Investing The Talents
The following is an article being shared with the Indiana Trumpet. You might want to place it in your weekly bulletin or in a place where your members can read it.
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Mt 25 14-30
Mat 25:14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
Mat 25:15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey…
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This often misunderstood passage of scripture is a key parable for real revival. Revival and growth can only come when we understand and implement the simple factors spoken of here.
The man traveling into a far country is Jesus Christ. His servants are the Pastors of churches and the talents are the saints of the churches. When Jesus placed a shepherd in the church, he was doing more than placing someone there who would watch over the souls of the church. He was also placing someone there who would lead that group of people into personal and numerical growth (Revival).
This parable was not written to the saints, it was written to the Pastors of the churches. As a saint, this is important for me to understand as it allows me to comprehend the burden and psyche of my Pastor.
Every Pastor is under a great burden for the souls of not only those who attend the local church, but also for the souls of those people in the community who do not attend. This burden does not leave a Pastor day or night, the entire time he Pastor’s a particular church. Those who do not understand this burden will usually misunderstand the actions and decisions of their Pastor.
Notice in the parable the Lord gave us, the servant/Pastor pays a great price if he does not invest his Lord’s talents/saints wisely. Saints will wonder why their Pastor is pushing so hard to begin a new program or simply encourage the church to get involved in evangelism. They will grumble and complain because he has asked them to consider a new ministry the church is capable of implementing. Yet, regardless of their lack of cooperation, the Pastor is still under the directive to cause every talent/saint in the church to become involved.
Notice what happened to the servant who buried his talent in the ground. His labor was to hide his talents. This Pastor simply preached to the “Us 4 and no more crowd”. He was satisfied with a lack of growth and had grown weary of trying to get the church to become involved in soul winning. So he stopped trying. He just kept the same old crowd. His burden for the community died and his church had no increase. With this mindset, this servant purchased a harsh judgment.
However, the other servants had found a way to get every single one of their talents involved in Kingdom work. Not one of their talents went uninvested. The man who had been given 2 talents found a way to cause both of those talents to bring increase. The man who had 5 talents found a way to cause all 5 of his talents to bring increase. These servants/Pastors labored every way they knew, to cause this growth to take place. Their burden caused them to do things and preach things that challenged the talents to become invested.
I am convinced that every talent/saint wants to be invested in the work of God. We want to share in the labor. We want to be a part of the Great Commission but we struggle to find our place of ministry. Every new convert is born into the Church with a special zeal that causes him/her to testify to their friends and loved ones about what the Lord has just done for them. This zeal is only lost when the person fails to find their special place in the local church to labor/become invested.
Can I encourage you today to pray for your Pastor. Consider the heavy burden he carries for your church and community. Realize the call and commission he has and the reward or punishment he will receive for a job well done or not done. Your prayer, support and cooperation with his vision may be the source of strength he draws from as he labors to invest the talents God has given him. You alone could be the person who encourages and motivates him to bring your church into revival.
There is only one you. You’re the only person with your exact heritage, your precise series of events in the pilgrimage and sufferings of life that have brought you to your church at this hour. You’re the only one with your personal convictions, your makeup, your skills, your appearance, your touch, your voice, your style, your surroundings, your sphere of influence—you’re the only you. You can make a difference in your church. Ask your pastor what you can do to be invested today!
