Families are torn apart by it, jobs are lost because of it, and our economy is the result of it. What is it? It is mismanagement. This week, Dr. Evans addresses the topic of mismanagement from a Biblical perspective as a continuation of his sermon series, “Free At Last.” Freedom, as defined by Dr. Evans, is release from illegitimate bondage to reach the divine purpose for our lives as a result of creation and redemption. It involves maximizing our potential within the context of legitimate boundaries. Therefore, we must live life as it was intended to be lived. As stated previously, freedom requires us to accept responsibility; however, responsibility must be managed. Freedom requires good management of the possessions that God owns.
We are managers rather than owners of the possessions with which God has entrusted us. In today’s scripture passage, we find that Jesus used an earthly parable to teach spiritual truths about the rule of God referred to as the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus compared the rule of God to a wealthy man who entrusted talents, generous sums of money, to the managerial oversight of three servants while he traveled on a long journey. To each servant he entrusted a different amount, based upon his ability. This parable beautifully portrays how God entrusts his possessions to his servants to fulfill the purposes of His Kingdom. God has given every one of us three possessions to manage---time, a skill set, and treasures. First of all, each of us has been given an allotment of time until our divinely designated appointment with death. The idea of time in the Bible includes more than falling sands in an hour glass; it is the boundary within which opportunities are presented. The second possession given to us is ability. God has given each of us a skill set to utilize for the purposes of the fulfillment of the Kingdom of Heaven. Thirdly, we are given treasures. These are the monetary resources and material possessions that God has allowed us to acquire. We must always remember that we are not the owners but simply the managers of these three possessions, which, in truth, belong to God. The moment we adopt an attitude of ownership, we place ourselves in opposition to God. We must keep the right perspective if we intend to hear Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” We must be accountable.
We are accountable for our management. Once the master in the parable above dispensed with the delegation of his possessions, he continued on his long journey. In his absence, the first two servants traded their talents while the third one hid his. Upon his return, the master required each of the servants to give an account for their management of his possessions. The first two servants received rewards while the third servant received punishment because he did not develop what was entrusted to him. Similarly, God expects us, his servants, to develop and expand His possessions. Freedom gives us the opportunity to increase our possessions for His Kingdom, but we must also take responsibility for good management. God is not micromanaging our lives. Maturity requires no micromanagement, but it does require utilizing time wisely as we make the most of our opportunities. As the text states, “Immediately, the one…went and traded them, and gained five more.” In other words, we are to be productive. Like the servants in the parable, Jesus will hold us accountable for the time, ability, and treasures he has entrusted to us as stewards. We must exert every effort to develop God’s investment in our lives. Our prayer requests should be guided by our managerial abilities. We should not request more from God if we are not currently managing well what he has already given to us. What happens if we manage God’s possessions poorly?
Poor management leads to loss. Unlike the first two servants, the third one made no effort to increase the master’s possession entrusted to him. Instead, motivated by fear, he hid his talent in the ground and awaited his master’s return. He was unwilling to face risk. In response to his behavior, his master described him with three words: wicked, lazy, and worthless. Perhaps the master said “wicked” because the servant wanted to keep the talent. He may have described him as “lazy” because he did not even attempt to complete the minimal task of placing the money in a savings account to earn interest. He was “worthless” because he did not add any value to the kingdom. When we make excuses that we do not have time to read the Bible, pray, or grow in our faith, we, too, are being lazy. The problem we face is one of prioritizing because we find time for things we desire to do, such as watching football games on television, attending cultural events, listening to a favorite talk show host, etc. The repercussion of poor resource management is the loss of resources. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves hearing the same words that the master spoke in regard to the third servant, “Therefore, take away the talent from him…”
To live a life of freedom is a wonderful thing, and it is God’s purpose for our lives. However, freedom includes responsibility, which requires good management. To prevent mismanagement, we must realize that all we have belongs to God; He will hold us accountable for how we handle His possessions. We must act in faith. From a human perspective, acting in faith seems to involve some risk, but it is a risk we must take. If we are found unfaithful with his possessions, we will suffer loss. If at this point we realize that we are in the same condition as the third servant, we need to change. Time and opportunities of the past are lost forever; however, we can seize the time we have left to compensate for the time lost. We must strive to be good managers of the possessions God has entrusted to us from this point until His return.
