“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. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his own ability; and immediately took his journey. Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made five other talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained another two. But he that had received one went and dug in the earth, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came, and settled accounts with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, Lord, you delivered unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, you good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, you delivered unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of your lord. Then he who had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not spread: And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the earth: lo, there you have what is yours. His lord answered and said unto him, You wicked and slothful servant, you knew that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not spread. You ought therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received my own with interest. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him who has ten talents. For unto everyone that has shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that has not shall be taken away even that which he has. And cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 25:14-30, KJ2000)
The above Scripture passage contains one of the parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. In it Jesus tells us about (1) A master who distributes talents to his servants (2) The servants who improve their talents (3) The servant who buried his talent (4) The reward of the faithful servants, and (5) The punishment of the unfaithful servant. In this message we shall try to interpret the parable. Then we shall focus our attention on the unprofitable servant. We shall look into the factors responsible for his being an unprofitable servant. Finally, we shall advise ourselves on how we can and should avoid becoming unprofitable servants.
Interpreting the Parable
In this parable we are to understand: (1) That the man who travels to a far country is the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Master. (2) The man’s travel refers to our Lord’s ascension to heaven following the completion of His earthly ministry (Acts 1:9-11). (3) The far country the man travels to stands for Heaven. (4) The servants refer generally to believers in and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ. (5) Literally, the talents mean “a sum of money in gold or silver.” “A talent was worth more than a thousand dollars.” The term “talent” was first used for a unit of weight (about 75 pounds), then for a unit of coinage.1 Metaphorically, talent stands for divinely endowed natural or spiritual ability. (6) The long time that intervenes between the man’s journey and his return, stands for the Gospel Age; that is, the long period during which the gospel of the Kingdom, the gospel of eternal salvation in Christ, is to be proclaimed by the Church to all the nations of the world. (7) The master’s return refers to the Second Coming of the Lord Christ. (8) The master’s reckoning with his servants speaks of the Judgment of the Church (1st Peter 4:17). (9) The servants who received 5 and 2 Talents respectively, invested and achieved 100% returns on their investments, represent genuine believers in Christ who are faithful, diligent and effective in their service to The Almighty. (10) The servant who buried his talent and so became an unprofitable servant, stands for nominal, pretentious, believers in Christ, uncommitted to the use of their abilities to serve God. (11) The transfer of the unprofitable servant’s talent to the faithful servant who had 10 talents reveals the wisdom and justice of God Almighty. The issue here is not wealth and riches, but work and responsibilities. The issue is ability to handle enormous responsibilities. It is about ability to use many tools for service. The man with 10 talents had demonstrated great management skill to the satisfaction of his master so much that the master, on his return, became convinced that he has capacity to handle many tasks and responsibilities; he has capability to invest many talents productively and profitably. Therefore, the master transfers the 1 talent of the unprofitable servant to the faithful servant.
Verse 29: “For unto everyone that has shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that has not shall be taken away even that which he has,” should never be interpreted in isolation from Verse 28: “Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him who has ten talents.” If one does that, one cannot avoid the feeling that the action of the master is unfair and unjust. Such feeling inevitably occurs in the soul when one views the talents as material wealth instead of tools for service. What verse 29 means is something that is quite natural and normal in life. Perhaps a paraphrase of the verse will make the point clear: “For to everyone who has shall more be given because he has reproduced more from what he has. Consequently, he shall have an abundance. The more that is given to him who has is the natural result of his productive labour with what he had already. But from the one who does not have because he has not reproduced (anything from) what he has, even what he does have shall be taken away. He shall lose it because he has not used it.” It is a fact of nature that when something made and meant to be used is not put to use, it begins to waste away. This is referred to as the Law of Atrophy. Figuratively, atrophy means “A halting in growth or withering of anything.”2 (12) The punishment of the unprofitable servant signifies the eternal damnation of nominal, pretentious, professing believers in Christ along with all unrepentant sinners.
The Unprofitable Servant
Our focus is on the unprofitable servant. We observe that the first two servants did very well and received great commendation and reward from their master. But the third servant, the unprofitable servant, did not do well at all. He seems to us to have character and attitude problem. We are going to explore his character and mentality to find out the factors responsible for his worthlessness as a servant.
Character
His master’s reproach (verse 26) reveals his character. He is described as wicked and lazy. Wicked implies that he hated his master and worked against his business interests. It also means he was disobedient, disloyal and indifferent to his master. He had no modicum of respect for his master. Lazy means he disliked and avoided work. He preferred leisure and pleasure to the pressure of work.
Mentality
While his master gives us insight into his character, he himself tells us about his mentality – the workings of his mind – when he says (verse 25) “I was afraid . . .” He was a fearful person. It is either he was afraid of his master or he was afraid of the one talent given to him. Being afraid of his master suggests that he did not really know and trust his master. Being afraid of the talent implies that he lacked self-confidence. He did not believe he has any ability to use the talent profitably. He was afraid of the future. He was a pessimist. He did not believe and hope that he would make profit if he should invest his master’s talent. Fearful persons do not succeed in business or any undertaking. Such should never even venture into business until their minds have undergone transformation or reorientation to faith-thinking.
We observe that his being afraid was the natural result of his wrong view of his master. Verse 24 shows what he thought of his master – hard man and a grabber. These are very uncomplimentary and unkind remarks a servant can make about his master. “I knew you that you are a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not spread” reveals that he was not a true servant. It seems no vital relationship or spiritual affinity existed between him and his master. He was only a servant in name, not a servant in reality or practically. He had no real respect and love for his master. Moreover, he spoke these words as an excuse and a cover-up for his laziness. Therefore, his statement does not and cannot represent a true picture of his master’s character. The one talent belonged not to him, but to his master. Giving it to him to invest shows his master’s goodness and commitment to the personal development and welfare of his servants. The faithfulness of his fellow servants shows his description of his master as a hard man and a grabber to be false. We have to believe that this servant did not have a true knowledge of his master’s personality. No qualitative affinity or relationship of any sort existed between him and his master.
Now, based purely on what we have seen of the mentality of the unprofitable servant, we have to conclude that he represents a fake, nominal and pretentious believer. He is not a genuine follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. We must classify him with the five foolish virgins who had no oil in their lamps, the man without a wedding garment, and with Judas Iscariot.
At this point we need to ask this important question: Can a genuine believer in Christ become an unprofitable servant? The answer to this question is both yes and no. We will take the no answer first. With regard to what we have seen of the mentality of the unprofitable servant – his lack of true knowledge of his master’s personality; his lack of trust in his master; his fear of his master – the answer is no. A genuine believer cannot be an unprofitable servant. But with regard to what we have seen of the character of the unprofitable servant – his disobedience, unfaithfulness and laziness – the answer is yes. A genuine believer can become an unprofitable servant, for a season.
What does this say to us?
The Lord Christ wills for us to understand that if we fail to use our natural and spiritual abilities and skills to serve Him with gladness, we could become unprofitable servants. If we refuse to serve God because we think we do not have or know our spiritual gifts, we could easily become unprofitable servants. It is not difficult to discover your spiritual gift. Every genuine believer has at least one spiritual gift. There are more than twenty spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible. The German evangelist, Dr. Kurt Koch, has identified twenty-four spiritual gifts,3 while Dr. C. Peter Wagner has identified twenty-eight.4 Your own spiritual gift lies in the direction of whatever produces joy in your heart either when you do it actually or when you think of doing it, for the Lord. Moreover, we could easily become unprofitable servants if we are just lazy; if we set up excuses unacceptable to God. Excuses such as “they will not listen to me . . .” “They will laugh at me . . .” “I am not educated, I cannot speak.” Again, we could become unprofitable servants if the objective of our service is to win the applause of men.
The topic of this message says DON’T BE AN UNPROFITABLE SERVANT. Therefore, to ensure that we do not become unprofitable servants, there are seven vital truths to note and let them govern and drive our minds:
1. Our service is to God Almighty, our Heavenly Father. We are stewards of the Most High. God or the Lord Christ, not the pastor or bishop or general overseer, is the One Whom our service honours and exalts (Colossians 3:22-25; cf. Ephesians 6:6-8)
2. We will give account of our service to God, not to men (2nd Corinthians 5:6-10).
3. Diligence in service to God contributes something to our spiritual growth.
4. Service to God makes our Father in Heaven and our Master and Lord Jesus to be happy with us and to honour us (John 12:26).
5. Service to God makes God answer our prayers, sometimes speedily (1st John 3:22)
6. Our natural and spiritual abilities, and our professional skills are to be used to serve God with gladness.
7. Service to God bestows on our lives on earth a sense of worth, meaning, purpose and fulfillment. It enlarges our lives because in serving God we touch the lives of fellow humans positively. This brings us enduring happiness and enhances self-esteem.
I urge you to resolve today that with this understanding you will not be an unprofitable servant, but will serve God diligently all the days of your sojourn on earth henceforth. Ministry space and opportunity abound in every local assembly of believers. Look for one in your church and start serving gladly. You will receive bountiful reward here and a “well done good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord” hereafter.
Let me conclude by reminding us that our Master, Jesus Christ, is coming again and soon. The right way to prepare for His return is to habitually engage in joyful service to Him. He is coming and His reward is with Him, to give to everyone as his/her deeds have made him/her deserve. Don’t be an unprofitable servant. Don’t bury your talent. Use it to serve the Lord with gladness; you will be richly blessed when He comes.
Of first importance: be saved by Christ before you serve the Lord Christ. That is the way of the ancient paths, the old paths, and you will find rest unto your soul (Jeremiah 6:16; 18:15).
THE LORD’S SCRIBE
Notes
1NIV Study Bible’s note on Matthew 25:15
2”Atrophy,” World Book Dictionary, 1, 1985 ed., p. 130
3Kurt Koch, Charismatic Gifts
4C. Peter Wagner, Your Spiritual Gifts Can Help Your Church Grow
