In his new book Creating Stories That Connect (Kregel), D. Bruce Seymour explains, "Allegories (and examples) use figurative language to illustrate information, but we have to possess the information in order to understand the illustration. The information comes first. Without the information, we are not able to participate in the communication event. For example, The Pilgrim's Progress is a famous allegory, but a reader would have to possess some information about the Christian life to really understand the message that John Bunyan was trying to communicate...Lack of information precludes participation.
"In contrast, a metaphor uses figurative language to create participation. When figurative language is used this way, the participation precedes the information. When Jesus said, 'The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field' (Matt. 13:31), all of his listeners could immediately participate in the communication event because they knew about mustard seeds, planting, and fields. Jesus used the metaphor, the verbal comparison, to engage his listeners in the communication event.

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