About a year ago, I taught the parable Jesus shared called the Parable of the Talents found in Mark 12:1-12. During the small group time afterward, I had a phenomenal and productive time with my 8th grade guys! It was neat to see the guys make the connection with a simple story Jesus shared and the deeper meaning it carried.
One of the questions really spoke to the guys:
What does this story teach you about God?
Here are their answers:
- God has faith in people.
- God is okay with taking risks (even when people who have a history of being wicked).
- God loves to create something like the vineyard (i.e. the universe).
- God doesn’t mind sharing what He’s created.
- God is willing to sacrifice someone who is most precious to Him: His Son!!
- God is persistent… He keeps giving His people (the tenants) lots of chances to bear fruit.
One of the most profound things of our small group time came from one student’s answer to the question:
What does this story teach us about the world we live in?
This young man, with true understanding of this profound parable, said:
“We are just renting this world.”
Wow. Yes we are. Chew on the implications of that statement from an 8th grade student!
