The nineteenth-century philosopher Soren Kierkegaard once told a story about a village inhabited by ducks. On Sundays the ducks would waddle out their doors to the church down the street. They waddled into the sanctuary and squatted on their favorite pews. The duck choir would waddle in, and the duck pastor would waddle up to the pulpit and open the Bible. And he would read, "Ducks! God has given you wings! With wings you can fly! With wings you can mount up and soar like eagles. No walls can confine you! No fence can hold you! You have wings. God has given you wings, and you can fly like birds." Excitedly, all the ducks shouted "AMEN!"--and then they all waddled home.
An accurate depiction of today's church?
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Waddling On
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2 comments:
If you speak a propositional truth, I have two options: believe it or not, or put another way agree or disagree and just because you agree doesn't mean you have to act on that belief.
If you speak a parable, then I have to react to the story which is different for each person. That is why Jesus spoke in parables; if He spoke "truth" like the Pharisees did, people could disagree with what He proposed. But because He told stories, what was there to agree or disagree with? Our preaching (mine included) is more like the Pharisees' teaching and less like Jesus' parables.
Hahaha! Kierkegaard was an absolute genius! So simple, yet so powerful.
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