Retellings of Parables for the Modern Day

Hullo, friends! At the beginning of this school semester I decided to try and blog more this school year, since I hardly blogged at all last year, and September went by with a total of two posts. Whoops. So since I’m low on time for actually writing posts, I thought I’d look through some older short stories and such. While I was doing that, I remembered my New Testament class assignment where I rewrote two parables to make them more relatable to modern audiences. They were fun to write, so I thought I would share them with you guys. I’ve also included links to the original parables. Hope you enjoy!

The Parable of the Two Roommates

Original: The Parable of the Two Sons

“What do you think? There was an RA who had two students who were rooming together. She went to the first and said, ‘Hey, can you clean your room? It’s gotten too messy.’

“‘Sorry, it’s not my turn,’ the first roommate replied, but later she decided to clean anyway.

“The RA went to the other roommate and asked her the same thing. She said, ‘Sure!’, but she didn’t do it.

“Now which of these did what the RA asked?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “The criminals and sinners will enter the Kingdom of God before you. John came to show you how to be righteous, and you didn’t believe them, but the criminals and sinners did. Even after you saw that, you didn’t repent and believe him.”

 

The Parable of the Lost Child

Original: The Parable of the Lost Sheep

Now the criminals and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But several Bible scholars muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”

Then Jesus told them this parable: “What if one of you is at a camp with a hundred children and one of them wanders off? Wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine behind to look for the lost child until you find him? And when you find him, you would take him back, relieved. Then you would call the other counselors together and say, ‘I found him!’ Similarly, there will be more celebration in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who don’t need to repent.

What do you think? Enjoy? Have you ever thought about rewriting a parable in modern-day context? Comment below with your thoughts!