November 10, 2008

Dumbest Guy in the Bible

I was reading through Matthew 24-25 this morning at the recommendation of a book I’m reading on Christian doctrines and theology. (The book is Christian Beliefs and the staff is reading through it.) As I was reading through these passages, I came across Matthew 25:14-30, also called the parable of the talents.

In verse 14, the master goes away for a while and leaves his money in the hands of his servants, but he divides it up according to each servant’s ability in verse 15.

Sidenote: He doesn’t divide it up “fairly” so that they all have the same amount. He doesn’t divide it up based on his favorite choice. He divides it based on the ability of the servant.

Then, in verses 20 through 30, we see what happened when the master returned. The first two servants who were given more presented their gains to the master by simply saying, “You gave me this much and I doubled it.” The third servant who had the least money and buried what he had without gaining anything was really rude to the master when he returned.

24 “Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed.

25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’

What a dumb guy! You don’t do anything with the money, then you insult the guy who has control over whether you live or die. No wonder he was given only one talent.

Don’t be an idiot. Don’t spit in Jesus’ face for giving you less than what he’s given other people. Invest what God’s given you. Multiply it.