Matthew 25:14-29 (New International Version)
The Parable of the Talents
14"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents[a] of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money. (More)We use the word "talent" today as abilities which have been granted to us, likely because of the interpretations taken from this passage in fact. This is a subject for study in itself (another post?). For the purposes of this post, a talent was a measure of money. Christ was using this story to illustrate a concept of the Kingdom of Heaven, that as the master returns at some point and judges his servants, so will He return to judge men. The primary focus here is salvation - what have we done with what we were shown?
That is, you have been told about the work of Christ, the Gospel, so what have you done with that? Have you taken it to heart and invested in the Kingdom by spreading it to your neighbors? Or have you at least taken it to heart and led your own family in the ways of Christ?
Or, possibly, have you ignored it and hidden it to yourself - which amounts to not having salvation in the first place... There has been no change. There is no activity. The wicked servant hid his portion because he said that he feared the master. The master shrewdly points out that had he known the master and truly feared him, then the wicked servant would have at least put the money in the bank to draw interest! The wicked servant clearly had no interest in the master.
While the spiritual side of this parable is paramount, the reason that Jesus uses it here is that He is trying to convey Kingdom thinking through common financial sense. Everyone in earshot or who reads it today can grasp the concept.
We are given a certain amount of blessings, according to our ability, to make a profit for the Master. This extends to every part of your life.
Let's consider the basic, common sense, financial side...
1) We are the servants.
2) God is the Master.
3) The money is not ours, but the master's.
4) The more they were given the more they made.
These are directly applicable to our personal finances. We do not "own" anything, but we receive things to take care of until we meet the Master.
We will not all receive equal amounts. Some of us will have more than others. Jesus said that the poor would always be with us, and by that and some other passages, we can presume that the rich will too. Since this passages implies that the servants were each given according to his ability, and since we see that the master in the parable represents God, then we also know that God made the abilities too. So, since God made us with our abilities and He gave us the blessings that we enjoy, then we accept that He has the plans and that we are simply left to maximize the investments.
So, whatever your place in life, whatever your status, you are responsible to do your best with it. "...but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away." If you have nothing to show for even the small amount you have been given, then you are at risk of losing even that.
This is a hard one to swallow, but think of it this way... First, it isn't your money. Second, if you lose it, the Master has plenty more where that came from. There is no excuse for doing nothing with it, however.
So, in faith, I am able to invest in the Kingdom (offerings), invest in the future (prudently and reasonably, with an IRA, etc.), prepare an inheritance for my kids (nobility), and take care of the present needs as well, all Lord willing.
It's His money, so don't get extreme in either burying it too safely, or investing it too riskily, but acknowledge Him and take some steps in the direction of investing. Learn about how to invest, how to handle money and how to build a legacy for your children.
God Bless!
4 comments:
This is an excellent picture of our faith as you have stated - glad you pointed that out! I can see your correlation with the money, but as your heart is burdened to share your knowledge of money, mine is burdened in what you stated about how this passage relates to our salvation and the kingdom...so, I whole-heartedly agree with this! ;)
I have a view that I obey the order to disciple (Matt. 28: 19-20), which is to lead people to understand and obey the Gospel and all the things that Christ teaches.
I have understood by experience some of the pitfalls and the dangers of ignoring the Word in money, and have since come to understand that I am not alone in my ignorance. Families are torn apart, dreams destroyed and lives ruined all around us. This is what motivates me to pursue the subject.
Finances certainly will not interest the uninterested, but the uninterested are not excluded from the problems when the principles that the Bible teaches are ignored.
I intend to proclaim the Gospel from any aspect that will interest some, and to those who are already in the faith, I intend to point out those principles so that they can be more effective ministers of the Gospel themselves.
I also hope to clarify and broaden anyone's understanding of what obedience to God, faith, hope, love, etc. looks like from this very practical and personal aspect. (In other words, to invest of themselves in the Kingdom, to enrich their faith, and to provoke them to love and good works...)
I know that when one turns his or her life to Christ, the Holy Spirit will lead them unto truth, whether by me or anyone else...
I am no expert. I am simply the guy who messed it up and want to pass along the lessons I learned.
You might pick up from at least one of the earlier posts, that I dropped the whole idea for a while. Since then, I never have been able to "change subjects" so to speak.
It took many conversations and many months, but I think I have acceded that this is where the Lord has me for now. And I love it!
I hope that whomever reads this stuff will take it to heart, take it upon themselves to dig a little bit and that they will make whatever changes that they need to in order to fulfill their role in their own church and in their own calling.
It may be that they have a budget crisis, a bill crisis, a debt crisis, income crisis, or most importantly, a sin crisis. I hope that over time this subject will touch on all of those things and more...
It has certainly been a huge experience for me to discover that the only place to live and find true peace, true contentment and true satisfaction is to live in the confines and the freedoms of the will of God.
I can see how "talents" can specifically be referring to currency. Or be a general reference to EVERYTHING that God has entrusted to our care.
Keeping our earthly treasures and knowledge of the true treasure all to ourselves is not what we have been called to.
Jesus said: "No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." Matthew 6:24
And Paul said: "Therefore whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31
I know the second one is out of context, but I believe the application to the handling of resources, money and children is a sound one.
I expect that simply being an American Christian (having grown up in "the land of plenty" and indulgence) puts many of us at a disadvantage when it comes to learning the lessons of good stewardship. Some of us are a bit slower to learn than are others.
But God is faithful to show us the idols in our own hearts and make a way of escape for those who heed His instruction to flee.
I think that sometimes the consequences of bad decisions follow for a while, though.
Heather
We would love to sit down with you and Crystal and talk budgets.
I'm in the phone book. Would be fun to catch up.
Craig
Thanks for the comments guys... I hope to catch up with you all sometime!
Very true that the talents can refer broadly to EVERYTHING... it is pretty hard to talk about that all at once though. Sometimes I have to restrain myself from trying! :-)
I think that the Lord knows what "thing" we need to loose and that He pricks us on that "thing" until we surrender. Sometimes that takes the form of a new career, other times, it takes the form of financial dealings of course.
Just as I might restrict the subject of a drawing to one design so that it isn't confusing to both the author (me) and the recipient, I think for now these posts will have a money flavor to them...
The shameful secret is, however, that most things financial are not that hard to understand. They are usually plain concepts that we simply find hard to follow. (Or that a six-figured elite economist has jumbled up into unintelligible jargon...)
I plagiarize Dave Ramsey absolutely shamelessly. I can't help it. Along with the Scriptures that I grew up with, his "isms" have become a deeply ingrained part of my financial understanding.
Our personal experiences relayed in my accounts will prove that I am no genius and that the steps that Dave and Crown both recommend to people will work for anyone who puts them into practice.
My concern about finances has only gotten deeper with time. I see the morass of our economy, the winding down of jobs in every sector and I hope that it is not too late to warn a few to get their act together. (In more ways than one...)
The Church in general does OK in giving prudent counsel, but what I like with the Dave Ramsey stuff (granted he is not perfect) is that he really "gets" the emotional handle of this. Also, I think we analyze and spiritualize the life out of life, making or justifying decisions like lemmings following whatever crowd we want to listen to.
I have heard otherwise "spiritual leaders" for instance who tell others not to pay off their house, instead to invest the money in this or that... "It's like free money at 6% interest!!" they told me years ago. (One that I met once was an elder in his church!)
We all now understand the folly of that idea. But thousands of years ago, Proverbs said that the borrower was slave to the lender... We (collectively and generally speaking) were STUPID.
I hope that this is the jumping off place for people who watched and learned from us to go the Word of God and to places like Dave Ramsey and Crown to get their financial lives in order. In the meantime, I am perfectly willing to share a cup of coffee with somebody and show them how we have started to do things...
I would much rather share our near-tragic experiences than stay private while others learn their own hard way...
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