Matthew 25:14-30
At the end of your life if you were asked, “How can you determine if your life was worthwhile?” “Did my life count? Did my life make a difference, an impact?” What are you going to look for? Wealth? Fame? Popularity? Pleasure? Experiences you had in life?
You can do three things with life. Three options.
1. I can waste my life. “You only go around once in life. Go with gusto!” Live for today. Do your own thing. If it feels good, do it. Waste your life.
2. I can spend my life. I can spend it on a career, a family, making a name for myself. I can spend my life in many different ways.
3. I can invest my life.
The best use of your life is to invest your life in something that outlasts it. The people, who waste their lives, we call fools. The people, who spend their lives, we call average. They get up, go to work, come home, watch TV, go to bed, retire, and die. But the people who invest their lives we call leaders.
I want to look at some principles of leadership based on the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. From this parable, we see seven principles for investing your life, on how to make your life count. How to invest your life in a way that is going to outlast it.
1. THE PRINCIPLE OF OWNERSHIP
Matthew 25:14 “Again it would be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his property to them.” In this parable the master represents God and we are the people, the servants. Property has been entrusted to us. God has entrusted some things to you, some relationships to you, some privileges to you, some responsibilities to you. Everything I have really belongs to God. That’s the bedrock – The Principle of Ownership.
The creator is the owner. Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” Everything that’s in it is His. God made everything. Everything you see, God owns. We’re just loaned it for 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 years – however long you’re here. You get to use it awhile and then you pass it on. You never really own anything. It’s just while you’re here on earth you get to use it. Then it goes on and somebody else gets to use it.
The word “management” and the word “stewardship” are the same word. It means to be a manager. God has entrusted to you certain things, certain abilities, certain gifts and opportunities – certain things – but they all really belong to God.
2. The Principle of Allocation.
God has given me some talents. He’s given you some talents. He’s given you some abilities.
V. 15 “To one who gave five talents, to another two talents, to another one talent, each according to his ability.” The word “talent” (when we talk about it today) actually comes from this story. In the Bible, the word “talent” was just a measurement of money, approximately $1000. But because this story has been told for two thousand years, the word “talent” now refers to the way we think it means as talent. He’s saying that God has given us some talents. He’s allocated some things. Some get five, some get two, some get one – each according to his ability.
A talent is anything God has entrusted to me. Anything. There are actually three different varieties of talents: abilities, resources, opportunities. All three of those are trust. God gives you resources, He gives you abilities, He gives you opportunities. All three of those are gifts of God. We don’t own those things. They are allocated to you.
Romans 12:6 “We each have different gifts according to the grace God has given to us.” It’s grace but they’re all different gifts. You’re unique. You’re different. Everybody has at least one talent and we all have different talents. That’s the Principle of Allocation.
3. The Principle of Accountability
v. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them.” Circle “settled accounts”. One day you’re going to be audited by God. God is going to come and audit your life. Romans
What’s going to happen? God’s going to ask you a question at that audit. “What did you do with what you were given?” What did I do with what I was given? God’s going to ask me what did I do with what I was given. That’s the Principle of Accountability.
4. The Principle of Utilization.
The next truth that this parable teaches is that it is wrong to bury my talent. He gives them to me. He expects me to use them. If I don’t use them, I’m sinning. It’s wrong to bury my talents.
Notice he has three different servants in the story. The first man, v. 16, received five talents. He went out and at once put his money to work and gained five talents more. He doubled his talents. He took five and doubled them. Pretty good investment.
The second man, v. 17. This guy is the one with two talents. He also went out and gained two more. He doubled his money. He’s got a hundred percent return. God’s pleased with that.
The third man. “But the man who had received one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money and buried it.” He buries his talent. He did nothing. The third guy is cautious, conservative. His philosophy of life could be as nothing ventured, nothing gained. That’s his philosophy. He’s going to play it save, cautious, conservative. “I’m going to take the one talent God has given me and I’m going to sit on it. I’m not going to double it. I’m not going to invest it. I’m not going to make any effort. I’m just going to sit on it.” Notice the master’s reaction to the guy who played it safe and cautious and conservative. V 26-27 “His master replied, `You wicked lazy servant. So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown, and gathered 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.” He could have put it in the bank. He could at least have gotten common, simple interest. But he sat on it, stuffed it in his mattress, buried it in the back yard. At least he could have put it in the bank.
The point here is the third guy had not even tried. His sin is inactivity. His sin is passivity. His sin is doing nothing. It says, he went and buried it. Circle that. He dug a hole and buried it in the ground, put it in the ground.
When you bury something, what’s the purpose? It’s dead. You want to bury it because you want to get it out of sight. We say, “Out of sight, out of mind.” The point is, he says, “I want to forget my responsibility about this talent.” Symbolically he’s saying, “I know I’ve got a responsibility. God’s given me a talent. But I don’t even want to think about it so I’m going to bury it. I’m going to get it out of sight, out of mind, out of the focal point of my life so I don’t want to face it.”
The point is, I cannot please God by playing it safe. Notice the master’s reaction. He said, “You lazy, wicked servant.” The guy didn’t do anything that we would see humanly wrong. He just didn’t do anything. God says that to do nothing is wicked and lazy. To do nothing with your life -- to just breathe, take up space, die -- is sin. You cannot please God by playing it safe. You must take risks. The Bible says without risks you don’t need any faith. “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” If I’m not taking any risks, I don’t need any faith. And if I don’t have any faith, I’m not pleasing God because it takes faith to please God.
What risks have you taken this week? In faith? How pleasing was I this week to God? The Bible says that whatever is not of faith is sin. The point that he’s making here is that doing nothing with my life is absolutely inexcusable. God would rather have you try something and totally blow it than do nothing. God would rather have you attempt to do something great and fail than to have you attempt to do nothing and succeed. God would rather have you at least make an attempt, an effort, to live for Him, to try to minister for Him and fall flat on your face in humiliation than to have you do nothing. He said, “You did not even try.” Attempt something great and expect something great from God.
When I die I want four words written on my tombstone: “At least he tried.”
The point is, Jesus is saying it is wrong to bury my talents. The person who takes the one talent he’s got and buries it in the ground and says he’s not going to do anything about it, that is wicked and lazy, Jesus is saying. At least make an effort.
Notice which was the person who buried his talent in the ground. The guy with five, the guy with two or the guy with one? The point is, often it is the person with limited talent who is the most likely to do nothing. Why? Here’s the logic that Satan uses -- Since I’m not a super star, then I’ll just watch on the sidelines. Because I can’t sing like Rick Muchow, then I won’t ever sing. Because I can’t do something the best, I won’t even do it.
Why do we play it safe? That leads to the next principle.
5. The Principle of Motivation.
Fear keeps me from using my talent. Always fear. This is Satan’s favorite tactic. He uses fear to put us in prisons, to keep us from using the gifts and the abilities and the talents God’s given us. V. 26 “I was afraid [circle “afraid”] and I went out and hid your talent in the ground.” That’s why we play it safe. Satan’s tactic is to fill us with fear.
There are three different kinds of fear. These three will keep you from being effective in the ministry.
1. Self doubt:Self-doubt goes like this: “I could never do that. I’m just not qualified. I haven’t been trained. I could never do that.” Actually what this is, is a fear of failure
2. Self pity:Self-pity is just as bad as self-doubt. It keeps you in a prison and keeps you from being used by God in ministry. Self pity goes like this, “I failed in the past so I’ll never try again.”
3. Self consciousness: Self-consciousness goes like this: “What will other people think?” Proverbs 29:25 says “The fear of man is a snare.” It’s a trap. The moment that I start worrying about what other people think I’m dead in the water. What matters is what God thinks. What happens is we excuse ourselves by pointing to more talented people, more gifted people and say, “Lord, use them. If only I had the ability like…. If only I had the resources like…. If only I had the opportunity like …. If only I had the education like …. “ Just because you cannot do the spectacular does not excuse you to do nothing. Whether you’ve got one talent or five talents or ten talents or two talents, don’t let fear from using your talents.
v. 24 “The man who had received the one talent came and said, `Master, I knew you are a hard man, harvesting where you haven’t sown, gathering where you haven’t gathered seed.” That wasn’t true! The master wasn’t hard at all. The point is, fear causes me to make excuses for doing nothing. I make excuses why I can’t be involved in ministry but the bottom line is fear. —self doubt, self pity, self-consciousness.
6. The Principle of Application.
This is very simple. It says if I don’t use it, I’ll lose it. If I don’t use my talent, I’ll lose my talent. Notice v. 28 “The master said, `Take the one talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents.” Does that sound fair? It doesn’t sound fair. It’s like the rich get richer, the talented get more talented. The guy who has only one talent, it’s being taken away from him.
The point is this: God has the right to take away anything that I don’t use to invest for Him.
If you don’t use it in the right way, you’ll lose it. If you don’t use it at all, it goes away. It’s a universal principle. If you refuse to exercise, what do you lose? Muscle. If you refuse to use your mind to think, your mind goes dull. If you refuse to practice, you lose a talent. It’s the universal principle of life. Whatever skill, ability, talent you have, if you don’t use it, you lose it.
7. The Principle of Compensation.
The Principle of Compensation says the opposite: If I use it wisely, I’ll be rewarded. If I use what God gives me wisely, then I will be rewarded. Notice in v. 23 the rewards this guy could have had. “His master replied, `Well done good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful with a few things. I’ll put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness.’”
In this passage we see three rewards. When you use whatever talent God has given you, God rewards you three specific ways.
1. Affirmation : “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” Good job. You’re doing good. Good job. You’re trying to grow. You’re trying to develop.
2. Promotion : “You’ve been faithful in a few things, I’ll put you in charge of many things.” A lot of people want instant success but success starts in the small things of life. Being faithful in the little things. When you’re faithful in the little things, God gives you greater responsibility.
3. Celebration: “Come and share your master’s happiness.” The happiest people are those who are using whatever they’ve got for the glory of God right now. Those Christians who are bored and miserable and worn out and empty and dull, those are sitting on the sidelines.
The best use of your life is to invest it in something that will outlast it. Jim Elliott said, “He is no fool who gives up what he can’t keep for that which he cannot lose.”
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