Parables 101

That's not the topic, but if you look at what I actually said in Message 94, maybe we can discuss it in the appropriate venue.Edit: spelingEdited by Ringo, : No reason given.

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As I said in Message 94:

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I have always said that God's laws are for our benefit, not His. If we love our neighbours as ourselves, we are loving God.

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We demonstrate our love for God by demonstrating our love for our fellow man - not by loud cries of "Lord! Lord!" in church (or on Internet forums).In the parable, the steward didn't go to his master and beg for his job back, offer to take a cut in pay, etc. He went and made friends with his master's debtors, to get into their good graces, to get a job from them. And his master was happy with that.So, God doesn't want us to go to Him crying "Lord! Lord!", begging for forgiveness, offering to do favours for Him, etc. He wants us to make friends with each other, take care of each other.The point of the parable seems to be: Don't make a lot of noise about loving God - show that you love God by doing unto others.

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Mat 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
Mat 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

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Show your love openly and God will reward you openly.

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We acknowledge that Jesus is Lord by doing His will - i.e. by doing unto others as we would have them do unto us - not by empty mouthing of words.

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Mat 7:22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
Mat 7:23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

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He said that the empty words will get you nowhere. Empty words have nothing to do with acknowledging Him as Lord. Exactly my point: the empty words "Lord! Lord! plastered on the Internet are worthless. How about showing Him instead? I'm glad that my contempt for professing "believers" is showing. Jesus showed His contempt for them too. True believers show their beliefs by actions, not by empty words.

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Mat 7:17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

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Fruit trees don't say "Lord! Lord!"------------- It would be easier for the other readers if you would quote the passages rather than just citing them:

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Luk 14:13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
Luk 14:14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

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Mat 10:42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.

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We will be rewarded according to our actions, not according to our words.That is why the master said that his servant acted wisely in making friends. That is what The Master wants us to do.Edited by Ringo, : Coordinated "beleivers" with "beliefs".

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Do you have anything to say about the topic?

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I don't think the point of the parable is about the money at all - it's about the time. All of the workers got the same reward, regardless of when they were hired.Jesus said that's how the kingdom of heaven works: it doesn't matter how long you've been with the company. Everybody gets the same reward.I don't think He meant to say that's how employers should treat their workers. He was just giving a hypothetical illustration to make a point - that the rewarder determines the reward.On the other hand, if you're going to take the Bible literally, you'd better dust off your red flag.

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“Faith moves mountains, but only knowledge moves them to the right place” -- Joseph Goebbels
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You never have to surrender. You can go work somewhere else. But the parable isn't about slackers. For all we know the ones hired early in the morning might have slacked the day away and done less work than those hired later.You don't get to decide who's "No True Worker".The Boss decides what He's willing to pay. You have no say in what He pays somebody else.

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“Faith moves mountains, but only knowledge moves them to the right place” -- Joseph Goebbels
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That misses the point of the parable. It's not an exact one-to-one parallel with the way God will judge us. It's an illustration of the principle:

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Mat 7:1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
Mat 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

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The implication is that forgiveness must be sincere - i.e. instead of singling out one group to forgive, you should forgive everybody who has wronged you.And don't use "forgiveness" as an excuse to take a jab at somebody you don't like.

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“Faith moves mountains, but only knowledge moves them to the right place” -- Joseph Goebbels
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That's because I never debate with the smart people. I don't think parables should be stretched to be all things to all men. They usually have one simple lesson. No need to read more than that into them.

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“Faith moves mountains, but only knowledge moves them to the right place” -- Joseph Goebbels
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There doesn't always have to be one meaning that jumps out at you. Even if something does jump out at you, it doesn't hurt to look beyond the obvious.Actually, that's part of what I take from the talents parable. We should always be asking ourselves, "Did I do all that I can do with what was given to me?"

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Life is like a Hot Wheels car. Sometimes it goes behind the couch and you can't find it.

Umm.... Do you mean why should we ask ourselves or why did I get that from the parable? I should think both are pretty obvious.

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Life is like a Hot Wheels car. Sometimes it goes behind the couch and you can't find it.

So clarify your question.I think it's obvious that we should ask ourselves if we did the best that we could. If we don't examine our own performance, how can we know if there's room for improvement?And I think it's obvious that the servant didn't satisfy his boss, though he might have done so if he had bothered to examine his performance.So what was the "why" for?

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Life is like a Hot Wheels car. Sometimes it goes behind the couch and you can't find it.

I was intending to come from the one-talented servant's perspective. He wanted to please his boss, to preserve his job. He thought he knew which aspect of his boss' character to emulate - the cautious side - but he turned out to be wrong. The boss wanted him to emulate his greedy side.I'm suggesting that examining your options is important. If you get it wrong once, don't get it wrong twice. I have my doubts too that the master and the profitable servants were examples to be followed. That's why I shy away from saying that the master "represents" God. That's why I mentioned a lesson which is a lesson even if it might not be the lesson.

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Life is like a Hot Wheels car. Sometimes it goes behind the couch and you can't find it.

I answered that. I said that "WE should always be asking OURSELVES". YOU have to determine all that YOU can do whether anybody else cares or not. YOU have to decide whether YOU are satisfied with YOUR performance, whether your motivation is to keep your job or to feel good about yourself.If you believe that Somebody is going to judge you some day, then YOU are the one who has to defend YOURSELF in front of that judge. It might be wise to have a better defence than, "Some say that trusting in Jesus is EVERYTHING and that doing the best that we can won't cut it."

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Life is like a Hot Wheels car. Sometimes it goes behind the couch and you can't find it.

It's not a parable. It's an actual event in the life of Jesus. What kind of pick-and-choose God do you believe in? Don't you think He would judge everybody on the same scale?Notice that the rich men put in "offerings" for God. ("I'm going to make him an offer he can't refuse.") Doesn't that sound like trying to buy your way into heaven?Also notice that the poor widow put in "more than all." She put in all of her worldly goods AND she put in her trust.

Why would He have to? You wouldn't expect Him to say, "This is good and that is bad. Now take your pick." Isn't it a foregone conclusion that He would automatically expect you to do good? In that case, Jesus was contradicting Himself. He didn't tell the rich young ruler to sell half of what he had. He didn't commend the widow for giving one mite. He didn't kill Ananias and Sapphira for holding back half. The early church didn't think that was clear.Why would Jesus have one standard for one person and a different standard for somebody else? You have Him contradicting Himself all over the place. He didn't say that. He said IF he had defrauded anybody he would make restitution fourfold.