Following are some excerpts from my recently released second edition of See This Christ.

“All four gospels focus on the teachings of Jesus. What does He teach about? God’s love for humankind, the reign of God, loving our neighbors as ourselves, ethics and morality, and more. How did He teach? Mostly through parables, which he expanded on with his disciples, sharing with them the meaning of his parables. Parables are an interesting choice. Why did using stories (parables) consume so much of Jesus’ teaching? 

I find it interesting that in both the 21^st century business world, and in the world of nonprofits, which I’ve worked in for more than forty years, suddenly storytelling has become a hot buzzword. You can attend conferences just on storytelling for nonprofits. You can take courses in storytelling. You can hire consultants to help you tell your organization’s story to donors or customers. Maybe Jesus was way ahead of His time! I think the reason storytelling has become so popular in the nonprofit and business worlds in the past few years is because people are starting to realize that the best way to get their point across is to put a human face on their story. In the nonprofit world this means making your case for support, why should people donate to your nonprofit. It’s not because you need money, need a new building, or hire more staff, it’s because they want to help the people you serve, they want to change lives and save lives. In the business world, it’s not selling the features on your product, it’s selling the benefits of it—in other words, “sell the sizzle, not the steak.”

Jesus did this through parables. He asked us to put ourselves in the position of the people, or sometimes the objects, in his stories. Think about the parable of the Prodigal Son, for example. (Luke 15) When we hear this story, we tend to identify with one of the characters. At times, we might identify with the father—worrying, watching every day for his son to return home. At other times we may identify with the prodigal son—seeing that our choices were the wrong ones and wanting to come home and seek forgiveness. At other times, we may identify with the brother who resented being a steadfast support for his father and now seeing his father welcoming the son who was not there when his father needed him. Jesus could easily have just said—be patient and good things will come, repent of your sins, and don’t resent those whom God loves even if they haven’t made good choices. But this story shows us real human beings who struggled with the same things with which we struggle and how they overcame their struggles.

Sometimes Jesus taught more directly and not in parables. The most evident of these instances was the Beatitudes. He was pretty direct in the sermon on the mount (Matthew 5-7) or the sermon on the plain (Luke 6:20-49). He is pretty clear about what God asks  of us—to feel the stirrings of the Holy Spirit and respond to them, to weep for injustice, to walk humbly with God, to seek the right path, to show mercy, to not harbor hatred in our hearts, to turn our swords into plowshares, and to be bold enough to stand up for what is right even if it is unpopular. This is what God asks of us.

     Another time Jesus was very direct about what God expects of us is when He was asked, which of the commandments was the greatest. (Mark 12:28-31) He answered with two admonitions. Love God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, all our strength. And love your neighbor as yourself. Loving God typically comes easy for many of us, although sometimes we question God—why does a little child get cancer and die? Why do we have war? Why does God let us, or our loved ones, suffer? But loving God with all your heart means trusting! And that isn’t always so easy!

Loving our neighbor is even harder. Who is or neighbor? Everyone. The Muslim, the Jew, the Atheist, the Hindu, the Buddhist, the Wiccan, as well as the Christian. The gay, lesbian, transgender, bi-sexual, as well as the straight person. The African American, the Latino, the Native American, as well as the Anglo Saxon. The progressive as well as the conservative. The criminal as well as the victim. And don’t forget, it starts with loving ourselves. That doesn’t mean narcissism or thinking we are always right; it means we strive to be a person who deserves to be loved. A dear friend once told me that humility is really another word for Truth. I recently heard a homily reminding me of this same thing that I heard from my friend. We don’t have to be self-deprecating to be humble. We need to accept the truth about ourselves—the good and the bad—in order to love ourselves.” 

Each chapter of this book ends with Questions for Study and Reflection, making it a great book for a book study group. For example, in the chapter on The Teaching Christ, I ask readers to reflect on or discuss in a group the following questions: What experiences and thoughts did you reflect on during the past week? Why do you think Jesus taught in parables? Which parable do you think is sending you a message, and which character in this parable do you relate to the most? Do you consider yourself a good storyteller? Could you relate to people better by telling your story?

To pick up the book, go here. And if you are interested in forming a study group to read and discuss the book, let me know at Linda@LindaLysakowski.com.