3 Key Principles from The Parable of the Talents
In Matthew 25:14-30, we read one of the most memorable of Jesus' many parables: The Parable of the Talents.
At first glance, we would assume that he is talking about the skillsets and gifts we've each been given but this is not what the story is really about. Instead, Jesus uses a common monetary term to help teach us key principles for life.
Here are 3 of them that Christian men would do well to embrace from this timeless teaching.
#1: Financial Wisdom
While this parable is not a conversation directly addressing financial planning principles, the parable of the talents teaches us more than just one application at a time.
A “talent” was not a skillset or gifting, but a monetary term that equated to the highest level of monetary gain in the Jewish culture of the time. A talent was equivalent to approximately one years worth of income. So, in typical Jesus fashion, he used a very common and well-understood idea from the physical world to point to a lesser-understood spiritual truth.
In this case, he's using the idea of investing money to talk to us about how we're investing our lives for something more important and eternal.
With that said, one of the principles at work here is that financial profits are good and not necessarily an evil thing that Christians should spurn or look down on. When I was growing up, my understanding of money was that it was, “the root of all evil.” Something bad and immoral almost. It was almost as if money could corrupt you just by having it in your possession.
While “the love of money” above the love of God can certainly do that, Jesus calls the man who buried his talent in this story a fool. He says, “You could’ve at least taken it to the bank and earned some interest on it!” This is as close to a “Duh!” or, "You big dummy!" kind of comment as Jesus makes.
Is Jesus primarily concerned with profits and capitalism? Absolutely not. That is not the primary point of this parable. But to miss the teaching that he points out here - that he thinks is pretty “obvious” when it comes to financial wisdom - would be unwise as well.
Jesus teaches through this parable that working hard and using money wisely is proper and good when done with the Kingdom of God in mind.
The point: have some money...just don’t let money have you! Invest it wisely. Be diligent with what you've been entrusted with and try to make it grow. But never forget that, in the end, only that which lasts forever will be of any worth to you when the King returns. (And rumor has it that he's returning soon!)
#2: Stewardship
Stewardship begins and ends with this idea in mind: the stuff you are managing is NOT YOURS! It belongs to someone else and your main objective and priority is to benefit the owner of the resources you have been entrusted with.
If we’re honest with ourselves, we might see that how we handle the money and time and resources and gifts that we’ve been given are usually thought of as being our own. "It's MY stuff. I earned it. I worked for it." This is a big mistake and it takes a lot of spiritual maturity to truly get this stewardship principle from our heads to our hearts. But it's important that we do.
We don’t own a thing. Its kind of like asking your kids what they own. They may say something like, "We have lots of stuff....a house, money, investments, etc." But the truth is that the kids don't own any of it - the parents do!
Similarly, Psalm 24:1 says, “The earth is the Lord and everything in it.” In Hebrew (and in every other language on the earth), the word “everything” is translated like this: “everything”. There’s no gotcha or surprise meaning behind it that says that some of what we have is ours and some of it is Gods. No, it’s all his and the sooner that we treat everything we have that way, the better we will be and the bigger the difference we’ll be able to make for the King.
In the parable of the talents, we see two instances where the owner returns and says, “Well done! You have been faithful with a little.” But in the case of the person with one talent who did nothing and just buried it he says, “You evil, foolish person!”
When life ends and we meet the Lord, I don’t believe that we will be held accountable for the amount of gifts, talents, treasures, faith, etc that we’ve been given. No, we will be held accountable, instead, with what we did with what we’d been given.
We have all been given gifts from God and, in many ways, this side of eternity is simply a short term exam to see what we chose to do with what we had.
Which leads us to principle #3 below.
#3: Pursue Well Done
Maybe the central point of the entire parable of the talents is to be ready for God’s return. The King is coming back and we do not know when that will be. Yes, he will return at the end of the world, but on a more personal note, we don’t know when our time runs out and its our turn to meet him. Over and over we see the admonition from Scripture is clear: be ready!
Why? Because the consequences and rewards are extreme.
To the ones who the Lord finds trustworthy and faithful there will be feasting, joy, the presence of the Lord Almighty, reunions with loved ones, and so many other endless blessings.
But to the ones who bury what they’ve been given and to those who refuse to prioritize the King’s blessings there will be consequences that are unimaginable. While those who are with the Lord will be filled with joy, those who are separated from Christ will experience suffering and pain in ways we surely cannot fathom.
Imagine, for a minute, the two sides of this story: joy and pain.
Think about what the sounds of happiness and the buzz of excitement and the sounds of joy sound like? Can you hear it? The laughter, the smiles, the partying? It's a wonderful sound.
In contrast, imagine the inescapable sounds of crying, wailing, and unrelenting suffering. What would that sound like? The screaming, the agony, the sorrow. Hell must surely be to have to listen and personally experience those sounds and never be able to escape them. We should shutter at the thought.
But the good news is clear: you can live in the presence and in the joy of the Lord forever by his grace and his open invitation for all who will come to him in faith. I hope you and your loved ones will choose that path!
But when you do (or if you already have) don’t just show up. Give everything you’ve got to the cause of Christ while you can! Be ready and above all else, pursue “well done, good and faithful servant!”. Your eternal joy awaits!
