Stewardship

“For the kingdom of heaven is 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 several ability; and straightway took his journey…After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou delivered unto me five talents: behold I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, “Well done thou good and faithful servant”…He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant…Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.” (Matt 25:14-28)

This is a story of stewardship. Notice that Christ did not expect the servant that was given two, to earn five. He only expected his servants to act responsibly and use the money wisely to multiply it to the best of their ability. It was only the servant that squandered the money and did nothing with what he was given that was rebuked.

In real life it is the same. No matter the amount of wealth you have, it is your responsibility to use it responsibly. Many people think that once they have millions they’ll be able to buy an island in the Florida Keys and spend all day on the beach. They can buy expensive cars, five houses, and the finest clothing. They think they can spend all their money traveling the world. Those things are nice, and by themselves there is nothing wrong with them. The problem with that thinking is that it neglects the fact that each person has a certain stewardship over that which they are given. The millionaires need to use their money responsibly, for themselves and to help others. It’s the people that just want to spend it frivolously that end up miserable, alone, and filing bankruptcy. It is just like the servant that was given one talent. In the end he had none. If the servant that was given five talents did the same he would end up with none as well.