Ethics: "The Kingdom of God is like..."

I was fascinated by today's discussion, and our reactions to the use of modern metaphors to describe the Kingdom of God. Jesus' images of the kingdom-- a mustard seed, leaven, a priceless pearl-- might have been startling to Jesus' listeners; they're comfortable to most of us, 2000 years later. But boy howdy, are we rattled when we hear the Kingdom compared to a profitable corporation, or a teenager slaying vampires. We do a double take-- "say, what?"

A friend of mine recently shared this quote, from a Brit named John Stott: "We must allow the Word of God to confront us, to disturb our security, to undermine our complacency and to overthrow our patterns of thought and behavior." It's a healthy shaking of our self-assurance, but it's easier said than done, isn't it?