|
Principle 9: Find a Metaphor
The Concept
An Excerpt from Influencing Like Jesus
Digging Deeper: Examples of Metaphors
The Concept
A metaphor is a comparison that creatively suggests that one thing
resembles another. Or, as Aristotle said: “the act of giving a thing a
name that belongs to something else.” When we do, we can
influence people to
see and think in new ways.
An Excerpt from
Influencing Like Jesus
Think about the various metaphors Jesus used and how colorful and even
provocative they are. In fact, before you read on, look away from the
page for a minute and see if you can recall some of them. There’s a
bunch.
Here’s the first
one that often rolls off of people’s lips when I ask this question:
Jesus called the religious leaders of the day “whitewashed tombs.”
Remember that? What a scandalous thing to say! And what tremendous
potential it had to adjust the way people thought about their
leadership. These aren’t authoritative sages to be followed and revered.
They’re whitewashed tombs—sparkling clean and perfect on the
outside, dead and rotting on the inside. Could anyone hearing these
words ever look at a Pharisee the same way again? More likely, people
would forever associate the leaders’ pristine robes with superficiality,
veneer, and hypocrisy. All that from two words!
That’s what a wise
metaphor does: it can change the way we see something, no matter how
many times we’ve seen it or thought about it before.
Maybe that’s why
Jesus gives us so many metaphors about himself, to give the people of
his day (and us) fresh perspective about how to experience God. Jesus
calls himself the “good shepherd”—a kind guide. He’s “the gate” and “the
door”—something through which we need to go. He’s “the bread of
life”—something one would take in for nourishment. He’s “the
vine”—something to which we “branches” must remain connected. He’s “the
way, the truth, and the life”—a person we need to follow if we want our
life sustained.
Each of these metaphors shapes our perception of Jesus in a way that
straightforward assertions simply cannot.
To read more, purchase Influencing
Like Jesus
Digging Deeper:
Examples of Metaphors
|
Some Web Sites of Interest
Please note: This section does not
necessarily constitute an endorsement of these web sites or their
messages.
|
|
The Pilgrim's Progress (1678)
This is an allegorical tale of our journey toward God; a
classic, extended metaphor that has helped millions of people
make spiritual progress during the past three centuries.
Book Description (from christianbook.com): Once the most
deeply cherished book in English-speaking households other than
Bible itself, John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress is the
allegorical tale of Christian the pilgrim on his journey to the
Celestial City. Along the way, Christian encounters both worthy
companions and dreadful adversaries. Although this book was
written more than three hundred years ago, this stirring
spiritual narrative still bears the power to challenge and
encourage readers on their own spiritual journeys.
Read the preface to Pilgrim's Progress (pdf file)
|
 |
|
A Brief, Metaphorical Story about a Pathway to
Contentment
A group of alumni,
highly established in their careers, got together to visit their
old university professor.
Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work
and life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the
kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an
assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal; some
plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite – telling them to
help themselves to the coffee.
When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor
said: "If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were
taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is
but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is
the source of your problems and stress.
"What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you
consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's
cups.
"Now consider this: Life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and
position in society are the cups.
They are just tools to hold and contain Life, and do not change
the quality of Life. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the
cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee God has provided.
"So, don't let the cups drive you ... enjoy the coffee instead."
|
|
Dallas Willard on Why We Don't Experience Spiritual Growth
(from
Christianity Today, September 2006; Emphasis added to
highlight the metaphors)
Dr. Willard's diagnosis: A lot of us are doing
Christianity at a putt-putt level. We want to be forgiven
without following Jesus.
We're afraid to follow Jesus, because then we'd have to die
and rise with him. We'd have to mortify our old self with its
"fondest lusts," as Jonathan Edwards described them. Then we'd
have to vivify Jesus' excellent virtues in their place. The
truth is, we're mildly attracted to his virtues, but we're
strongly attracted to our vices. We wouldn't like to lose them
because they please us, and the prospect of a significant life
with Jesus doesn't so much. Do we expect a new Christian life
will just happen without our having to make inconvenient
changes in how we live Monday to Sunday? If so, we are like
people who want to be solvent and who also max out their credit
cards. Or people who want to be sexually pure and who
also bookmark porn sites. Or people who want to speak Japanese
without all the tiresome study that's normally required.
Here's Willard's devastating summary:
The general human failing is to want what is right and
important, but at the same time not to commit to the kind of
life that will produce the action we know to be right and the
condition we want to enjoy. This is the feature of human
character that explains why the road to hell is paved with good
intentions.
Read the entire article from Christianity Today
|
|
Metaphors in Advertisements |
|
Tropicana: Ditch the toast and the carbs. Your OJ now has
fiber.
|
|
|
|
Southwest's hiring: Maybe
working at 30,000 feet will make you feel better. |
|
|
|
Bayer Health Care: What's the consequence of being
inaccurate (when measuring your blood glucose level, that is)?
|
|
|
Click here to purchase Influencing
Like Jesus
|
/web%20pages%20(version%202)/spacer.GIF){kind=spacer}
