The Gospel According to Cinderella
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Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.
What is a parable?
On the most basic level, a parable is a story. But it is so much more than that.
As one source puts it, Parables distinguish themselves from other narratives and stories in that they always have an ulterior motive in their telling. They are not merely told for simple entertainment. Instead, parables have a performative or rhetorical function that goes beyond the story itself to communicate something about the relationship between the speaker and the audience.
In the case of teaching, the speaker sees a gap in the knowledge or understanding of the audience that needs to be field.
Othertimes the speaker might have a negative view of the audience and use story as a means of passing judgment, either as a rebuke or as a warning.
Whatever the situation, the function of the parable takes the audience beyond the story itself and functions as a commentary by the speaker about or for the benefit of the audience.
(Aubrey, M. (2016). Parables of the Bible: Dataset Documentation. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife.)
When we think about parables, our first thoughts are about Jesus.
The Prodigal Son
The foolish and wise virgins
The pearl of great price
Many more
But parables were also used in the Old Testament
Like when the prophet Nathan went to King David in 2 Samuel 12:1 and told him the story about how a rich man stole a poor man’s only pet lamb to serve as dinner for some house guest.
Once David agreed that the rich man should be punished for what he did, Nathan pointed out that the story was actually about how David had stolen another man’s wife.
This illustrates what I mean about parables.
They are more than just stories with a moral. Parables speak directly to the audience, revealing an important truth.
But as Jesus said,
This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
I believe Jesus was saying that people are constantly overlooking God’s messages to us that are constantly present in every facet of creation.
Even with the parables, people often hear them without understanding the deeper truth that is being presented.
Parables outside the Bible
While we associate parables with the Bible, especially the New Testament, you can find parables outside the Bible.
Any story that reveals a deeper truth is a parable.
It doesn’t matter if you have heard the story a thousand times but never seen the deeper truth before.
It doesn’t even matter if the author intended it to be a parable.
Maybe they were inspired by the Great Author to tell a story, not realizing the true depth of their story.
Of course, there are countless good moral stories out there that teach valuable lessons.
Even fairytales are useful for teaching lessons.
But a good parable resonates on a deeper level.
It transcends time.
It transcends cultures.
An Unusual Parable
Years ago, I happened to be watching a film based on a well-known story.
As I was watching, I began to notice aspects of the story that had never registered with me before.
I felt I was getting a deeper understanding of God’s kingdom through this story.
Then, during my time as a world missionary, I had the opportunity to meet other missionaries who have served all over the world.
In our conversations, I started mentioning the story and what I saw in it.
They, in turn, told me about how there was a version of that story in the cultures they served.
Whether it was Central Europe, Northern Asia, African villages, or the South American rain forest, it seems that everyone on earth is familiar with this one story.
And I find that VERY interesting, because this story is a perfect parable of what God’s kingdom is like and why we need a savior!
What is this great story? This powerful parable?
I like to call it the Gospel according to Cinderella.
The History of the Cinderella Story
While the story as we know it has existed for centuries, I believe the roots of the story can be found in the story of Esther.
Then the king’s young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king.
And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the citadel, under custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them.
And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so.
Of course, the book of Esther serves to tell a story of God’s providence along with the responsibility of His people to act in faithful obedience.
The story of Cinderella usually ends with the heroine marrying the prince and living “happily ever after.”
More than likely, people tried to corrupt the story of Esther to give a feel good story about a poor girl rising to prominence but removing the part that connected the story to God.
Even so, God had his hand in it all.
And you are probably asking yourself, “What kind of insanity is this guy speaking?”
What in the world could the story of Cinderella have to do with the Gospel?
The Gospel According to Cinderella
Let’s start first by looking at the story:
Cinderella is a young woman who is as sweet and kind as she is beautiful.
She’s even kind to rodents that live in her house.
She’s the heroine of the story!
Cinderella’s parents were very well off, but then her mother died.
Her father married again, giving this woman everything he had, including his Cinderella.
This woman took everything for herself, and Cinderella, who should have been the heir, became the woman’s slave.
Cinderella was powerless to do anything, because she belonged to her stepmother.
She was constantly being told she was dirty, ugly, and worthless.
Cinderella began to believe these things the stepmother said.
One day, a message is sent out that the King has invited all the eligible young women to a ball at the castle, where the prince will choose one of them to be his bride.
Of course, the stepmother laughs at Cinderella for even considering that the invitation actually included her.
But on the night of the ball, Cinderella’s fairy godmother appears.
She convinces the girl to go to the ball.
She gives her the right clothes.
She turns the pumpkin into a carriage, the mice become horses....
Off Cinderella goes to the ball.
She meets the prince, who immediately falls in love with her.
They dance and have a wonderful time until the clock strikes midnight.
Cinderella panics and runs away, leaving one of her shoes behind.
When she returns home, her gown is returned to rags, her carriage is a pumpkin again.
She is convinced she will never see the prince again.
But the prince goes looking for her.
He meets every young woman in the kingdom, trying to find his true love.
He doesn’t stop until he reaches Cinderella’s house.
The stepmother tries to stop Cinderella from uniting with the prince, but true love wins.
He places the slipper on her foot.
The prince takes Cinderella back to his castle to be his bride, and they live happily ever after.
Now let’s look at the deeper story.
When I look at Cinderella, I see a representation of mankind.
Cinderella is a normal, decent person.
But she has a problem, and she is miserable.
What is the nature of Cinderella’s problem?
Is Cinderella in trouble because she is a bad person?
Did she do something to deserve her situation?
Her problem is that, through the actions of her father, Cinderella was put under the authority of her wicked stepmother.
In just the same way, Genesis 3 makes it clear that our ancestor, Adam, allowed himself to be deceived by the devil, handing his God-given authority of the earth over to Satan and making us all slaves to sin, separated from God.
There are a lot of people who want to make it all about how good they are.
But Cinderella, who was practically perfect, still was stuck belonging to her evil stepmother.
Only a miracle could save her.
Somehow, Cinderella had to become something other than the stepdaughter.
That’s when the invitation came.
God has been reaching out to us all this time, inviting us to return to him, and making it possible for us to be set free.
His holy word, the Bible, is God’s love letter to us, inviting us to deeper relationship.
Just like in the Cinderella story, God, the King of the Universe, has sent out his son Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to take a bride.
Now Satan, just like the stepmother did, will do everything in his power to prevent us from accepting that invitation.
He will distract us from hearing the invitation.
He will try to convince us that we don’t need that invitation.
Or he will make us think we are unworthy, and that the invitation is for everyone else but us.
But God will keep finding ways to relay his invitation to us.
Just like the fairy godmother, God’s Holy Spirit will minister to us, encouraging us to accept the invitation and get to know God better.
When we accept the invitation, we will find Jesus waiting for us, with a love that is indescribable!
But, like Cinderella, we will find ourselves in the midnight hour, when we will begin to doubt again.
We keep seeing ourselves as dirty, ugly, and worthless.
We become afraid and run away.
But Jesus doesn’t stop loving us.
He pursues us, unrelenting, calling us to be his bride.
When the prince found Cinderella she was back in her rags and living like a slave.
He loved her anyway.
We don’t have to try to impress Jesus.
He knows our situation.
No matter how awful you think you are, Jesus wants you.
Just like Cinderella’s shoe was designed to fit only her, each of us has a space in our lives that was designed to be filled only by our Creator.
We can try to fill that void with things, relationships, entertainment, alcohol and drugs, or anything else, but we will never be truly satisfied until we let Jesus in.
And when Cinderella accepted the prince’s proposal, everything changed.
When we accept Christ, we become his bride.
And as the bride of Christ, we become children of the King!
We are no longer the dirty stepchildren of the devil!
Through Jesus, we are made members of the royal family in an eternal kingdom!
This is the message of salvation!!!
There is nothing we can do to save ourselves from sin and our bondage to Satan.
Jesus, however, is able to set us free.
If we will give ourselves completely to him as a faithful bride gives herself to her husband, he will take us from the land of slavery to a land of everlasting joy.
If you are trapped, still bound in slavery to sin, Jesus is extending his invitation to you today.
Whether or not you accept the invitation is up to you.
But why go on as you are, when you can be so much more?
Are you tired of living in bondage? Accept this invitation today. You don’t have any guarantee of tomorrow, so please don’t hesitate. Call out to Jesus, and give yourself to him. Let him set you free.