Dilbert
is an unlikely hero of the corporate workplace.
A
down-trodden, cube dwelling, under-valued, software engineer who
works for a faceless corporate giant, Dilbert is the fictitious
creation of cartoonist Scott Adams. Among the daily challenges and
frustrations that Dilbert faces are people who use weasel words. In
Dilbert's world, weasel words are the language of managers, sales
representatives, corporate coaches and technical writers. It is the
language of vagueness, falsehood and uncertainty; a strap line or
slogan that sounds impressive yet is empty, statements of fact that
leave you none the wiser, promises that commit to nothing.
And
it's not just Dilbert. We too are surrounded by this language, worse
still how often do we find ourselves using it?
At Emmanuel on Sunday's we have just finished studying Matthew 13, looking at many of
the parables that Jesus used.
Parables?
Dilbert would be cautious. Why the ambiguity? Why didn't Jesus
just say what he meant?
In
the English Standard Version, Matthew 13:24 and 31 reads 'He [Jesus]
put another parable before
them...' Not told
another parable to
them or shared another
parable with them but
put another parable before them.
Parables
are put before us to make us think, not because they are vague or
untrustworthy words, but because they are words that require a
response. Parables challenge us because they speak to our hearts
and will divide. However, we are blessed because we know from
Matthew 13 that as children of God we have 'ears to hear'.
When
Jesus speaks, he speaks to our hearts. By using parables, he always
puts a simple choice before us. We either accept that he is Christ
our saviour or we don't.
Unlike
the language of weasel words that both we and Dilbert face daily,
parables are the language of truth and certainty.
