Quote:
Originally Posted by NewManLiving
What about the parables concerning the wicked servant. How can an unbeliever be a servant?
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The problem is with approaches like this. No matter what is ultimately the meaning of the particular parable, there is nothing about being a wicked servant that is answered by "how can . . . ?".
The problem with the question is not that it is wrong, but that it cuts off the consideration. Have you or anyone else tried to think beyond the question once it is there? I honestly believe that this was among Lee's tricks of reining-in our thoughts. He made anything but his premise unthinkable. Beyond question. But is it really so? Is there not a view in which those who disobey (like sinners do) are not servants?
The evil servant would appear to have everyone fooled until the end. But is the fact that the parable uses the idea of a master and servants, even possibly making mention of the servants of others simply evidence that the other masters are the world or Satan? Or is it just a context in which to take a look at a particular characteristic or two of someone who works for someone else.
Where do the characteristics of master and servant fit the purpose of the parable and where are they extraneous to the intent of the parable? I do not claim to know. But I am pretty sure that trying to figure out what every observation within the story could mean or how it could be applied is not what is intended there.
That leaves us with uncertain meaning at some level. But a decent warning at another. Whether there actually is a kind of purgatory or this is just about those who go through the motions but do not really believe is unclear. But the warning to actually believe and act as if you do
is clear. It should affect how we behave among our neighbors. Those where we live and work. Those sharing the street, the shopping aisles. Those that look like us and those that do not. Those that love us and those that would love to kill us.