Selfish or Faithful?
Recently, I have been gleaning new tidbits from Jesus’ parables, specifically in the book of Matthew. In chapter 25, you may remember a story he told about a master going on a journey. He called his servants together and left them with different amounts of money. He gave one five talents of money, another two talents, and another received one. While he was away, both servants with five and two talents invested their money and doubled it. “But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money (v. 18):
”When the master returned, he praised the first two servants and said, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness (v. 21)!”
Meanwhile, the last servant makes a little speech about why he chose to bury his talent – no doubt he was side-eyeing the other two servants and realizing he’d made a mistake – but his speech does not help his case. The master says,
“You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents (v. 26-28).”
As someone who is slightly mystified by modern day investing, the story has never quite settled with me. Why was the last servant called “wicked?” After all, he kept the money safe – sure, he didn’t go the extra mile, but he returned the same amount to his master, right? As always, there’s more to the story. It’s important to note that the master is not giving the servants this money to keep. While he is away, he wanted these servants to oversee and grow his wealth. However, in those days a journey was a bigger deal than it is today. There was no communication, and it was much more likely for a fatality to occur. This is what that last servant was banking on. He buried his talent so that if his master never returned, there would be no record of this money in a bank and he could keep it for himself. His own selfish ambitions ended up hurting him in the end.
All our time, money, actual “talents,” and other resources belong to God. I need to ask myself, am I squandering these? Or am I investing them in a way that will grow glory to God and love for him around my family, community and the world? This will look different for each unique individual. However, I’d encourage us all to pray and ponder this about our own lives so we can be called, “good and faithful servant."