Saturday, October 27, 2007

The Bar Owner

A man owned a bar, and each day many people would visit to drink his beer and to enjoy themselves.

But each day a small group of people would gather outside the bar and hurl insults at the man. “You wicked man!” they would yell. “The people who come here might drink your beer and become drunk.”

The bar owner would greet the mockers kindly and invite them in, saying, “Come in and see for yourself. Have a taste of the beer I have to offer. I think you might enjoy it.”

“Never,” the crowd would respond in protest, then walk away. Each day this happened, and each day the result was the same.

Until the end of his days, the Bar Owner was surrounded by many friends. Though a few became drunk and uncontrollable, most drank in moderation and were friendly with their brothers.

But the crowd of mockers were never happy. They remained miserable each day the bar was open out of fear that they might become drunk on his beer.

1 comment:

Kyle said...

So I was asked what this parable meant since I did not give a moral at the end. Although the moral may not be readily obvious, sometimes a moral should be figured out for ones own self.

But in this case, I will share the meaning of this parable.

The bar is a church, a synagogue, or a mosque, it doesn't really matter, and the protesters are people who despise a certain religion or organized religion without having truly investigated what it is that people find hope and enjoyment in.

There are always people who want to hate something they don't understand, and most are completely unwilling to walk through the doors and experience it themselves.

And the protesters in this parable are so afraid of the people who go to extremes, they won't even meet the normal people.