A student reflection - The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

I recently came across this reflection from a student who is studying Religious Studies in Year 10 and thought it was worth sharing. You can follow here blog here.

So in RE this term, we’ve been looking at parables. Well, some would be better classified as fables, but that has not stopped our teacher. I also recently read The God Who Is There by Francis Schaeffer, which was really interesting. It was written last century, but dealt really well with several issues that are still relevant today- a bit like C S Lewis. And so a few days ago, I was bored and decided to write a bit of an essay on a parable and cover the stuff we don’t always cover in RE. (You may like to know that I hand-wrote it on a pad of refill. And they say that handwriting is dying…) Here it is:

The parable of the workers in the vineyard is an interesting one to examine. In it, the owner of the vineyard pays his workers the same wage, regardless of whether they had worked the full day or merely a couple of hours. It seems to go against our innate sense of what is fair and what is not. Why should “slackers” who have worked but a few hours receive a full day’s wages – the same as those hard-working folk who had been busy since daybreak? It seems, for want of a better word, wrong. And when the logical meaning of the parable is examined, it would be easy to be distressed – what on earth do you mean, that recidivists repenting on their death get to go to heaven with me, who never would’ve hurt a fly? But that is where we have got the wrong end of the stick entirely. 

One might easily leap to the conclusion that because we don’t think it is right, it must be wrong and God must be terribly unjust. However, direct evidence from the Bible shows beyond doubt that God is just – not to mention incredibly eager to forgive. Does not this parable show God’s infinite capacity for forgiveness of those who truly repent? Does it not show humanity’s willingness to hold a grudge for some perceived injustice? God recognises that, no matter his past actions, when a man finally sees his inherent sinfulness, he will find the universe a very cold and lonely place. He is just as much in need of saving as any other, and yet humans cannot forget his past actions. Leading on from this, it is important to note that all the workers, from the first to the last-hired, thought their wage fair at the time. It was only upon comparison with the “slackers” that the first men hired began to think their wage insufficient. Again, this is a reflection on the fallen nature of humanity as opposed to the nature of God.

The effect of this parable upon its readers is rather curious: it sparks the innate sense of justice within us, yet if one is a rationalist (as defined by Francis Schaeffer), then this feeling should not be occurring. If one starts, as Schaeffer covers in The God Who Is There, purely from oneself and attempts to reason from there, then there is no logical reason for this feeling of indignation. If humanity is all there is, then there is no (logical) place for morals and justice. It must be noted, however, that many humanists ignore this fact, indeed, Schaeffer articulates this admirably. Some really do not see the illogic of their presuppositions, but some do: feelings of right and wrong, justice and injustice, as often aroused by this parable generate an uncomfortable push and pull between the logical conclusions of their presuppositions and what is presented to them by the world. This sensation can be eye-opening, and used in evangelism – however, to paraphrase Schaeffer, we must always do it in the spirit of love, for if we begin to enjoy it as a sort of intellectual exercise, then we are incredibly cruel to the person.

Through analysing the parable of the workers in the vineyard, albeit however briefly, we may observe some important truths about the nature of God, humanity and their relationship. God is ever-willing to forgive, even though human beings re often rather less so. Despite the misguidedness of our feelings of injustice aroused by this parable, the presence of such feelings in the first place demonstrates the truth of man’s inherently moral nature and the illogic of this, were one to assume a purely humanistic perspective. The opportunities for discussion arising from this parable are endless, and ought to be put to good use.