Okay so there’s the parable of the 10 Talents found in Matthew 25:14-30. If you don’t know what I’m talking about … go read it.
I was taught this Bible Story when I was a little guy in Sunday School. I always believed this parable was about investing and utilizing whatever gifts God gave us for His purposes. If God blessed you with money, give. If God blessed you with musical ability, play and minister. If God blessed you with ability to fix cars, fix them for the needy. Etc. Etc.
Dude, that’s not at all what this story is about! I think my Sunday School teacher was a bit off…
The parable of the talents is SURROUNDED with teaching and parables about the END TIMES and the Judgment of God, starting in Chapter 24. This parable must be read within the context of eschatology (the study of the end times). We can’t overlook how this parable ends, speaking of the servant who did nothing, “And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Whoa. Dude. Like, serious. Am I the only one who has missed the true meaning of this parable until now?
I’m quoting my NIV Study Bible because it says it best, “Being ready for Christ’s [second] coming involves more than playing it safe and doing little or nothing. It demands the kind of service that produces results.”
Christians, don’t just play it safe and do little. Only those who live whole-hearted for Christ are worthy to be called disciples (Luke 14:27). From what I can tell of the scriptures, everyone else will spend eternity in hell. “We are saved by faith alone, but faith that saves is never alone.”