““Now the one who had received the one talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed. ‘And I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you still have what is yours.’ “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You worthless, lazy slave! Did you know that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter seed? ‘Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. ‘Therefore: take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’ “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. “And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
(Matthew 25:24-30, NASB)
The parable of the talents is a well-known story Jesus told to illustrate that what we have been given must be used for His kingdom. The words “Well done, good and faithful servant” have been the desire of many to hear from their Master. But I am afraid that we miss the point concerning the servant who was given only one talent (we’re talking about 20 years of wages for a common worker in that day).
First, consider the value of just one talent. This servant may not have received what the others did, but he was given a significant amount to manage.
Second, he failed to manage what he was given. He was so afraid of losing what he had been given that he sought only to protect it. He was also called “lazy” because it would have taken careful, thoughtful consideration and deliberation to invest his talent wisely.
Even if he had invested it in the safest opportunity, he would have at least earned some interest for his master, rather than just returning what was given.
It is obvious that we lose what we fail to use. This is what the servant learned. But the most frightening proposition is the consequences that servant faced. We might be appalled or confused about his punishment, but what God gives to His stewards, He expects to be used wisely for His kingdom and glory, and He deals harshly with failure to invest what He has given. We are just the managers (stewards/slaves) and He is the master.
Many applications could be offered here, but I want to consider one that churches seldom consider. God has given talents to His churches, both in terms of spiritual, physical, and financial resources and He expects us to invest them wisely. At some point, those churches will have to answer to God concerning how those resources were invested.
Now, I have observed that those churches sitting on these resources, hoping not to lose them and counting on them to provide security, are like the steward given the one talent. They are afraid that they will lose what they have if they invest, so they just hold on to what they have. THIS IS NOT WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE FAITH! THIS IS NOT WHAT IT MEANS TO TRUST GOD!
Rather than saying, “We don’t have enough resources to do what we believe God is calling us to do, so we will just hold on to what we have until we get enough”, we should say, “God, why have You given us these resources and what do You want us to do with them.” We should be seeking how God desires those resources to be invested. Maybe we don’t have enough to accomplish what God is calling us to do. But we should be trusting Him to provide what is needed.
It is possible for churches to close their doors (to die) with money in the bank and property that they own. At some point, they could have asked how they should invest those resources to reach the lost and disciple believers. We are not called to simply maintain property and pay the bills. If we are not willing to reach the lost and train them to live godly lives, those resources have just been buried in the sand. What good is money in the bank and paid-off property if they are just sitting there unused and untouched 99% of the time? What good is a savings account that will keep the doors open, but no one is coming to faith? What good are CDs and other investments that we hold on to for years, hoping to use them in some grand scheme in the future that may never come?
I am not against savings accounts and other investments! I am against hoarding resources, hoping to stave off future failure and demise. By the time many churches decide to do something, it is invariably too late! And don’t get me started on spending valuable resources on things that won’t help us accomplish our main mission. We will paint the building, fix the leaking roof, and replacing the carpet, but we just don’t have the resources for an outreach campaign. How shortsighted. Don’t we realize that it won’t matter about the condition of the building (though it should be maintained), if we don’t have people coming to use it?
REVDANS 