A good investment
Scripture has quite a bit to say about judgment. We talked about it at length in foxhole this week, as we considered the parable of the minas in Luke 19, verses 11-27. I’m very thankful for this group of wise and faithful friends.
In this parable, ten servants were entrusted with assets and the expectation that there would be a return on investment when the master returned. When accounts were settled, the servants who had invested their master’s funds were commended and rewarded with expanded authority. The servant who fearfully played it safe received a harsh reprimand and lost the assets he’d been given.
The foxhole conversation was lively and rich (no small feat at 6:30 AM). We discussed the “minas” in our lives and the metrics involved in receiving a reward from the King. I’d be lying if I said we walked out with 100% certainty in all the nuances of the teaching, but we were encouraged in some takeaways.
The King will return and there will be a day of judgment, resulting in reward and punishment.
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. -2 Corinthians 5:10 (ESV)
There are unique areas of giftedness (see the distribution in the parable of the talents in Matthew 25), but there are many blessings the King provides in equal measure to all His servants. (We found at least a dozen.)
So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. 'Put this money to work,' he said, 'until I come back.' -Luke 19:13 (NIV)
We all have assets and a mission, but we will not all have the same results. That being the case, it is counterproductive to compare ourselves to others.
Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding. -2 Corinthians 10:12 (ESV)
The King does not intend for His faithful servants to live in dread of His returning.
We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. -1 John 4:16-18 (NASB)
When we invest the assets entrusted to us, we are doing what we were made to do.
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. –Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)
While there is intentionality in the investing, there is a dynamic that occurs when we are walking with Him: Investing begins to happen naturally, sometimes without our even realizing it.
For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image. -2 Corinthians 3:17-18 (NLT)
One member of our foxhole gave us three keys. We thought they were good, so we wrote 'em down:
Start where you are.
Use what you’ve got.
Do what you can.
Heads up, eyes open, men. Keep making the investments that yield Kingdom returns!