Thoughts on Talents

The parable of the talents (did you think I meant something else?) is

14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold 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 gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags.29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (Matt 25:14-30)

The unanswered question in this parable is this: what if one of the servants who put the talents (gold) at risk had lost the money? Would the master have been angry? Well, a real master would probably have been furious. But this is a parable, and I suspect that the lesson intended is that if you invest your gifts for the furtherance of your master's kingdom, the master's kingdom, the investment will always return a considerable profit. In such investment strategies, past performance is a guarantee of future success. (Just to be crystal clear, we are talking about evangelical and ministerial investment, not money.)

What really interests me is that this is often viewed as a parable about just two courses of action, faithfulness and unfaithfulness. However, there is a third option presented. The master describes an intermediate approach, which while not optimal is still acceptable. And that is: the gold could have banked, and while the profits would have been meager, it was greatly preferred when compared to burying the gift and thereby rendering it of no service.

If we can say that the first two servants behaved "perfectly", the alternate route mentioned by the master shows us the we have freedom of not worrying about perfection. What we do not have is the freedom of inaction.