At last, an update for my three readers. Sorry for the delay.
I was listening to a sermon on the radio today about the Parable of the Talents. It caused me to reflect on the relationship between our salvation and our judgment.
Though we may be saved, we are still going to be judged before Christ in the end. We may have heaven secured, but the rewards can be much greater. We still have the chance of feeling like we will "suffer great loss" when entering the Kingdom, judged by what we've done with what God has given each of us.
In the Parable of the Talents, the master gives each servant talents (amounts of money) to take care of while he is away. The first servants go out with the talents they are given, and multiply them, while the third servant buries his. When the master returns, he is pleased with the first two servants and promises them rewards and sharing in his happiness. However, when it comes to the third servant who did nothing with his talents, but instead hid them out of fear, the master becomes very upset, and tells him to leave his sight.
The explanation of the parable is clear. When we became Christians, we were given the gift of salvation, but also of knowledge. We all know the Gospel and the power of its saving message. But what are we doing with it? Are we leading others to Jesus? Would a bystander be able to identify us as Christians by observing our behaviors and our words? While we may be saved by grace, we will still be judged by our works. When we stand in front of Jesus and have to give an account of our lives, which servant will you best identify with?
At this point in my life, I think I'd be closest to the third servant. I don't know if I've led anybody to Christ. He's clearly instructed us to, it's an obligation of ours. But sometimes I can't help but feel like the firefighter watching a building burn down without trying to stop it. I have the tools and knowledge to save the building, but I'm scared of the flames.
12 comments:
Great post. Of course, I was raised more Protestant, by a financial adviser, so I thought it was just about compounding interest and making your money work for you.
Good post. It is a good reminder that we are suppose to be using are spiritual gifts. Don't be discouraged because sometimes we don't see immediate results.
"our" not "are" sorry. I am not stupid just typing fast.
Perhaps you only think you are that third man when in fact you could be unknowingly amongst the first...
Do not discouraged. We have been ingrained with fear of talking about Jesus because it is not politically correct and you don't want to be indentified as one of those religious nuts. We are tame compared to those who want to kill you if you offend their god.
As a saved child of Christ, you have something others don't. Upon salvation, you are indwelled with the Holy Spirit. He will give you the words to say when the timing is right. Planting seeds are what we do and He is responsible for the increase.
I have a person at work come to me one day and say, "you're a Christian, aren't you?". He had an uncle that passed away at age 50 and he was very unsettled. It gave me the opportunity to talk about eternal life and the comfort I feel if something happened to me today. A couple of weeks later, he accepted Christ. Remember, your light shines every day because you have Him in you!
You know, the key to your post is your statement that "you haven't led anyone to Christ". That's exactly right. None of us are responsible for saving someone. All we're told to do is present the facts - just the facts ma'am. The rest is up to the holy spirit. Sometimes you sow seeds, sometimes you reap. It takes lots of seeds to get something to grow. So it's not how much have you earned (or reaped), it's how much seed did you sow?
And don't forget when you raise little McQ-ettes that you'll probably raise them to be religious, as they likely will with their kids. The #1 factor in someone's religion is their parents' religion, so you got that going for you.
And the anonymous poster gave me a pretty good laugh. "He will give you the words to say when the timing is right."
It reminded me of Conan talking about Crom, "If I die, I have to go before him, and he will ask me, "What is the riddle of steel?" If I don't know it, he will cast me out of Valhalla and laugh at me."
Just to check, anon's post gave you a laugh because it reminded you of Conan, not because of the substance of the post, right?
Thanks for the comments everybody. King, maybe you should start a Conan blog.
Anon, that's a cool story about your co-worker. I guess that's kindof the thing I've been thinking about lately.
Gregg, I hear what you're saying. Makes complete sense. I've tried to plant seeds, I guess if I just scatter some more seeds, there will be a better chance of some taking plant?
Craig, I guess our spiritual gifts are the key. I'm not 100% sure what mine is yet.
Don't diminish the place of planting seeds and watering. You might not have seen the reaping of a harvest, but I'm sure you are planting seeds and watering seeds in the lives of people you know and through this blog with people you don't know. Remember we are to be His witnesses. He didn't say go and do witnessing. He said be my witness. Every Christian who follows Christ is being his witnesses by being that light in a dark world. Keep up the good work. There is now therefore NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Mcq,God blesses obedience and Christ said if you love me follow my commandments. As you go out daily into a spiritual battlefield, let your light shine. Witnessing takes all forms, but never hide your light. When someone sees how you react to things, how you converse showing your kindness, they see something different than those around them. Everything we as Christians do or say is looked at by others. We are Christ's ambassadors on earth. And you are; therefore, multiplying the talents He has given you.
Humility is a hard thing to learn, and even though we struggle in tough reality checks at times, we will often forget it, and require another lesson.
Dont get down on yourself, carry on with the joy and light that Christ has put in you, do not let the devil get a foothold.
As far as spiritual gifts, know that the Paul is the only author that talks about them, and never does he give an all-inclusive list. We plant the seeds and water them if possible, but its the persons choice to believe or not.
Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance are the fruits of the spirit. Notice "winning souls" isnt one of them. But its through these actions that the world will see Christ.
I like Karla's allusion to the seeds. It reminds me of Christ talking about the sower who flung seeds everywhere, spreading them to both rock and good soil. It's tempting to just think this guy was a horrible farmer . . . until we realize that the sower is God. We are responsible for the use of our talents, but in humility we recognize that God is the source and support.
To be frank, when considering the parable of the talents, I would be suspicious of anybody who didn't feel fear that they were the third servant.
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