An Encouragement From the Parable of the Talents

More than anything, our clients and prospective clients come to us asking, ‘How can I be a good steward?’ I think the parable that most sticks in the mind of Christians on this front is The Parable of the Talents in Matthew. This parable addresses what stewardship looks like in our whole life, not just finances, but since this is the Christian Financial Advisors Network, I figure we can focus specifically on finances for a bit. It is a bit lengthy, so I won’t write out the entire parable here, but I will summarize the high points below.

• Jesus tells the story alongside other “Last Days” parables.

• There is a master who is going away, and before he leaves he entrusts his possessions to his servants.

• He entrusts different amounts to each of them (5 talents, 2 talents, and 1 talent), but in general it is a very large amount. On the low estimation it is 20 years+ of wages.

• The servants entrusted with 5 talents and with 2 talents go at once and start working with what they were entrusted.

• By the time their master returns, they double the resources given to them and the master tells them, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.”

• The servant entrusted with 1 talent went and hid it in the ground, not using it at all. When the master returned, the servant accused the master’s character, and said that was the reason he hid the talent in the ground.

• The master has a hard response for that servant. He calls him wicked and slothful. He takes the one talent he has and he gives it to the faithful servant. And he casts the wicked servant into outer darkness.

While there are many things we can glean from this parable there is one theme I’d like to emphasize. If you’ve ever felt a sense of fear of being more similar to the wicked/slothful servant than the faithful servant, I’d like to encourage you with what I see in the parable.

Stewardship is an Overflow of the Heart

If we want to be faithful stewards of what the Lord has given to us, what does that look like? As with many matters in the Christian life, it is a matter of the heart. Similar to when I wrote that generosity is a matter of the heart, here.

Many people equate stewardship to being “wise” with your money (saving and investing it), but stewardship goes deeper. Good stewardship is managing the resources of the true owner (God) in the way the owner would manage it on his own. Thus, we need to consult the owner to see how he would have us manage what he gives to us.

When we become rigid and just equate stewardship to being wise, saving, and investing our money, we can forget that it is not about what we “do” as much as the heart around that.

The parable says that the wicked servant first accused the master of being a “harsh” man, and he said that it was because of that that he hid the master’s money.

His stewardship of the resources entrusted to him was based on who he thought the master to be. That accusation was inaccurate because we can see the master’s response of joy and abundance to the first two servants. “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’”

Our stewardship is a natural response of who we see God to be.

Faithfulness is Rewarded not ROI

I’ll admit that I have not heard many biblical commentators mention this, but I have my financial planner hat on for this. I don’t believe the faithful servants earned a huge amount of return on investment (ROI).

Jesus mentioned that the wicked servant could have put the money in the bank. At that point in time interest paid on bank deposits was significant (12-40%). Even if the rate was 12%, it would only take around 6 years to double the money at that rate of return.

In the parable however, the master was gone a long time (”to a significant degree” would be a close translation from the original language). In my opinion this is likely more than 6 years. If the bank could likely double the money in that timeframe, then when the faithful servants took the money and went at once to work with it. They are investing more aggressively (the thought would be more similar to starting businesses). And yet, after this “long time” they have “only” doubled the money.

The Lord is not rewarding the outcome of the stewardship, He is rewarding the faithfulness of the stewardship. Ron Blue, founder of the kingdom advisors network, summarizes stewardship as “The use of God-given resources for the accomplishment of God-given goals.” Faithfulness to that call is following and submitting to the Lord in it, not necessarily maximizing it.

The Reward

Sometimes, I think this parable can be hijacked by the prosperity gospel to say: “If you are good with a little money, then God will give you more money,” citing verse 23: “You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much.” While there are some natural implications of good financial management that can result in additional financial resources, that is not the point of the reward in this parable.

The parables in Matthew 25 and 26 are related to the end times. The master in the parable (Jesus) is gone for a long time before returning (relating to Jesus’s second coming). So, when the master is addressing the rewards, it is when we are in the new heavens and new earth - these are Heavenly Rewards.

I’m no expert on the topic of heavenly rewards, but many commentators, or experts, suggest that one aspect (especially from this parable) is that heavenly rewards are a sense of responsibilities to come. Bible commentator Frederick Bruner says that “Heavenly rewards are not beds of rest; they are posts of duty. The reward of duty done, is a duty to be done. Christ knows no idle life, not even in the kingdom of heaven; for his own are to take active part in his future lordship.”

Additionally, the Master in the parable tells the faithful servants to enter into his Joy. To share in his joy as some translations say. This is a beautiful picture when we put these two rewards together. The more we see that we are on the same mission as our Lord to glorify his name and make it known across the Earth, we see that there is a joy in partnering with him on his mission.

CS Lewis says “To please God, to be loved by him in the way an artist delights in his work or as a father delights in a son seems impossible. Our thoughts can hardly sustain it. But it is so.”

What a joy this is for us to see. It is much richer than any prosperity gospel would provide us. Where some of this parable may have caused fear or anxiety in the past I hope that you can see it in a new light that the Lord is inviting us into faithful stewardship, not just financial shrewdness and practicalities. If you’ve found yourself in seasons of poor stewardship, revisit how you see your Master. He cares about your heart.

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