STUDIES ON STEWARDSHIP

CHAPTER THREE

THE STEWARDSHIP OF TALENTS

Our first study on this subject set before us the fact that stewardship is the care and management of what belongs to another. We found that because this is so, every believer has a stewardship to discharge, although there is woeful ignorance and selfishness in the average Christian concerning this. In our second study we considered more specifically the duty of every believer to be a good steward of the truth. That is, we found that since the Great Commission was committed to the churches, and since churches are composed of individuals, and can only discharge their duty as individuals, therefore every individual is responsible to Almighty God for the dissemination of gospel and doctrinal truth. We also observed that the truth has neither legs nor mouth, and so must travel upon human legs, and speak through human lips. And though some have a greater ability to teach or preach than others, yea, we find that some are specially called of God to these tasks, yet all can, by their lives, by their faith, by their attitude, be witnesses of the truth of God.

We come in our present study to consider the matter of stewardship of talents, or abilities. This is another realm in which personal inclination is too often made the interpreter of the revelation of God. Too often we want to read our duty in the light of our personal "want-to," but such the Scriptures do not teach.

It must be said in the beginning that the word "talent" in the usual sense of abilities does not appear in the Bible. The word appears several times in both the Old and New Testaments in the sense of a measure of weight, or a monetary designation. The well known passage in Matt. 25 where the word "talent" appears fourteen times has this latter sense. However, the principle that is taught in this passage is broad enough to cover almost any aspect of stewardship, for while the stewardship there was regarding a piece of money, anything else could as readily have been used to teach this. Richard Trench has the following to say about this aspect of this parable:

The parable has application to all times;—yet primarily to all persons; it was first addressed to the apostles alone, and the gifts for the exercise of the ministry, the powers which Christ has given to his Church, are signified, in the first place, by the committed talents. Seeing, however, that all are called in their measure to edify one another, that all Christians have a spiritual vocation, and are entrusted with gifts, more or fewer, for which they will have to render an account, the parable has application to all. While, too, it has relation first to spiritual gifts and capacities, yet it has not therefore no relation to those other gifts and endowments, as wealth, reputation, ability, which, though not in themselves spiritual, are yet given to men that they may be turned to spiritual ends,—are capable of being sanctified to the Lord, and consecrated to his service, and for the use or abuse of which, the professors will have also to render an account. There is, indeed, a witness for this in our English word "talent" which has come to signify any mental endowment, faculties, or powers whatsoever, a use which is of course entirely the growth of this parable, even as it is a proof of the manner in which it has worked itself into the thoughts and language of men."—Notes on the Parables, pp. 221, 222.

Since it is true that the word "talent" does not appear in the Bible in the sense which we generally think of it, we choose for our study, a text which employs the word "ability" instead. This is I Pet. 4:10-11: "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

Here then is our text for the stewardship of abilities, or talents. Here is the Scripture obligating each and every person that has received any of God’s gifts (the definite article is missing in the inspired Greek text, and hence, it literally is "a gift") to be good stewards of the same. The apostle Paul gives, in essence the same exhortation in Rom. 12:6ff. From this text in I Pet. 4 we wish to consider four things relative to the stewardship of ability, namely—

I. THE DIVERSITY OF THIS STEWARDSHIP.

This is seen in V10a It is obvious from several things that there are diversities of abilities that have been committed unto the care and use of believers. This is declared in the word, "According as each has received a gift," (literal rendering). Now we are assured by the apostle James that, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of light, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning," James 1:17. Therefore, whosoever has any good or perfect gift, has it from the hand of God the Father, and this is divided to every one individually as God wills by the Spirit. As it is written, "But all these worketh one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will," I Cor. 12:11.

The apostle has a considerable discussion of these diversities in I Cor. 12, which we will not take time to consider specifically at this time. Suffice it to say that the point that the apostle would make is, that within each congregation there is the necessity of diversity, just as the different members of the human body have each their appointed task, and none are to exalt the work or office of one member over another. In each congregation some must of necessity have a seemingly more honorable work than others, but every one fulfills a specific need, and not one is unimportant.

A few years ago some of the surgeons of the world decided that the tonsils had no function whatsoever, and so they advocated their removal as soon as practical. Now however they have had to revise their theory, for they have found that in the early years of a child’s life, this part of the human make-up does have a definite purpose, and that its removal will work against the good of the body. It is so in the Lord’s body, the church. Every truly born again member has his own God-given task. Some are more honorable while some are not so comely, but every one has a place and a part.

It will be noticed that this text in I Pet. 4 does not say "if any have received a gift," but, that it might be clearly manifest that there is a diversity of stewardship, and that every one partakes of it, it says, "as every man hath received a gift."

This brings us to observe another thing. Since there is this diversity of abilities, and since man is so constituted as he is, there is often the roaring of the green-eyed monster to be heard in the Christian ranks. We are verily guilty often times of envying those that are gifted with different abilities than we are, or who have different realms of work. But surely this is a great mistake on our part, for no one can rightly discharge any task except that for which he is fitted, and, consequently, that to which he is called.

God does not call any one to a task but that He also fits him, potentially, at least, to rightly discharge that task. Therefore when we envy another his position or work we are actually criticizing the appointment of God, and desiring for ourselves a work for which we are not qualified. To envy another his God-given work or position is to indict God’s wisdom and authority, and that is unprofitable. This writer honestly confesses that he has been guilty of this sin in regard to the work that has been committed to some of his brethren, and he has heard other preachers make this same confession. It is God that "sets in the church" the different abilities, I Cor. 12:28, and each of these has its own purpose, and all of them together are for, "The perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ," Eph. 4:12.

The diversity of abilities is necessary because of the diversity of needs within each congregation. Different congregations have different needs at different times, and therefore, the Lord gives abilities that fill those needs.

II. THE DUTY OF THIS STEWARDSHIP.

This duty is set forth in the words "even so minister the same one to another," V 10b. No one is given any ability simply for his own pleasure profit, or pride. Any time the Lord gives an individual some ability, it is meant to be used. "But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal," I Cor. 12:7. Several versions translate the latter part of this verse, "For the common good," and this seems to be the sense of the passage. This is one of the purposes of the church, to edify and strengthen itself by the mutual help of the members. This is the essence of the stewardship of abilities.

Just as the servants of Matt. 25 had the money committed unto them that they might use it for their master, so this stewardship of abilities is to be used profitably for the Master, and no man can excuse himself because "I do not have much ability? In referring to this Richard Trench say:

But there remains one who has not yet given in his account, and it has been often observed how solemn a warning there is, and to how many, in the fact, that he to whom only the one talent had been committed, is the very one who is found faulty—since an excuse like the following might very easily occur to such: "So little is committed to my charge, that it matters not how I administer that little; at the best I cannot do much for God’s glory; what signifies the little, whether it be done or left undone?" But here we are instructed that the Lord looks for fidelity in little as well as in much."—Notes on the Parables, p. 225.

 

This gets back to what has already been observed, namely, that duty is too often made to hinge upon personal inclination, which has no place in stewardship. Neither personal inclination, personal reasoning, personal profit nor any other personal thing is to take precedence over duty. J. B. Gambrell says:

Over and over, it should be said that in the sphere of religion, most of all, obedience is most needed—needed as a doctrine, as a divine principle, not to be put aside under any stress... The doctrine of stewardship, not the delights of it, but the divine doctrine of it, with many is set aside, as if it were a mere matter of human pleasure."—Baptists and their Business, pp. 82, 83.

But duty in any realm receives its authority, not from the will of the person under obligation, but from the will of the one decreeing the duty. We are obligated to the duty of this stewardship, not because we may be inclined to do it, but because it is a duty inclination or disinclination does not affect this duty at all.

As in the parable in Matt. 25, so in the matter of stewardship of abilities today, we need to view it in the light of the following facts. (1) That the Lord, though presently away, is yet to return again. (2) That there will be an accounting at that time. (3) That then "every one of us shall give account of himself to God," Rom. 14:12, and that then "every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad," II Cor. 5:10.

That there is obligation where there is the gift of ability is declared in no uncertain terms by Paul in II Cor. 9:8, and while the stewardship of temporalities is in the fore view, it is obvious that all kinds of stewardship are encompassed in principle. He says, "God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."

From this we note following things. (1) God is the One that is both able, and who does make grace abound toward us in supplying every need. This is almost identical in meaning to what James says in James 1:17 about God being the source of all good and perfect gifts. (2) There is a purpose declared of God’s graciousness toward us. "That" is the Greek clause of purpose (hina). Any time God makes His grace abound toward us, whether it be in an increase of material possessions, mental endowments, or spiritual accomplishments, it is in order that there might be a sufficiency so we can "abound to every good work." (3) A sufficiency or an abundance of the aforesaid things are not given simply for our own sakes. They are given into our hands as stewards "of the manifold grace of God," to be administered by us. (4) "Abound to every good work," is the purpose to which these things are given, and we fail in our duty if we do not discharge our stewardship to this end.

Our text sets before us plainly the duty of every one to administer any gift that may have been given to him. To do this is to be "a good steward of the manifold (variegated, many-sided, many-colored) grace of God." But we must further consider how we are to rightly administer this stewardship, therefore we note—

III. THE DISCHARGE OF THIS STEWARDSHIP.

This is seen in V 10f -11. There is to be a discriminate use of whatever is committed unto us. We are not at liberty to discharge this stewardship in any way that it may please us. Charles C. Cook has well said of the stewardship of giving what we need to realize is true in all realms of stewardship. He says:

A steward who would be faithful will not give indiscriminately. There are times when it is the duty of a steward not to give, for there are times when giving will do more harm than good. Business men of our great cities are besieged, day after day, by all sorts of applications for assistance. Along with those who seek help for legitimate objects there mingles a great host of impostors and frauds. It is no virtue to give to everybody." —Stewardship and Missions, p. 102.

Jesus Himself said, "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you," Matt. 7:6. And the wise man said, "There is a time to keep, and a time to cast away," Eccl. 3:6. Especially in spiritual matters, there are many that hold the truth in contempt, and one wastes his time and abilities in trying to present the truth to them. This explains why the Savior said what He did in Luke 10:10-11, and the apostles subsequently practiced this, Acts 13:46-51.

The world considers it the height of charity to disperse what one has far and wide, never inquiring as to when or where or how one is to discharge his stewardship. But our text says that we are to be "good stewards of the manifold grace of God? This we cannot do without being discriminate in our stewardship. To illustrate: some years ago a young seminary student, touched with the financial crisis of a fellow student, determined to give his tithe to him, instead of putting it into the church. This was not only not good stewardship, it was not stewardship at all. God’s house is the place for the tithe to be put, and to put it elsewhere is manifestly wrong for it contradicts God’s command. Had this person put his tithe into the church, and then, above the tithe, given an offering to the needy, this would have been commendable.

In the discharge of the stewardship of our abilities we are not free to follow any wild idea that may enter our carnal brains. We are not given license to follow any wild extravagance that may be suggested by human reasoning. "As good stewards" is a definite limitation upon our discharge of this duty. Two examples are given here. First, if a man has the ability to speak, he is not at liberty to speak any message or doctrine that may occur to him. He is limited in V 11a: "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God (the Holy Scriptures)." This is the mistake of every false teacher and heretic that ever arose. They conceived their own doctrines and messages, and then sought for Scripture timber to shore it up. Not so is the good steward to discharge his stewardship.

The second limitation is, "if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth." This has a two-fold aspect about it, which looks at it from the negative and positive sides. First, he is responsible as far as he has ability. Therefore, he cannot plead that since he has not as much ability as someone else, he has no duty whatsoever. This has a parallel in the writings of Paul, who says, "For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not," II Cor. 8:12. Because a man has not as much ability as someone else has, he is not therefore excused from any duty; he is accountable for what ability he has, no more and no less. In the second place, whatever ability he has, whether great or small, he is accountable for that to discharge it faithfully, for faithfulness is the standard of judgment, not how much ability he has.

The two parts of V 11 are broad enough to cover any aspect of Christian stewardship. The "speaking" part encompassing preaching, teaching, witnessing, exhortation, encouragement, etc., while "ministering" will cover almost anything else that is not covered by the first part. Therefore, we note that our stewardship is to be discharged in harmony with the Divinely given authority and ability. If any person fails in his duty, it is solely his own fault, for he has been authorized and empowered by the Lord, and any hindrance to his duty arises from the human will alone.

IV. THE DIRECTION OF THIS STEWARDSHIP.

This is to be seen in V 11c. The ends to which we direct our stewardship duties will make a great deal of difference in whether we discharge them faithfully or unfaithfully. One may preach the Gospel as purely as is humanly possible, and yet if he does it for self-exaltation then he has not faithfully discharged his stewardship. Our text, using the Greek clause of purpose, sets forth the glory of God as the grand object of our faithful discharge of stewardship: "that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

The chief purpose of man’s existence is to glorify God, and he that does not is as barren fruit trees; he only cumbers the ground. The duty of glorifying God is given in many places. "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God, I Cor. 10:31. "For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God," I Cor. 6:20. "Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ," Eph. 5:20. This is the reason that all our stewardship should be directed this way. It is our duty, and it a reasonable duty.

But a secondary reason is also declared for our faithful discharge of the stewardship of our abilities. In a sense, this is not another reason, but is only the outworking of the one grand purpose of our faithful stewardship. This we read in Eph. 4:12: "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ." When we faithfully discharge our stewardship we will build up our fellow members in the faith, we will help them along toward the consummate goal of Christian perfection to be reached at Christ’s return and we will be a part of the ministry of our church. Is our stewardship directed this way? In many instances it is not, to our shame, but this is the goal, this is the only acceptable purpose for our stewardship. If we take another purpose, it will be for our shame in the day of rewards.

Our Lord is worthy of all the praise that we can render unto Him as it written: Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created," Rev. 4:11. Man is unworthy of the very least of God’s glory, and he is a thief that thinks to share God’s glory. But the Lord says, "I will not give my glory to another," Isa. 48:11. See also Isa. 42:8.

Christian brother or sister, how faithful have you been with your God-given abilities? The stewardship that you have rendered, has it been for God’s glory alone, or have you taken the choice bits of praise for yourself? Lost person, are you like the wicked servant that not only refused to use his abilities for the Lord, but also slandered the Lord for expecting a return upon His gifts? If so, you shall some day find yourself cast "into outer darkness" where there shall be "weeping and gnashing of teeth," Matt. 25:30.

Every one of us has abilities of some kind. When we received these, we received a duty with them. In the light of our text, no one has an excuse for unfaithfulness. Let us strive for faithfulness in stewardship, for "it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful," I Cor. 4:2.