He came before the Lord, rather satisfied he hadn’t done anything wrong “I went and hid your talent in the ground Here you have what is yours” The servant was staggered as “his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave, take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents [and] throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth — (Mt 25:25-30 NRSV as other quotes).
We may not know how precisely this parable describes the actual process of meeting Christ at the Judgment seat, but there is no mistaking its message idleness is fatal.
I’ll do it wrong!
Ideally, we should all be like the servants who Joyously served their lord with a love that did not know fear Human nature being what it is, however, some of us may fear our Lord, Just like the unworthy servant in the parable We may neglect doing things in his service because we’re afraid we’ll give a poor prayer, be inappropriate when consoling a sick person, turn away an interested friend, hit the wrong notes when accompanying hymns and make any number of other mistakes.
Be assured, active people make mistakes! We can be absolutely certain that if we’re as active for the Lord as we should be, we’ll do plenty of things below standard, if not plainly wrong Yet that is far superior to doing nothing at all There’s an extended comment m I Corinthians 3 which at first seems threatening, but upon reflection is very encouraging in this regard.
Using the figure that the ecclesia at Corinth is a temple of God, Paul states he laid the right foundation m Jesus Christ, but now the various members were active in the community and adding to the structure Their activities could be of excellent quality – likened to gold, silver and precious stones to adorn the temple In other cases, however, some would be adding “wood, hay, straw,” as they made serious blunders in the community of believers There is a day coming when, “the work of each builder will become visible, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done If what has been built on the foundation survives, the builder will receive a reward If the work is burned up, the builder will suffer loss, [but] the builder will be saved, but only as through fire” (I Cor 3:10-15)
The builder will be saved! Not like the fearful servant who did nothing, he will be utterly lost Yes we may fear making mistakes even to the point of doing harm But we must not let fear of poor performance reduce us to idleness for the exhortation is plain – do something, because idleness is fatal.
Do it now
Preceding the parable of the talents is that of the ten bridesmaids Again the parable probably doesn’t teach details of the process of the judgment seat, in this parable the righteous and wicked do not appear together before the judge, as they do in the two following parables But again a clear principle is taught – we seal our fate now.
Neither the bridesmaids with oil nor those without could change their situation once they were awakened by the call This agrees with what we are told m another place “It is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment” (Heb 9 27) Our activity for the Lord must be done now, before it is too late In the period between resurrection and judgment, we will not be able to change our fate We will not be able to fall away and we will not have opportunity to repent, so the time to make a difference is now In this generation, so near to the Lord’s return, the principle takes on a measure of urgency Doing something now is the exhortation, don’t keep putting it off
There’s nothing for me to do!
Theoretically we know every member of the body of Christ has a vital role to play Paul tells us that Jesus Christ is the head of the body of believers and from him, “the whole body [is] joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love” (Eph 4 16) No matter how young or old, how infirm or burdened we are, we are part of the body of Christ and each part must be working for the whole body to grow properly.
That’s the theory, and it’s a theory which holds true in practice Just look around to see there is something for everybody to do We see it in this issue of the magazine – mission areas asking for retired couples and single persons to help in various ways, preaching efforts, ranging from Bible seminars to lectures for the deaf, needing support, a full schedule of study days, Bible schools, fraternal gatherings, etc, each one needing workers of every kind Something for everyone to do is also easy to see when we visit an aged sister and find she’s so busy with correspondence, we have to address envelopes in order to talk with her Mothers and fathers have a golden opportunity m the service of Christ if they will only view their little ones as potential converts And the number of working mothers today gives much opportunity for others to help them in many ways.
Every part of the body is important and every part has a function to perform That’s true of the natural body and the spiritual There’s something for each of us to do, now.
I can’t make a difference
If we diligently work for years in the service of the Lord and look back and say, “I didn’t accomplish anything,” we’re in good company Elijah complained he was the only faithful person left, he felt all his preaching had gone for nought At the end of his life, Paul despaired, “all who are in Asia have turned away from me” (II Tim 1:15) Even the Lord Jesus lamented, “I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity” (Isa 49:4).
If giants of faith feel discouraged, how much more are we likely to feel the same But look how much they did for their own generation and beyond Sometimes we are doing great good and don’t even know it Furthermore, we have this consolation our very effort to serve God glorifies Him and gives Him pleasure (Hag 1:8 KJV).
Whether or not we make any tangible difference is not the point This present probationary period is but a training ground for the far greater work to come m the kingdom of God That’s what we’re looking forward to and that’s where, if we are part of the rulership of that age, we will have great impact in guiding mortals to godliness.
Rather than becoming immobilized by the limited success, or failure, of our efforts, let’s get deeply involved m the Lord’s service so that, when he comes, he will welcome us into his kingdom as servants who have not been idle, for idleness is fatal.
The Solution