The Parable of the Talents: A Parable for Business and Life

The Parable of the Talents

This parable is probably the one which has intrigued me more than any other.

Those given the talent of ability to begin with are entrusted with more.

No directions are given. The wealth (in this parable) is given to them in trust.

And they are now to get on with their lives.

It is a test.

Those who have made the most of what they have been given are given increased responsibility–and happiness.

Those who have not lose what they have been given–and it is given to those who already have a lot.

This parable, among all Jesus’s parables is the most true to life as I have observed and experienced it.

One starting point is random: different people are given different “talents”–intelligence, wealth, beauty, family connections, health….

To those who are diligent about using what they have is more given. And even more.

Those who are not diligent lose the little they have.

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

At a certain period in my life, I was the wicked and lazy servant–not making use of my education and writing gifts, not making the most of my financial resources. I experienced a bit of what Jesus talks about, seeing people who perhaps had less writing ability and training do far better than I because of diligence. And financially, I found myself with less disposable income than people who are more careful with their money.

And seeing that, this parable became tatooed on my mind and skin. I now am really nervous about not making the most of what I have been given–both material resources, and talents and abilities.

ATTITUDE

The former two servants go the extra mile. Is it fondness for their employer, or is it a finely developed sense of responsibility?

They prove worthy of the trust, they turn over all their proceeds to their employer. They are rewarded with increased responsibility–and happiness.

The third servant has a stingy attitude–he does not want the master to harvest where he has not sown.

He does not want to do anything more than the minimum, and has no interest in being a blessing to his master. No interest in the extra mile.

Because of his stinginess, he loses what he has, whereas the generous, helpful servant is rewarded.

That too is true: that a generous, helpful attitude, being willing to go the extra mile is richly rewarded in business, in life–whereas–for reasons that are not entirely obvious–never being willing to do more than the minimum, leads to failure and a general crimping of life.

FAITHFULNESS

Being faithful in small things is a sure way to expanded responsibility and recognition.

What has God entrusted you with today? Being faithful with it will lead to you having an enlarged territory, as Jabez expresses in his prayer.

A personal commission

Do the best you can with what God has given you. However, God does not judge people comparatively, but in accordance with the gifts he has given them to begin with.

How we handle spiritual truth

The parable, as Jesus says elsewhere, is to do with what one does with the spiritual truth one hears and understands.

Those who are faithful with obeying it, and living it out will be given even more spiritual insight and wisdom.

On the other hand, those who hear with no interest in obeying, and living out their spiritual insights will find themselves forgetting them, or retaining their once glowing spiritual insights as dull, tarnished, unappealing things.

Jesus concludes this parable in other synoptics by saying, “Let him who has ears to hear, hear.”

Personal Business Application

What is a good rate of return on an investment of money or effort?

The parable suggests 100% at least. Invest a £100, make £200, let’s say.

Is this possible? Yes. Not always at first, for business, like most things is an art which has to be learned.

The thing to focus on is leveraging one’s time, energy, talents, investments, raw materials, so as to obtain at least double of what you invested. I learned a lot about this principle of leveraging from a book I picked up second-hand, “The Lazy Man’s Guide to Riches.”

Here is Steve Pavlina’s take on the application of the parable of talents to business.

Excerpts:

What’s the ultimate reward for the faithful servants? Although Jesus doesn’t explicitly say it, it seems obvious they don’t get to keep the money. The two successful servants aren’t even working for their own increase. It’s not their money. They’re working for the increase of their master, and they share in the increase to his estate. Their true reward is to share in their master’s happiness. So happiness is the reward, and happiness comes from serving others.

I know from experience that if I undertake some action to create increase only for myself, there’s very little energy to it, and it doesn’t usually increase my happiness. But if I focus on creating increase for others (such as by helping people grow), then I feel great joy in doing that, and it ultimately creates increase for me too.

As Jesus implies in The Parable of the Talents, creating abundance requires you to move beyond fear. If you’re too fearful or suspicious or distrustful, you’re going to bury your talents. And this leads to “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” i.e. sorrow and depression.

You might think that fear and suspicion will keep you out of trouble, but really they’ll just cause you suffering and pain. You don’t need fear to avoid being a gullible idiot; for that you just need common sense. To live a life of abundance, you must ultimately move beyond fear and work to create abundance for others. Otherwise you’ll ultimately be cast out as worthless. Jesus doesn’t pull any punches here, youse bums.

Serve to create increase for others, and happiness is your reward. Bury your talents, and you get “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The choice is yours.

Readiness: Wise and Foolish Virgins, Blog Through the Bible Project

Wilhelm Von Schadow, Wise and Foolish Virgins.

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

¹ “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish and five were wise. ³ The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. ⁴ The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. ⁵ The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
⁶ “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

⁷ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹ “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

¹⁰ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

¹¹ “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

¹² “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

¹³ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Just one life. Just one. And at the end, we will meet Christ, the bridegroom.

Are we living in readiness for him? Or are we totally unprepared?

Christ says, “Be ready, because you don’t know the day or the hour. And when he returns, no one can help us out. We have to take personal responsibility for our readiness.

What it means to keep one’s lamp filled with oil varies according to our calling. For me, it would mean learning to keep my eyes on Jesus through the day. Being faithful to my calling as a writer, be it “less or more, or soon or slow, mean or high” as Milton writes about his calling in Sonnet 23.

It means being kind to my husband. Investing in my kids.

This is a quiet patch in my life; I am not as involved in church stuff as I normally have been, which means a kind of simplifying when it comes to the question of what God’s will for me is, what keeping my lamp full of oil means.

To keep my eyes on Jesus. To write. To love my husband. To try to mother my kids well.

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