READ MATTHEW 25
The parable of the talents in Matthew 25 goes counter to the politically correct thought of our day. A wealthy man entrusted three of his servants with a considerable amount of money and then went on an extended trip.
But the money wasn’t distributed equally. One servant was given five talents, another two and another one talent. According to Strong’s Concordance a talent was 100 pounds. One talent of silver would be worth $50,000 in today’s market. So each servant was entrusted with a significant amount of money.
If we were telling this parable today and had eight talents to distribute to three people we’d give three to the first, three to the second and then borrow one from the government in order to give three to the third to demonstrate that all people are created equal.
But Jesus was realistic; while we are equally important in God’s eyes, some are more innately gifted than others. From birth, we’re not equal in physical size or dexterity. We’re not equal in IQ. We’re not equal in appearance or personality. God made each of us uniquely different and He will judge each of us according to giftedness and opportunity. We’re warned, “To whomsoever much is given, much is required.”
And there’s more about this parable that wouldn’t go over well in our era. The Lord does NOT say to the servant who doubled his investment and accumulated a half million dollars, “Why you greedy, capitalists pig! Don’t you feel guilty about having ten times as much as your fellow servant? That’s so selfish! Let’s redistribute the wealth here! Take half of what he has and give it to the man with just one talent.”
On the contrary, the owner commended the five talent man for his efforts, “Well done good and faithful servant!” This parable makes it clear that God is pleased when we are ambitious enough to expand our wealth and influence.
The Bible certainly warns against the sin of greed. Later in Matthew 25 Jesus taught that those with resources have a responsibility to be generous with the hungry and the needy; “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me” (Matt. 25:40). However, the Scripture does not advocate socialism — a system that discourages ambition and rewards laziness. Winston Churchill once said, “The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of the blessings. The inherent blessing of socialism is the equal sharing of the misery.”
There is still more in this parable that goes against popular thought. The owner called the man who buried his one talent in the ground a, “wicked, lazy servant.” How insensitive! The one talent man wasn’t as privileged. How could the Lord be so harsh toward a man who was the victim of his circumstances? Then the owner added injury to insult by saying, “Take the one talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. The one who has will be given more.”
There’s an important spiritual lesson here: No matter how meager our resources or limited our circumstances every one of us is expected to make the most of whatever opportunity God gives.
Some of the world’s greatest contributors have been one talent people who learned to make the most of their gift. David Ring is one of the most effective evangelists of our day. He was born with Cerebral Palsy and has slurred speech. But he uses his one talent to boldly reach millions. He says, “I have cerebral palsy and yet I preach…What’s your problem?” God has done wonders with one talent people. (For another, even more dramatic testimony of this be sure to watch the video at the end of this post about Nick Vujicic, a man born with no arms and no legs.)
That’s why it’s a disservice to people who are capable of working and earning a living to give them something for nothing. By doing for them what they could do for themselves we encourage laziness and deprive them of both God’s commendation and their own self-worth.
Make no mistake about it; Jesus loved the poor and the His Word provides a series of safety nets to assure that the legitimately needy do not go hungry. First, individual hunger should motivate those who are capable of working to search for a job to provide for themselves. “If a man will not work he shall not eat”. (2 Thess. 3:10) Second, close relatives are to provide for their own family members in need.” “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8). The third safety net is the compassionate church: “Let us do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Gal. 6:10). Fourth, there is a constant appeal to the conscience of those with resources to be generous with those in need. “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” (1 John 3:17).
Although not specified in Scripture, we may assume that the final safety net is a benevolent government. But today we have inverted the Biblical system by making the government the first responder instead of the last. As a result, individuals and organizations imagine themselves generous if they support political candidates who promise more government aid. Politicians who give almost nothing to benevolent causes boast of their compassion because they support government programs to help the poor. A liberal has been defined as “someone who feels a great debt to his fellow man, which debt he proposes to pay off with your money.” But in the end the poor get poorer and the politicians who make the grandiose promises get richer and more powerful.”
The parable of the talents doesn’t begin with the equal distribution of wealth, and it doesn’t end with the equal distribution of wealth either. The reason is that Jesus understood human nature. People need the motivation of fair compensation for work well done. Without that incentive we are all inclined toward sloth.
An economics professor at a Christian college conducted an unusual experiment. His class had insisted that socialism would work and that as a result no one would be poor and no one would be rich – a great equalizer. The professor responded, “OK, we will have an experiment in this Class. All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade! No one will fail and no one will receive an A.”
After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.
As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the third test rolled around, the average was an F. The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.
All failed, to their great surprise! The professor explained to them that socialism also would ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great. But when the reward is taken away by the government, no one will try or want to succeed. Enough said.
“Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else”. – Frederic Bastiat – French economist 1801- 1850)
Be sure to watch this video about Nick Vujicic. He has experienced a “life without limbs” yet rather than wasting life feeling sorry for himself and doing nothing, he has allowed God to use his limited talents in a magnificent way to inspire others.
** If you are enjoying this study through the book of Matthew with Bob Russell, be sure to check out Bob’s “Falling In Love With Jesus Again” Bible Study DVD and resources for your small group or church.
