LIV FØNNEBØ
THE PARABLES: THE TRANSFORMING LEADERSHIP TOOLS OF THE MASTER Jesus often used stories or parables in his teaching. Stories of the Prodigal Son, the Good Samaritan, the Lost Coin, the One Lost Sheep, and the Scattered Seed are among the classics Jesus told. Stories like these constitute central components of His teaching and leadership— traits by which His teaching was recognized and appreciated in His own time and through history up to our time. Dillon (2005) refers to 41 parables in the Synoptic Gospels alone (p. 89), and suggests that Jesus employed parables for 27% of his teaching time (p. 181). Horne (1998) proposes a number of 28 short comparisons of the “a city on a hill cannot be hidden” type, and 25 longer stories. Stein (1994) suggests that 35% of Jesus’ teaching in the Synoptic Gospels is in parables (p. 33). Horne (1998) says that “one of the most outstanding features of Jesus as a teacher is that he told stories. We call them parables” (p. 73). Stein (1994) asserts that “the most famous form used by Jesus in his teaching is the parable” (p. 33). The recognition of these stories as parables is well supported in the theological literature, and they have withstood the scholarly critics’ tests (Carroll & Habermas, 1996). Idioms derived from Jesus’ parables have survived two millennia and are still used in our daily conversations. Our use of “casting pearls before swine” (Matt. 7:6), “building on sand” (Matt. 7:26), and “going the extra mile” indicate the impact of Jesus’ figurative form of speaking on our modern languages. Cox (2006) ties Jesus’ frequent use of parables to his Jewish roots: “Nothing about him is more Jewish or more rabbinical” (p. 154). The Hebrew word mashal is the word that in Greek translates as “parable.” The concept of mashal contains several forms of figurative speech such as proverbs, satire, puns, riddles, story-parables, similitude, and metaphors (Stein, 1994). From His Jewish background, Jesus Liv Fønnebø, Ph.D., is a teacher at Ekrehagen School in Tromsø, Norway. She specializes in staff development and coaching of teachers.