Simple faith vs. Obfuscatory oratory

The parables of Jesus were simple stories that brought home the truths about God’s Kingdom, in the face of the sanctimonious hot air spouted by the religious leaders of his time, thus providing a spiritual “prison break” for the ordinary people. 

The Original Hippie
Contrast all the politicking and chicanery of the institutionalised church with the simplicity of the faith that Jesus represents: In Luke 9, when a man wanted to follow him, ‘Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”’ He was the original hippie! He did not have a house of his own, but was a wanderer devoid of material possessions. He preached a life of simplicity, telling the crowd not to worry about what they will wear or where their food will come from. When he addressed a crowd, it was usually outdoors as he did in the Sermon on the Mount, not in an ornate cathedral or marvel of modern architecture. He was seen as a scoundrel by the Establishment of the time – very much like Aragorn in Lord of the Rings who, even though he was the next chosen king, was a Ranger, a man who slept under the stars and helped keep the little folk safe, yet was distrusted by people who thought they knew better.

Instead of the flowery prose and heavy eloquence of the Rabbis of his time, Jesus taught in parables, simple stories which illustrated eternal truths, amazing those whom he taught, helping them understand God’s kingdom much better than the Pharisees could have hoped to. This could have only been viewed with suspicion by this group: keeping people ignorant keeps them controllable and in awe of displays of obfuscatory oratory. This principle was seen in the Catholic Church which kept all its scripture, yes, these simple parables of Jesus, in Latin, which could not be understood by the common people, but kept them in awe – not of a humble, loving God, but a wrathful one whose mysterious teachings could only (conveniently) be understood by a chosen few.

Should we perhaps be looking at all good literature as a parable of human and eternal truths? If we truly believe in the supremacy of God’s Truth we should not be threatened by the truths posed in films like The Matrix and The Truman Show that challenge us to question our beliefs and assumptions. We should rather see them as opportunities to engage in meaningful dialogue with a world that is looking for answers to the big questions of life.