field for himself. To him, possessing the treasure is so life-changing and valuable that he would rearrange his entire life just to acquire it.

Jesus told a second story that is quite similar: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it” (v. 45-46).

Here we have a treasure hunter consciously on the search for the most precious gem he knows. He reacts in a similar way, selling everything he has in order to be able to acquire it because he knows that it can transform everything about his life.

Jesus drops the story on people in a way that asks this question: “If you had the chance to let go of what you had in order to get something so much better – would you do it?”

There is one difference in the two stories, and it is the path our characters take to finding the Kingdom.

The man who finds the treasure does so accidentally. A lot of us find the Kingdom of God without looking. We stumble into God. It might have been a crisis in our life, an encounter with a friend or a whisper from God that we weren’t expecting.

We might not be looking for God, but when faced with the great value of the Kingdom, we would give over control of our life for that – joyfully because it’s better than the life we have.

The man who finds the pearl does so after persistent searching. A lot of us find the Kingdom of God because we know it is there somewhere, and we go looking for it. We know life has to have more meaning.

Still others are not there yet. You are still searching and asking, but when you submit to the Kingdom, it will be because you’ve been pursuing it for a while. You will possess it with great joy because the life it offers is better than the life you have.

These masterful stories are highlighted by the power of a decision. No matter how it comes to you, the opportunity of life in the Kingdom demands a response. It is the one thing worth possessing, and no one should take a chance at letting it slip away. Do whatever you have to and stop at nothing.

The stories force us to ask the question: Is Jesus better than anything we already have, and will we do whatever it takes to possess the Kingdom?

Jon McClarnon is a pastor at True North Church.

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2 Responses for “Leaders in faith: A life-changing decision”

  1. J Stokes says:
    August 3, 2009 at 3:54 pm

    I like the door and mirror analogy you suggest of Jesus’ teachings. We should look at each story with a new understanding of God and a reflection of ourselves within the story.

  2. L Thompson says:
    August 3, 2009 at 6:20 pm

    Jesus’ stories certainly always demanded a response and still do for us today. I’m glad that I have made the decision that a relationship with Christ is the one thing worth pursuing at all costs. Jesus is definitely better than anything we already have or will ever have.

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