Discipleship and the Parable of the Talents

Parable of the Three Servants (or Parable of the Talents)

¹⁴ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. ¹⁵ He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

¹⁶ “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. ¹⁷ The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. ¹⁸ But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. ²⁰ The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

²¹ “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

²² “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

²³ “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

²⁴ “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. ²⁵ I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

²⁶ “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, ²⁷ why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

²⁸ “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. ²⁹ To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. ³⁰ Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ -Matthew 25:14-30, NLT

When I read this this morning it made sense to me in a new way.  I had a thought “could this principle be talking about discipleship?”  Every believer has been given the deposit of the Holy Spirit in their heart from the Father to “invest” and give him a return.  The “talent” I am thinking of in this context is our own relationship with God and our “ability” could refer to our natural ability to communicate the Gospel with others.  In the very least, God gives us himself and He asks us to “go make disciples, baptizing them and teaching them everything He has commanded us.” (Paraphrase of Matthew 28:18-20). Even to those he seemingly doesn’t gift with many talents –the destitute, the disabled, the socially awkward, He still expects a return on his investment of his Holy Spirit in them.

I started to compare the wise servants with the foolish one.  I thought about the difference between an investment and a savings account.  An investment actually costs you something up front.  You are putting that money somewhere where you can’t use it elsewhere for a period of time and there is risk involved.  The greater the risk, the greater potential to get back much more than you put in. 

When you put your money in the bank it essentially doesn’t cost you anything; you are just putting your money in a place where you have accountability to keep track of it and it grows naturally.  Hiding the money, or burying it in this case, is foolish because even the person that hid it could forget about it and that money becomes totally useless.  I was just thinking about this yesterday actually when I found some Mongolian Togrogs in a pocket of a coat I haven’t worn in a while.  Good thing I found that before I left the country, otherwise it would have just become scrap paper.   

The foolish servant with one talent buried his talent where he didn’t pay any attention to it.  This servant didn’t even grow in his own relationship with God; instead he hid it from everyone, including himself.  Putting our “talent” in the bank could be compared to living in community with other Christians and going church where we are at least reminded of God’s investment in us and we are held accountable to following Him. 

The truth is, even if we don’t consciously try to put ourselves out there to share the Gospel with others, if we are at least kept aware of our own relationship with God, then we will naturally reap a reward.  When others see the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) growing in our lives and we point people to Jesus when they witness our fruit, then there will naturally be people that want to follow Jesus with us –thus earning a return on God’s investment.

Matthew 5:14-16 says “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

God commands us to go and tell others about the Good News we’ve found for ourselves in Jesus.  To hide this from others is the same as hiding it from ourselves.  Maybe we are not all gifted evangelists, preachers or teachers, but we all, as believers, have God’s Holy Spirit in our hearts and access to live through His power.

So I will end this thought with an encouragement to those of you who are actually putting yourselves out there, risking reputation and ridicule to share with others about the Hope you’ve found in Jesus.  Yes, proactively following Jesus through sharing your faith costs you a great deal up front.  In free countries like America and Mongolia, most of the time that cost to you is sweaty palms or getting left out at the company Christmas/New Year’s party because you’re not getting trashed with everyone else.  But that is still a real cost to you and that matters to God!  For my friends living in places where it is illegal to share your faith, your risk is much greater, but don’t forget, so is your reward!  The world tells you that you’re a fool, but listen to the words of your Father who sees everything you’re going through:

“Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!”

I'm a royal heir, not a slave! -from June 23, 2013

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”  The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs –heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.”  Romans 8:14-17

I realize I have been feeling more like a slave than a royal heir.  I felt convicted of this mentality when I was meeting with one of my new Mongolian friends for lunch and she said “I read your blog and it sounds like you are having such a hard time here.  I am so sorry, I will help you learn how live here!”  Sheepishly I looked down into my coffee and tried to diffused the situation and tell her about all of the honest reasons why I love living here.  So let me just state for the record: I really do love living here in Mongolia!

I am sorry for my hum-drum attitude in my last few blog posts.  In an effort to be honest about the challenges in my walk with the Lord through this process, I have mistakenly left out the truly wonderful parts of this journey.  God’s Word and His Spirit have been so alive to me in this process.  Even in the hardest moments, I have felt His Presence and his embrace.  Just as a parent would run to a child that was hurt on the playground, I have felt Him run to me and speak so kindly to my hurt heart.

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her, and there I will give her vineyards and make the Valley of Anchor (trouble) a door of hope.  And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth...” Hosea 2:14-15

This morning I felt the Lord explain to me that rather than just a small peon in His game of life that has no rights or say in anything I do, I am a royal heir, a princess that gets to serve with the King of Kings.  You see, a princess has a ton of rights and privileges, but along with those rights and privileges come a responsibility to her kingdom.  I get to be royalty, but I also have a duty to serve my kingdom as an ambassador for the King.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9

Be where you’re at. from 7/28/13

July 28^th, 2013 –Sunday afternoon

This past weekend we got to be a part of a 20 year celebration of our church here in Mongolia.  I was amazed at the testimonies of lives changed and the unreached tribes of Mongolians reached with the Gospel of Jesus in all corners of Asia.  And this is just the beginning.  As part of the celebration service, they handed out commemorative coffee mugs with John 3:16 in Mongolian written on it.  This little coffee mug has probably been one of the most significant things I have received so far in our time here.  Let me explain:

When John and I obeyed Jesus and started making plans to move our family here, after our home was miraculously rented and our jobs were notified, I was beginning to get overwhelmed.  We Skyped with an amazing missionary family stationed in the Middle East to pick their brains on how to prepare for such a life change.  With only 5 suitcases for 8 months, my questions revolved mostly around what to pack.  One piece of advice that she gave was to bring things that make your place feel like home, even if they seem impractical.  So because part of our routine every morning is to greet Jesus with a cup of coffee, we wanted to bring our mugs from home.  I brought a Dallas Starbucks coffee mug that I have used every morning for now the past 2 months of living here in Ulan Bator. 

After receiving this new Mongolian mug this weekend, I decided to give it a try for the morning.  And then it hit me: I really am living in Mongolia.  I’m here.  Not back there.  And so while the mug may sound like a melodramatic symbol, I have decided not to use my Dallas mug anymore.  I am determined to be where God has put me; mentally, emotionally & spiritually.    

In this process of being where I am, I go through waves of excitement for the adventure here and longing for comfort back in Dallas.  Sometimes the fear of regret motivates me to press into ministry; but on the good days, I am motivated by the love for God’s people here that He has downloaded into my heart.  I pray that each day God will help me see with spiritual eyes the people in front of me that need to experience his love through me. 

Living with intentionality is a quality and a discipline we all admire. Jesus was the best at this.  He came to earth and in less than 40 years he accomplished more than anyone ever could or ever would.  He healed the sick, made the blind see, conquered death and provided us a way to have a relationship with the Most High God!  He resisted the temptation to run to every problem that demanded him or worry about the future.  He simply lived in constant communication with the Father and obeyed what he was told with joy. 

I hope that in my time here I am able to learn how to live my life with a greater sense of purpose for each day.  This is my prayer not just for my time in Mongolia, but I hope Jesus builds more of his character in me so I too can be propelled with love and live with no regrets.

“…But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 3:13-14