Part 11 of the “Parable of the Talents” Series – Final Installment
And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Matthew 25:30, KJV)
It has been said that you can gage one’s spiritual condition by examining his calendar and checkbook. Indeed the Bible 
has hundreds of verses that deal specifically with money. Jesus himself said that “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). While the amount of your checkbook balance in itself is not indication of one’s spirituality, one’s attitude toward money as well as how we spend it can reveal where our true priorities lay. Consider Jesus’ illustration of the rich fool described in Luke 12:16-20.
The Spiritually Poor Lose (Even) More
Servant #3 (aka “unprofitable servant”) lost everything but, more important, his self-imposed opposition to the Master led to spiritual poverty in addition to his financial losses. Had he tried to emulate his Master, his finances would have benefited as it did with his colleagues. He also dismissed himself from the opportunity to establish a relationship with the Master. Contrary to his conclusions, his Master proved to be generous and inviting.
Often we distance ourselves from God’s blessings by drawing hasty conclusions about Him. We should take time to get to know Him and learn from Him. In doing so we could reap temporal (e.g. financial) as well as eternal (i.e. Heaven) blessings while benefiting from the best friendship we will ever have.
Related posts:
]]>
Are you positioning yourself for His blessings?
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power
and the glory and the majesty and the splendor,
for everything in heaven and earth is yours.
Yours, O LORD, is the kingdom;
you are exalted as head over all.Wealth and honor come from you;
you are the ruler of all things.
In your hands are strength and power
to exalt and give strength to all.(1 Chronicles 29:11-12, NIV)
God is the owner of EVERYTHING
As trustees of the resources God has provided, He allows us to temporally use our possessions. Our wealth is only temporary. The Lord is the true owner. In Deuteronomy 10:14 this is made quite clear: “To the LORD your God belong the heavens, even the highest heavens, the earth and everything in it.” Not just some things of this earth, but all things. Now if He holds these things and God is the true owner, should we handle things the way we feel they should be handled or the way God would want us to handle them? Of course, we should handle them the way God wants us to handle them. These instructions can be found in His Word.
If we are to follow Christ, we must transfer the ownership of our possessions to God. This entails a mind shift. The world tells us possession is nine tenths of the law and that we alone possess everything. A shift from a cultural view to a Godly view is difficult in an ungodly world. The shift is easy only when your change your perspective. Taking steps to align your thinking with God’s thinking does not happen overnight. The Holy Spirit must have time to work within your heart. I often say there are three conversions:
1) Your mind
2) Your heart
3) Your wallet
It takes time. However once it happens, your financial decisions tend to be viewed much differently than the world’s ways and thus become spiritual in every context.
Here are a few suggestions to begin this change of perspective:
1) Read over the verses I highlighted above and read them two times a day for the next month.
2) Pray, meditate, and memorize these verses.
3) Think of these verses every time you spend or make an investment/saving decision.
4) Constantly refer to your possessions (money, investments, personal items) as the Lord’s items. Say it out loud often. By passing ownership verbally and constantly, you will begin to develop a habit of transferring ownership.
We are ONLY “managers” of what God has given us
God chooses to distribute wealth where he sees fit. God chooses to bless one person more than others. In Matthew 25:15 we see this illustration: “To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey”. Why would God discriminate? He gave according to each person based on their abilities. The Lord not only distributes wealth and material possessions but also can take them away as Job learned. No material possessions can be taken to the next world and even Job understood this when he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” Even in Job’s darkest hour, he still understood this key principle.
Our purpose in life is to glorify God
The Lord will choose many ways to distribute wealth: inheritance, marriage to a wealthy individual, successful businesses, stock options, and successful stock market investments to name a few. God has entrusted certain levels of wealth to each of us according to our abilities. Handling these assets in a biblical manner is an intended purpose that God has for your life. Above all, our purpose in life is to glorify God and this includes our finances. “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much” Luke 16:10. What are you doing today to show responsibility with what He entrusts to you? How are you positioning yourself for the blessings He has prepared for you?
Whether you have made money mistakes in the past or present, each day is a clean slate. Learn from your past mistakes and move on. Commit to learning more about His principles and how He instructs us to handle money. Commit to educating yourself about financial matters (saving, investing, gifting strategies, insurance, tax planning, etc.). Seek a qualified financial professional who shares your faith and values. Refer to www.kingdomadvisors.org or www.nacfc.com to find a competent Christian advisor in your area. Most of all, commit to doing something! God wants you to take the first step so He can guide and direct your path.
This article was written by Jay Peroni, CFP. Jay is the founder and editor of FaithBasedInvestor.com, a Christian stock investing newsletter. He is an author, speaker, and financial advisor. He’s been featured on Crosswalk.com, TheStreet.com, at ChristianPF.com. Jay started FaithBasedInvestor.com to help investors find investments they can be ?”proud to own”. For a FREE report on how to screen your investments and build a winning portfolio, go to FaithBasedInvestor.com.
Related posts:
]]>Part 9 of the “Parable of the Talents” Series
26 “But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. 27 So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. (Matthew 25:26-27, NKJ)
This passage describes a very revealing insight into the Master. For one thing, He is exceedingly successful in His money management. He reaps where He does not even plant. He would have no trouble beating the return on the S & P 500 — or any other market metric for that matter! It is indicative of His generosity to entrust anything for His servants to invest.
Note also that even though His investment success is off the charts, the Master was quick to lavish praise on the other
two servants. Not only is the Master generous but he is gracious, too. (This fact was totally lost on Servant # 3).
Another characteristic of the Master is that He is definitely results-oriented. An unprofitable outcome is unacceptable. Worse yet, Servant # 3 did not even try. At the very least his unutilized talent could have been drawing interest.
Furthermore, this passage shows that there is a definite priority of investments as far as the Master was concerned. While keeping money in an interest-bearing account is better than nothing, it pales compared to investing (i.e. sowing & gathering[reaping]). In the case of the other two servants, the Master enjoyed multiplied returns (versus His “own -singular- with interest”).
I think that we can take this even further and speculate that even if Servant # 3 had tried his hand at investing and lost money, that this would’ve gone over better with the Master than his sit-on-it-and-hope-nothing-worse-happens approach.
Investment advice from the Master: At the very least keep it interesting?
Related posts:
]]>Part 6 of the “Parable of the Talents” Series
20The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. 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 the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; 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!’ (Matthew 25:20-23 NIV).
There will come a day when the Master will return! What will we have to show for it when he does? One metric that will be used to evaluate our service to Him is our handling of His tangible blessings to us. Note that the Master commends his servants as “good and faithful”. Their fidelity in their stewardship led to their successful results.
Also notice that the Master is not concerned with the total value of wealth per steward. He commended the two stewards enjoying the same rate of (positive) return equally. The parable acknowledges that we all start out at different levels but it is what you do with what you are given that counts. “He who dies with the most toys wins” is not a Divine benchmark.
The biblical scenario is a great illustration of our Master’s generosity. Not only does he give us the means to succeed but he wants us to share in His happiness. It’s not just about financial success. He wants us truly and completely blessed. What an awesome God we serve!
Related posts:
]]>Part 5 of the “Parable of the Talents” Series
After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. (Matthew 25:19 KJV)
However, as we anticipate his return, we can take steps to prepare for this review. God does not play favorites: He will use the same criteria as the Lord of the Servants in this parable. There will be a test but our Lord has shown us how to pass the Ultimate Test with flying colors. All of the answers are in the Bible. You can also talk (pray) to the Author for personalized advice.
Are you ready for that day when YOUR books will be examined?
Related posts:
]]>Part 4 of the “Parable of the Talents” Series
But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money . (Matthew 25:18, NIV)
Here we have a very different story. This servant wasted his Master’s talent and rendered it useless. He literally killed it by burying it.
Are you any different? Have you squandered an opportunity to make your money work for you? In addition to forsaking the returns enjoyed by the more diligent servants, you have hidden from others a chance to glorify our Lord. This could have been a demonstration of “magnifying the Lord.” By regularly partnering with God, His work becomes evident to yourself as well as others in ever-increasing measures.
We in the Body of Christ need to exercise and demonstrate God’s influence in our lives. We need to be fruitful in our finances as well as in every other aspect of our lifestyle. As John the Baptist said of Jesus: ‘He must increase but I must decrease” (John 3:30). Have we hidden Him or are we hidden in Him?
Related posts:
]]>Part 3 of the “Parable of the Talents” Series
16He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he gained five talents more. 17And likewise he who had received the two talents–he also gained two talents more. (Matthew 25: 16-17, Amp.)
Here we see the response of two of those servants in which the Master entrusted his property. They immediately 
went and “traded.” The word “traded” come from the Greek word ergazomai. In this context, these servants “put this money to work.” Perhaps they invested it in the first century equivalent of the stock market. We can’t say for sure. Regardless, they invested these funds in a vehicle that resulted in a 100% return on the Master’s money. Not bad.
These servants already had their basic needs met by virtue of their relationship with the Master. They had food, clothing, and shelter as members of His household. This money apparently was not for these basic needs. Although the money belongs to the Master, He is giving His servants a great deal of freedom regarding its disposition.
What are we doing with our money once our basic needs are met? What avenues of increase are available to us? Are we taking advantage of them?
Related posts:
]]>Part 2 of the “Parable of the Talents” Series
To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one–to each in proportion to his own personal ability. Then he departed and left the country. [Emphasis mine] (Matthew 25:15 Amp.)
Get Smart, Get Wealthier
As we read this opening portion of the parable of the talents, it is noteworthy to observe that talents are distributed according to personal ability. Jesus is stating through this principle that in order to get more money, you should sharpen your skills.
This parable is about money. The term “talent” in this context refers to a monetary measure that corresponded to a certain weight of gold or silver. Over a period of time, this term was transformed into the use that we know it today (see definition) as it relates to creative ability.
This verse is also about personal development. As believers, we should always be in a state of self-improvement. In a sense, it is not totally self-improvement as we are working in partnership with our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the “master” in this parable and he should be the master in every aspect of our lives. Jesus is telling us that that are practical and tangible benefits to improving our abilities. This is part of our transformation from “Glory to Glory.”
So, allow this verse to motivate you as take that college course, read that book, practice that ability or engage in some other activity that will improve your abilities. There is a reward awaiting you. In fact, there are (at least) two rewards ahead: 1) The increase in talents (double-meaning here) and 2) the satisfaction that comes with that increase in expertise — and who can put a price tag on that!
Related posts:
]]>Part 1 of the “Parable of the Talents” Series
Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. (Matthew 25:14, NIV)
Talented Teaching
This is the first examination in what is commonly called the “parable of the talents.” In this instructive story, Jesus tells a great deal about stewardship and money management. This introductory sentence actually has a lot to say in very few words (typical of Jesus):
- The man “going on a journey” is Jesus. The implication is that he is coming back.
- As born-again believers, we are His servants. We are part of his household.
- Our property really belongs to God and he trusts us with it!
Our “job” is to utilize the Lord’s possessions entrusted in our care in such a way that His purposes will be furthered. We are working in partnership with the Lord in temporal, tangible aspects as well as the eternal, spiritual realm.
Related posts:
]]>
I am intrigued by super-investors such as Warren Buffet and Peter Lynch. These individuals have enjoyed ginormous investment rates of return over years. I have wondered if their investment principles have Biblical parallels.
Please understand that I am not making any spiritual assessments regarding these gentlemen. While I have studied their investment methods, I have never met them nor had dealings with them. What I am asserting is that very often long-term success strategies very often can be tied to biblical principles even if the practitioners are unaware of or deny such comparisons.
Bible wisdom very often has very practical and tangible benefits in addition to the invaluable, incalculable spiritual blessings that we normally associate with scriptural truths.
So, having said that, here is my list of Biblical Guidelines for successful stock-picking:
Invest in what you know
“Desire without knowledge is not good, and to be overhasty is to sin and miss the mark.” Proverbs 19:2 (AMP.)
Don’t fall prey to some “hot tip.” Your experience along with some research can lead you to investment opportunities. “Invest in what you know” was a phrase that Peter Lynch made famous. Mr. Buffet has passed on opportunities that he did not understand.
If you stay half-alert, you can pick the spectacular performers right from your place of business or out of the neighborhood shopping mall, and long before Wall Street discovers them.” Peter Lynch.
Invest in quality companies
“But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.” Matthew 13:8 (NKJ)
“You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?” Matthew 7:16 (NKJ)
Superior, well-managed companies tend to do well year after year. These are the ideal “ground” to plant your seed (i.e. money). Such companies typically do not resort to dishonesty or ethical gray areas. The results of such efforts (i.e. profits) are evident. As in farming, good ground can produce abundant fruit season after season.
“If a business does well, the stock eventually follows.” Warren Buffet.
Examine a Company’s Management
The value of good management can not be overestimated. Fashions may change with the seasons but a savvy management team can interpret tumultuous times as opportunities to be seized. The Bible recognizes that good character traits such as honesty, diligence, and hard work are better indicators of business success – or any other kind of success – than, say, the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the business regulatory environment, or similar other temporal environmental factors.“ The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5 (NIV)
“You only have to do a very few things right in your life as long as you don’t do too many things wrong.” Warren Buffet.
Invest for the Long Term
“Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.” Proverbs 13:11 (NIV)
Oftentimes, investors may get discouraged or stressed during times of underwhelming market performance. During such times, the superstar investors typically remain calmly confident in their investment strategies. They know that quality portfolios will endure till more prosperous times.
“Our favorite holding period is forever.” Warren Buffet
“Just because the price goes up doesn’t mean you’re right. Just because it goes
down doesn’t mean you’re wrong. Stock prices often move in opposite directions from the fundamentals but long term the direction and sustainability of profits will prevail.” Peter LynchBe Patient
“The plans of the diligent lead surely to advantage, But everyone who is hasty comes surely to poverty.” Proverbs 21:5 (NASB)
Warren Buffet on investing: “There are no called strikes.” Mr. Buffet occasionally is criticized for not buying anything during long stretches of time. However, he knows that the rewards of buying that one great company outweigh those of buying a few mediocre ones.
Have I missed anything? What Biblical principles do you know of that will assist in evaluating an investment opportunity?
Related posts:
]]>