More Parables

Imagine if you had a $50 debt. You need to pay a bill that amounts to $50. Then a guy comes up to you and says, "Hey, I heard you have this $50 debt, and I just wanted to let you know that I have $50. I mean, I don't know if that means anything to you and I don't want to make things weird, but I just wanted to be honest and put it out there that I have $50." Hmm, really? . . . someone telling you they have $50 because they want you to know, but they're not willing to actually give you the money.

And then pretend there's this other guy who you see at the grocery store from time to time. Every time you see him there, he's buying a bottle of root beer. This happens over the course of a few months. You going to the store, seeing the same guy, and him buying a bottle of root beer. You suppose he must like root beer. So one day, you strike up a conversation with the guy face to face and you ask, "Hey, are you a root beer aficionado?" And the guy gets wide eyed and says, "Me? No . . . I'm not really interested in root beer." And you're a little confused, but then you're like, Okay, I guess I was mistaken. And then the next time you go to the store, you see the same guy buying an entire case of root beer. And then you think, really? When I asked you if you were a root beer aficionado, you were buying individual bottles of root beer, yet said you didn't like it, but then, ever since you declared you weren't interested in root beer, you started buying cases of it.