COVID-19, The Parable Of The Talents, And How The Church Is Hurting God
Jesus once told a parable about a wealthy man who entrusted some talents to his servants while he went away on a journey.
Talent?
A talent, in case you were wondering, was a huge sum of money. Some scholars, in fact, say that one talent might have been the equivalent of 15 years of wages. And in Jesus’ story this rich guy gives the first servant FIVE talents, the second servant TWO talents, and the last servant ONE talent.
So …
1 guy got 75 years of wages.
Another got 30 years.
And another got 15 years.
… Each guy got a lot of cash.
Anyways, so Jesus says that the landowner asked the servants to take care of his money and then went away on a journey and when he came back he went to find the servants to see how well they took care of his cash.
The guy who had the 5 talents used it to earn 5 more and received an epic applause from the master.
The guy who had 2 talents used it to earn 2 more and (also) received an epic applause.
BUT.
The last guy.
Oh, the last guy.
He hid his 1 talent under his mattress while the master was away and when he came back he ran into his house and happily brought it out - “here you go, sir. Just like you left it!”
Why?
Why would he do such a thing when the other 2 servants clearly did the opposite?
This is what the servant says …
“Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.”
At this Jesus says that the master was enraged and had the man tossed out to the “outer darkness” (whatever that is) where there was “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (whatever that means).
What’s the deal?
Growing up the sermons I heard about this passage told me that it was all about the “talents” - God gives us ALL talents and abilities, the pastors said, and expects us to multiply them and to use them for good in the world; and so when we do what the first 2 servants did and put our talents and gifts and abilities to work, God is happy.
We receive his applause.
His smile.
His approval.
His blessing.
BUT.
When we do what the 3rd servant did and hide our talent away and don’t use our gifts and abilities for good and don’t do anything with them, this makes God angry and puts us in danger of some steep punishment and judgement and wrath and all sorts of terrible things like sickness and financial troubles and marital problems, etc.
I guess that interpretation could work, but what if there’s something else here?
A few weeks ago I talked to Amy-Jill Levine on the podcast and she brought a lot of peace to my mind regarding the parables of Jesus. AJ is a Jewish Scholar and professor at Vanderbilt University and she said something super interesting to me. I was talking to her about the parables of Jesus and I said that sometimes I take some heat from scholars and professors and theologians and blah blah blah who have studied the parables their whole lives and insist that they can only mean 1 or maybe 2 different things … and so I asked her (a Jewish scholar who is trained in the art of parables) if that’s true.
She laughed and said, “no”, and then pointed out that the beauty of the parable is the many forms it can take and the many different ideas and applications that can come from one of these simply complex 1st century stories.
And so what if - what if this story has a different point?
What if it really has nothing to do with talents?
What if it has nothing to do with the “gifts that God gives us”?
What if it has nothing to do with working to develop our talents and do good in the world?
And I wonder that because the master wasn’t really mad until the servant accused him of being a “hard man” who did some terrible things like take land that wasn’t his.
Right?
But, here’s the thing: the story doesn’t say anything about the master being mean.
Does it?
Go ahead and read it for yourself - Matthew 25:14-30.
In fact, he seems pretty chill … chill enough to entrust some servants with 100+ years worth of wages. The story really doesn’t give us any reason to think or assume with the 3rd servant that the master is a hard man who does mean things to people. Just the opposite, in fact.
Right?
And so what if what most upset the master wasn’t that the servant hid the talent and did nothing with it, but that the servant’s actions were driven by a false representation of the master?
Hm.
What if the master was upset with the servant because he was wrongly judged and falsely accused of being a tyrant?
What if the sin of the servant was that he created in his mind a master who was evil and and mean and harsh when in reality the master was nothing more than …
Good?
And loving?
And trusting?
… Something to consider, I think.
In these crazy times of COVID-19 it saddens me to see a lot of churches and church leaders partnering with the 3rd servant.
No, they’e not hiding their talents.
No, they’re not refusing to use their gifts.
No, they’re not neglecting their abilities.
BUT.
They’re creating a God in their minds who is full of wrath, full of fury, full of judgement, and ready to drop a deadly virus on the world in order to turn everyone back to him … and that mental image of God is causing them to use their “talents” of preaching and teaching in toxic, harmful, terrible and horrific ways.
And.
Honestly.
I think this hurts God and I long for the day when he will toss such toxic theologies and doctrines out into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth so that we can all rest in the rich embrace of her loving arms.
God’s not mad, my friends.
Much love,