Faithfulness and Missions
14 “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘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.’ 22 And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘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.’ 24 He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? 27 Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. 28 So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 29 For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 30 And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
- Matthew 25:14-30 (ESV)
Contained in the verses above is my life verse. As one might imagine, then, this is a passage upon which I reflect quite a bit. As I've turned the passage over in my mind and heart recently, something new emerged. And that is the relationship between faithfulness and missions in the story above. To read the parable and see the correlation between faithfulness and stewardship is fairly obvious. One might even see steadfastness and faithfulness. But faithfulness and missions?
There are two aspects of the parable that sent me in this direction. First, the third servant who simply kept the "talents" given to him. Were talents merely about exercising God-given gifts, then the response of the master seems overly harsh. If the servant had a talent to sing but only sang in his bathroom, how does that rise to the level of consequence of hell? But if the talent to be stewarded is the life we have in Christ - the kingdom-centric message - and it is not shared, then the question becomes more about the prominence of the message in one's life. If one hears the Good News of Jesus, takes it and squirrels it away, then it becomes entirely possible they have not embraced the Good News of Jesus. In that event, the consequences match the decision. A result of the life that is captured by the Good News is one that shares that Good News. They take the risk (investment) to share it with those around them. Now the risk-factor of giving the Good News away for a return on investment makes sense.
The second aspect is the great hall of faith in Hebrews 11. The litany of people who lived by faith is preceded by these opening verses, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2 For by it the people of old received their commendation. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible."
By definition, faith involves risk and faithfulness is not just about steadfastness, but about being willing to act upon that which has no visible guarantee. The correlation between being faithful to what is given and faithfulness as a risky act to step in the direction of God is to go where God is going. Faith is on mission because God is on mission.
We tend to separate out evangelism from missions from discipleship from stewardship. But it's just not as neat as that. Clearly to witness "x" times a day is not at all correlated with faithfulness. Earning grace isn't possible. But simultaneously, the evidence of stewarding talents given by the Master is a willingness to risk sharing what has been given to us with others. It's risky because it may be rejected and have consequences to us. But it is a stewardship because by our willingness to share we know how much the Message has impacted us. The lazy servant views God as a harsh master who is merely concerned with knowing the answer. But the faithful servant views God as a generous master who gives us a message to give to others. In other words, it not just about what is given TO us, but what is to move THROUGH us. The difference between the two is eternal.
