The stories just don't seem to end on the influence of mega-church pastor Rick Warren and his mega- bestseller, "The Purpose Driven Life."

Now it's the Air Force. Our tax dollars ($300,000 according to the New York Times) paid for a recent four-day "Spiritual Fitness Conference" at a Hilton hotel in Colorado Springs in which hundreds of Air Force chaplains attended, among other activities, workshops on Warren's book.

If only Warren knew what he was talking about.

Take the issue of Jesus Christ's use of parables in His earthly ministry.

Here's what Warren has to say:

"To capture the attention of unbelievers like Jesus did, we must communicate spiritual truth the way he did," he advises pastors on his website Pastors.com, arguing that "most pastors don't understand the purpose of preaching." "I believe that Jesus—not anyone else—must be our model for preaching.

"First, he told stories to make a point. Jesus was the master storyteller. He'd say, 'Hey, did you hear the one about. . . ' and then tell a parable to teach a truth. In fact, the Bible shows that storytelling was Jesus' favorite technique when speaking to the crowd. 'Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.' (Matt. 13:34) Somehow preachers forget that the Bible is essentially a book of stories! That’s how God has chosen to communicate his Word to human beings. . .
"If you want to change lives, you must craft the message for impact, not for information. Stories help us remember. Long after a pastor's cute outline is forgotten, people will remember the stories of the sermon. . .
"I’d rather be clear than complex. Jesus—not anyone else—must be our model. When we preach like he did, we’ll see the results he did."

Now compare this to what my pastor, Richard Jordan of Shorewood Bible Church, said just the other night in a study broadcast live over the free internet service Paltalk:

"People are told 'Jesus was a storytelling preacher'; that He told parables so that the truth would be so plain everybody could understand it, but that's just the opposite of what He himself said. He said, 'I'm speaking in parables so people CANNOT get it. Because they don't have ears to hear, eyes to see and hearts to understand. So I'm hiding the stuff in parables that they can't understand.' (Matt. 13)

"He takes His disciples aside and the first two parables He gives them He explains how they are to be interpreted. He says, 'If you understand how to interpret these parables, then you can interpret all the others.' He gives them a template—He gives His disciples the key to understanding the parables so they get it but the others don't."

The reality is parables were used by Christ to conceal truth from unbelieving Jews, making them something for His disciples' edification.

A parable is a figure of speech in which a story from real life is used to illustrate some higher spiritual truth. The truth is illustrated of truth, not from error or a lie, and the truth the parable illustrates is always bigger than the illustration.

So why would Jesus Christ choose such a method of teaching?

To answer this question, Bible researcher Charles F. Baker, in his 1978 book, "Understanding the Gospels: A Different Approach," says "we must understand something about what is called 'judicial blindness.'

"This means that when people harden their hearts toward God and close their eyes to the light, He confirms their action and keeps them in the dark," Baker writes. "Christ quoted Isa. 6:9, 10; read Matt. 13:13-15; Mk. 4:12; Lk. 8:10; John 12:39-41; Acts 28:25-27; and Rom. 11:7-12. All of these passages speak of judicial blindness which God pronounced upon the people of Israel, first in Isaiah's day, then in Christ's day, and finally in Paul's day.

"In all three cases Israel closed their eyes to the light which God gave them, and as a judgment God sealed their eyes shut. This blindness of Israel was not total, that is, not all Israelites were blinded, for some did believe. Paul states that 'blindness in part has happened unto Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in, and then all Israel will be saved.' " (Rom. 11:25-26)

In Luke 16's Parable of the Unjust Steward, Jesus Christ even talks to His disciples about the condition of the Pharisees and Scribes.

Specifically, in the passage, Jesus Christ advises, "No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

In the next verse (Luke 16:14), we're told, "And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him."

"The Pharisees, hearing Jesus Christ talk about this rich man and his steward, despised Christ—derided Him; they didn't get the point," explains Jordan. "Proverbs talks about the form of the parable being like a thorn going into the hand of a drunkard. The drunk guy doesn't have any feeling so you stick a needle in him and it doesn't bother him. Well, they didn’t get the point."

The general lesson from the parable, according to Baker, is "that worldly people show more wisdom in making provision for their future in the Kingdom; that faithfulness or unfaithfulness do not depend upon the size of the responsibility; that unfaithfulness in caring for another's goods unfits one for being entrusted with true riches; and that it is impossible to serve two masters."

In Luke 16:15, Christ responds to the insolent, jeering Pharisees with, "Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God."

"That's one of the strong statements about what's going on," says Jordan of Christ's admonishment. "The Pharisees were a bunch of self-justifying religionists. They held themselves and their works in high esteem. But they were an abomination to God because it was 'dead works.' They were typical religious do-gooders."

For his own piercing assessment, the Apostle Paul, a one-time Pharisee himself, writes, "For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
"For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." (Rom. 10:2-3)