"YOU ARE A SEVERE MAN"
Then another came, saying, "Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a napkin; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man." Luke 19:20, 21, R.S.V.
Most authors writing in the field of human personality classify extreme shyness as a type of emotional disorder. The withdrawn, fearful, passive person who seldom finds the courage to assert himself into any social interaction is not enjoying his full personhood. Many authors trace this pattern of excessive shyness to a very strong, overbearing person (usually a parent) in the person's earlier life.
The usual pattern is one of who is often harshly rebuked for doing something wrong. The emotional risk involved in making a mistake become so great that one withdraws into the safety of doing nothing at all. As the pattern continues, one increasingly cowers into solitude, risking no mistakes, no new approaches to friendship, no new adventures in life.
How grievous it was to Jesus, then, when His earthly friends held His Father to be "a severe man." So He told them a parable of a man who took his life--his talents, energies, even his personhood--and hid it inside the handkerchief of fear. His whole existence became flat, "safe," and unproductive. No new friendships to broaden his horizons, no new methods of witnessing, no new dimensions of self-development. Why? Because he saw the Master as one who would pounce on him with severe judgments should he endeavor and fail.
Though Jesus' parable ends with strong dissatisfaction for all who hold such a view, it is a bright beacon of hope for all who hold the Father to be the "Infinite Eavesdropper" who lurks in the corner of your mind, ready to catch you in some little flaw. You can almost hear Jesus shouting, "My Father is not like that! In His friendship, you are safe to risk, to dare, to grow,...and yes, even to stumble and then try again. My Father will help you."
In Jesus' parable the servant was condemned not for doing anything wrong but for holding such an unnecessarily tragic view of his Master. It is not a parable about financial stewardship or about helping with the missionary activities of the local church. Rather, it is one of Jesus' most potent means of pointing out just how deeply our view of God shapes the quality of our entire life. "In My Father's friendship," He says, "you are free to dare!"
Then another came, saying, "Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a napkin; for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man." Luke 19:20, 21, R.S.V.
Most authors writing in the field of human personality classify extreme shyness as a type of emotional disorder. The withdrawn, fearful, passive person who seldom finds the courage to assert himself into any social interaction is not enjoying his full personhood. Many authors trace this pattern of excessive shyness to a very strong, overbearing person (usually a parent) in the person's earlier life.
The usual pattern is one of who is often harshly rebuked for doing something wrong. The emotional risk involved in making a mistake become so great that one withdraws into the safety of doing nothing at all. As the pattern continues, one increasingly cowers into solitude, risking no mistakes, no new approaches to friendship, no new adventures in life.
How grievous it was to Jesus, then, when His earthly friends held His Father to be "a severe man." So He told them a parable of a man who took his life--his talents, energies, even his personhood--and hid it inside the handkerchief of fear. His whole existence became flat, "safe," and unproductive. No new friendships to broaden his horizons, no new methods of witnessing, no new dimensions of self-development. Why? Because he saw the Master as one who would pounce on him with severe judgments should he endeavor and fail.
Though Jesus' parable ends with strong dissatisfaction for all who hold such a view, it is a bright beacon of hope for all who hold the Father to be the "Infinite Eavesdropper" who lurks in the corner of your mind, ready to catch you in some little flaw. You can almost hear Jesus shouting, "My Father is not like that! In His friendship, you are safe to risk, to dare, to grow,...and yes, even to stumble and then try again. My Father will help you."
In Jesus' parable the servant was condemned not for doing anything wrong but for holding such an unnecessarily tragic view of his Master. It is not a parable about financial stewardship or about helping with the missionary activities of the local church. Rather, it is one of Jesus' most potent means of pointing out just how deeply our view of God shapes the quality of our entire life. "In My Father's friendship," He says, "you are free to dare!"
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