Best speaker Magazine Issue 2 - December 2017 | Page 33

#1 Understand the purpose
Jesus’ purpose of recounting parables
was to reveal heavenly truths to the
world. Much like them, all good stories
have a purpose. The purpose of a story
could be to describe, entertain, educate,
or persuade. It is the bait that tempts
people to listen. The purpose guides the
narrator when developing the storyline.
Understanding it will help you to better
engage the audience and to plant an
unforgettable experience in the listeners’
mind.
#2
Empathize with the
audience
Your style of storytelling is decided
by whether or not your audience is full
of toddlers or mature adults. According
to bible scholars, there is a marked
difference in Jesus’ style of teaching to
the common Galilean crowds and to the
intelligentsia in Jerusalem. The gospels
also draw a distinction between His
teaching to the multitudes and His
teaching to the twelve apostles. This
was due to the cultural, social and
educational differences among these
communities. Understanding the
minds of your audience and their level
of comprehension, culture, experience
will help you to better relate to them.
of events – such as a sower going out into
a field to sow seed (Parable of the Sower),
labourers who accept the invitation to the
work in a vineyard (Parable of the Workers
in the Vineyard) or a merchant going to a
marketplace to find costly pearls (Parable
of the Hidden Treasure). The natural
events described in parables are also those
witnessed in nature – such as a mustard
seed growing into a large tree (Parable of
the Mustard Seed), or a drag net bringing
all kinds of fish (Parable of the Dragnet).
These characters and locations are set in
the 1 st century Palestine with elements
that are true, relevant and meaningful
to the society. Thus, you must create
solid characters and locations that run
throughout his story.
#5 Place events in a clear
order
In order to be coherent, Jesus places
the incident in His parables in a sequence.
For example, in the parable about the
vineyard owner who went out to hire
or surprise endings catch the readers’
attention. They can be used as cleverly
designed tricks to draw listeners into new
ways of thinking, new attitudes and new
ways of acting.
#7 Use humour
Many assume that Jesus was always
sorrowful, pious appearing, mild in
manner, endlessly patient, grave in
speech and serious almost to the point
of grimness. But critics show that
the Bible is full of irony, wit, double
entendre, paradox, epigrams, incongruity,
hyperbole, absurdity, verbal subtleties,
indirection, clever turns of phrases, and
spiciness of speech. It is specially seen in
the extraordinary exaggerations which
He sometimes used – such as the log in
the eye (Matt 7:3), camel in a needle’s eye
(Mark 10:25) and the use of paradoxical
sayings – such as the great must become
slaves (Matt 20:27). Adding humour
lightens up the mood of the audience,
generates laughter and rewards you as a
creative storyteller.
“Your style of storytelling
is decided by whether or not
your audience is full of
toddlers or mature adults.”
#3 Use relatable metaphors
Many of Jesus’ parables refer to simple
everyday things, such as a woman baking
bread (Parable of the Leaven), fishermen
casting a net in the sea (Parable of Dra wing
in the Net), or a rich man ignoring a poor
beggar (Parable of the rich man and
Lazarus). These were metaphors that were
true, relatable and easy to understand.
Therefore stories taken from nature or
from everyday human experiences will
encourage listeners to long for more,
leaving them emotionally invested in the
outcome.
#4 Create characters and
locations
The characters in the parables are
usually human and do not perform
superhuman feats. The stories refer to
simple everyday actions that one would
expect anyone to do in the normal course
workers, the vineyard owner hired some at
6:00, 9:00, 12:00, 15:00 and 17:00 and then
paid them at 18:00. This story is organized
chronologically. The parable of the Good
Samaritan centres around three main
characters: the Robbers, the Religious
and the Righteous. Its progression is
biographical. An audience always finds a
story easy to understand when it follows a
clear progression.
#6 Twist your story
In his parables, Jesus always began with
the familiar. The images and situations
he painted in his stories were from the
fabric of the daily life of his audience.
But many of Jesus’ parables conclude
with an element of surprise. For example,
the poor, the lame, and the blind are the
guests at the great supper (Parable of the
Great Banquet); all the workers in the
vineyard receive the same wage (Parable
of the Workers in the Vineyard); and the
tax collector goes home justified (Pharisee
and the Tax Collector). Unexpected twist
#8 Engage your listeners
Jesus often engages His listeners
by proposing hypothetical situations
or asking them questions at the
beginning of a parable: “Suppose one
of you” (Parable of the Lost Sheep);
“Suppose a woman” (Parable of the Lost
Coin); “Which of you fathers?” (Parable
of the Friend at Night). Jesus also poses
rhetoric questions that are shocking and
requires the audience to ponder on: “Salt
is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can
you make it salty again?” (Salt and Light).
“Which of these three do you think was
a neighbour to the man who fell into the
hands of robbers?” (Parable of the Good
Samaritan). Engagement creates interest,
reorients thought and behaviour and
compels hearers to listen more and more.
#9
ending
Deliver a powerful
The endings of parables are
very important because the key to
understanding the implications of
parables are often found in its conclusion.
In the parable of the Wheat and the Tares,
the ending reveals what happens to the
wheat and tares respectively and shows
the ultimate purpose of the parable which
is to indicate about the day of the Final
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