Pre Approved
The Bible Is The Lens
Lately I have found myself recognising how often we read the bible from the lens of our culture. One of the biggest issues is that it causes us to misunderstand the word of God and make it fit into our plans as opposed to God’s intent.
The Parable of the Talents
When we read the parable of the talents, it is easy to think the man with the one talent responded negatively because he wasn’t given something that felt sufficient, but if we look at the text it’s not be the case.
'“For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. '
Matthew 25:14-15
Let’s try to break down this text.
The Value of a Talent
When you read that the master gave one 5 talents, another 2 and the other 1, it sounds immediately as though he didn’t have much faith in the one he gave the one talent to. That is the face value of the text when you assume the value of a talent can’t be much. When we take the time to study, we would see that 1 Talent, was worth the equivalent of 6000 denarius and the standard wages for a days work to a servant was 1 denarius. So 1 talent was equal to about 20 years wages, assuming a 6 day work week. He wasn’t entrusted with little, but with much!
Comparison kills
With the knowledge of the value of a talent, the only reason for the servant to be discouraged is the spirit of comparison. In his hands were more than he’d ever earned in his life, but because he saw his peers holding a larger sum, he lacked the gratitude to see the value of what was in his hands. How often do we lose sight of all the progress we have made in our lives, because instead of looking at our journey we looked at those around us and let is sow seeds of discouragement?
According To His Ability
When the text says, he gave each according to his ability, it is easy to read that he trusted the servant with one less than the servants with two or five. On the contrary it actually invites us to see how highly the master trusted each servant. The master was going on a long journey and put in the hands of his servants all he had accrued and believed each one had everything he needed to be both reliable and effective with what he was given.
Pre Approved
'“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’'
Matthew 25:24-25
A couple of things that stand out to me in the above verses are, bitterness and self-doubt. While the two other servants have multiplied what they were given, this servant has merely retained his. The reasons he gives are, one, ‘he believes his master reaps where he doesn’t sow’, this points to bitterness and envy. He didn’t want to see his master profit from his hard work, so he preferred to not work at all. The second thing I see is he considered his master a ‘hard man’ and feared what would happen if he lost what he was trusted with. He didn’t have the self belief that he could be a good and faithful steward, so he decided not to take the risk.
The reality of the situation is, what he perceived as a big risk, wasn’t that big a risk. The master only entrust him with it, because he knew what he was capable.
Similar to this master, there is a history of God giving his Pre-Approval to his people, He did so with Jesus after His baptism and with Gideon, calling him a mighty man of valor. God has pre-approved you for that which he’s called you for, you have His stamp of approval, don’t let doubt make you stagnant.