They asked her, not me.
As I stared at the email announcing my friend as the speaker for an upcoming event, disappointment flooded my heart. I have to admit, she’s more gifted than I am in several ways, and she has a high capacity for serving the Lord. But even though she was an obvious choice, her honor felt like my dishonor.
The world naturally rewards those who are most gifted, who have the highest capacities and the largest social media followings. But what about in the kingdom of God? Does being entrusted with less gifting or opportunity mean our work for the Lord is less valuable?
I imagine Thaddeus had the same question.
Entrusted with Less
You remember Thaddeus, right?
No? He’s one of the 12 disciples mentioned further down the list—or not at all. When Jesus told the parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14–30), I picture Thaddaeus wondering to himself, Well, we all know the five-talent guy is Peter. Does that make me the guy with two?
If Jesus’s purpose was simply to contrast investing versus burying, he could have told a simpler two-person parable. Instead, Jesus told a three-person story, where—true to life—the servants are given mismatched amounts. And while the story certainly issues a warning against burying our talents, the story also offers a lesson for disciples like Thaddeus (and perhaps you and me) who have been entrusted with significantly less.
Less resources. Less giftedness. Less influence. Less opportunity.
Those of us with less often think of our opportunities to serve the Lord as less significant—but that’s exactly what this story corrects.
Reasons to Invest Our Less
Here are three encouragements for the servant with less.
1. Less doesn’t equal little.
In today’s dollars, a talent would be worth about $600,000, so please don’t feel sorry for the one-talent guy. Just because he was entrusted with less, doesn’t mean he was entrusted with little. The same is true for us.
No matter how little our resources, influence, or responsibilities seem compared to some nearby “Peter,” God doesn’t count our less as little. Think of the woman who gave her two copper coins; Jesus said she had given more than all the others (Mark 12:41–44)—which means he measures differently than people do.
2. God knows your capacity.
The master divvied up the talents (which was a measurement of about 70 pounds) according to each servant’s ability or capacity. Since the servants received varying amounts, we can infer they had differing capacities—and the master knew it.
Does the Lord not also know our individual capacities? If we’re wringing our hands, hanging our heads, or burning the midnight oil because of what we haven’t been able to accomplish, perhaps we need to take an honest look at our God-given gifts—and limitations.
The Lord already knows about the chronic pain, the caregiving demands, the disability, or the financial strain we bear. All he asks is that we invest what we’ve been entrusted with—even if it’s less than others around us.
3. Faithfulness matters more than results.
The one-talent guy is the obvious bad example in the story. But look at the two-talent guy. He, too, was given far less than the five-talent guy. And isn’t that when we’re most often tempted to become complacent? Yet the two-talent guy kept diligently investing and—like the five-talent guy—doubled what he’d received.
All God asks is that we invest what we’ve been entrusted with—even if it’s less than others around us.
So one servant produced more than twice the other. But remarkably, they’re given the same word-for-word commendation: “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (Matt. 25:21, 23).
In the kingdom, apparently our rewards aren’t simply a product of our results. These servants aren’t being rewarded for being good and prosperous or good and productive; they’re rewarded for being good and faithful.
Different Capacity, Same Opportunity
Unlike the world, the kingdom of God doesn’t measure success by followers, titles, or net worth. Whether we have the capacity to take our entrusted lot and produce four talents or 10, we each have the opportunity to be faithful.
One of us can raise two kids and another can raise five—and we can both be good and faithful parents who hear, “Well done.”
One of us can serve a church of 200 and another a church of 500—and we can both be good and faithful ministry workers who hear, “Well done.”
One of us can give $2,000 in tithes and offerings and another $50,000—and we can both be good and faithful givers who hear, “Well done.”
We can be outdone by the world’s measures and still hear that commendation from our Father. Doesn’t that change everything between us as fellow servants of the Lord? It allows us to turn even to the one (like my friend) who’s been given greater capacity and opportunities and say, “I hope you’ll be faithful. I hope you’ll hear, ‘Well done.’”
The Gospel Coalition