Removing Stumbling Blocks: The Parable of the Talents... God is Not a Hard Man

In this paper I want to look at Jesus' parable of the Ten Talents in Matthew 25:14. Often I have read this parable and become very fearful of God and subject to depression because I thought the text was saying that God was mean or hard. As I grew to understand more of God's good Character through other texts and life experiences I revisited this passage and discovered 3 wonderful things that I want to share.

In this text God is portrayed as the master of a house who entrusts his servants with varying amounts of money to use while he is away on a long journey. Each servant knows that when the master returns he will want to know how they have stewarded those talents of money. Let's read the text:

"Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 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. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master's money." After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The 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.'
"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!'
"The man with the two talents also came. `Master,' he said, `you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.'
"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!'
"Then the man who had received the one talent came. `Master,' he said, `I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.' 
"His master replied, `You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
"`Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.'" Matthew 25:14-30

The first point I want to make is that the master (God) is good and not hard like the man accuses Him of being. Look at the accusation in the 1 talent man's response. The one talent man says:

"Master, I knew that you are a hard man,...." Matthew 25:24

That is a blatant LIE! We don't realize this at first, but the 1 talent man's response is a lie. No where in the text does the master or the other two servants have this attitude. In fact the master's response is nothing but cheerful and honest towards the first two servants. 

When I first read the next passage (verse 26) as a young man I mistakenly thought that God was agreeing with the 1 talent man's assessment of his character:

"So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?" Matt 25:26

However I always failed to notice the "?" Question Mark at the end of this verse! God isn't agreeing with the man's option about himself but posing a question! In fact the master of the house is directly disagreeing with the 1 talent man! In essence he is saying, "Oh, you knew I was a hard man did you?" Which is to say, "I am not a hard man. Why did you think I was?" This is more clearly revealed in Luke's account of a similar parable:

"You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in and reaping what I did not sow?" Luke 19:22

The second accusation here is that the master is so hard, demanding and mean that he requires a profit from his servants without even giving them anything to work with. Listen to the rest of verse 24:

"... you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed." Matt 25:24

Isn't this an amazing second LIE? The servant is accusing the master of not giving him anything to start with! In essence he is saying , "You expect a harvest without giving me any seed to sow with!" That is a fantastic lie because the master has clearly given the talents to each individual to start with. Perhaps this is why he calls the servant 'wicked' and 'lazy.' He has been given one talent but refused to use it.

Let's look at a second wonderful thing in this passage related to the 1 talent man. In verse 15 you discover the reason that God gave different talents to each individual. Look deeply into God's goodness. God gave different talents to each person because he knew the 'frame' or ability of each person and hand crafted the talents and responsibilities to each one.

"To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability." Matthew 25:15

Isn't that wonderful? Each of us is created by God in love and wonder (Psalms 139:13-14). He knows what we can handle and what we cannot handle. He knows what levels of stress and responsibility we can manage and what we cannot. Therefore he entrusts each of us with different resources to manage. Hence the different amounts of money to each servant.  And money is a huge responsibility to steward in a godly way. But these talents can also be our gifts of beauty, communication, influence, IQ, physical strength, sense of humor, musical gifting, management gifting, leadership etc... etc... God gifts us in a way that matches what our 'fiber' or emotional, mental and physical frame can handle! He cares about us in this way. And of course the talents are not just 1, 2 or 5 but the whole ranges of talents in between.

Therefore I think we can understand more about the 1 talent man's accusation against God. He is finding fault with God's choices. He refuses to trust that God has given him the exact amount of money or gifting to ensure that he will grow and develop into a mature man, be able to provide support for himself and also a return to give the master when he comes home. Instead he gets seduced by a lie.  That is really what is happening here. Nothing less than Satanic seduction of the mind. He begins to believe the lie that the master is hard. That he is unjust. That the master will demand an increase from him without even giving him anything to start with! Fear sets in deeply! He forgets that the master has given him one talent to use. Perhaps another thing that sets in is comparison! We rarely understand how dangerous and evil comparison is. Although the text does not say so, isn't it common for us to compare ourselves with other who have more talents and therefore reject our own talent? We refuse to use our own modest talent because comparison and made us despise the wisdom of God in giving us 1 talent! We presume ourselves more wise than the Almighty who cares for us! It boggles the mind, but that is what we are doing.

I often wonder why we don't embrace humility and agree with God and rejoice that we don't have to be faithful with 5 talents and all the associated responsibility? We can be faithful with our 1 talent and bring the same great joy to the master's heart just by being faithful? I think the bottom issue is that we are not entirely convinced that God really loves us. We have seen His heart, Jesus, tortured on the Cross to free us from the punishment due sin.... but we are still insecure. We remain semi-unconvinced that He really loves us and even likes us. But that can change. We can grow into perfect confidence that He loves us. Then we will be SECURE and free to be faithful in great responsibilities or small responsibilities.

Here is a massive key: Because we know that we are special to Him we don't need to find our 'uniqueness' or 'special-ness' through our gifting or anything else. As we gradually get this issue of God's acceptance (through the cross of Jesus) settled we become totally and wonderfully free! Free from comparison, free from fear, free from worry and a thousand other killers! Free from self-rejection! Free from self-hatred, because we hold ourselves in contempt because we don't have the talents or giftings that other people have. AThe love of God is freely given to absolutely every living person on the planet.

Thirdly I want to finish with highlighting the fact that the master is looking to reward the servants! This is His whole motivation. He is looking to share His HAPPINESS with people! Isn't that amazing that we have overlooked this aspect of his character? Look at his desire when he responds to the 5 and 2 talent men.

"Well done, good and faithful servant!... Come and share your master's happiness!" Matthew 25:21,23

I want to add one last encouragement regarding the 1 talent man (because I think this is where many of us feel we are). The master said he would have rewarded the 1 talent man for even doing the very least - just put the money to work with the banker so that interest could accrue. He didn't demand that the servant do some high intensity investing with the money! He didn't require the servant to break his back with unbearable work. God didn't require him hard labor. No, he could have just put it on deposit with the banker. God is not demanding more than we can do. That picture of God's emotions is another LIE! God is compassionate and gracious (Exodus 34:6).

"Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest." Matthew 25:27

May I also say that his parable is a good one to examine all the things that we assume but are not specified in the text. You are doing this all the time and you don't realize it. What tone do you hear in the master's voice? Anger or compassion? How loud are you imagining his voice? Really deep and loud, medium or soft but firm? What body language are you imagining? What is the 'coloring' of the whole encounter. The sacred text does not fill in all the things. We only 'assume' them, usually from our life experience and upbringing. We really need to get our 'assumptions' filled in by things we know to be true about God from other passages. (He really is slow to anger and abounding in love Exodus 34:6 - He isn't moody!)

Conclusion

The parable of the talents may frighten us at first but the more we look into it the more we will be encouraged. Firstly we will realize that the 1 talent man had entertained and accepted blatant lies about God's Character. He had chosen to believe that God was hard and mean. This was untrue. In fact God was good! Secondly he had forgotten that God had given him a talent to work with and instead come to believe that God demanded great increase without giving him anything to even start with. That was another blatant lie. Thirdly we find out that God is looking  for people to share His Happiness with! What a wonderful realization! And perhaps this is the sole reason He created mankind. God is looking to share His Happiness with those who respond to Him!