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The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) Does NOT Endorse Capitalism

By Jeremy Myers
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The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) Does NOT Endorse Capitalism
https://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/974704474-redeeminggod-parable-of-the-talents-matthew-2514-30.mp3

In this podcast episode, we will  discuss GameStop, answer a reader question about pornography and masturbation, and take a look at the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 to show why this parable does NOT endorse capitalism.

Someone was Right: The System is Rigged

show me the moneyIf you haven’t heard about what happened in the stock market this week with GameStop, AMC Theaters, Nokia, and a few other stocks, then you probably are listening to fake news.

In this podcast, I briefly explain what happened, and why this reveals that those in charge do NOT have your best interest at heart, and really only care about the rich and powerful, despite what they say with their words.

As “someone” on Twitter repeatedly said over the last four years, “The System is Rigged” against us.

It might be time as ants to rise up against grasshoppers. Not violently, but with our collective voices and actions.

A Question on Pornography and Masturbation

A reader sent in this question:

I have been having problems and struggling with pornography for years, even into my marriage. I would fall into that sin for very short periods of time, stop, repent and in most cases dispose of the laptop. Then somewhere down the road I would fall again, stop, repent, and get rid of the laptop or phone. This cycle would repeat over and over again for years. Just recently I prayed to God to forgive me and forsook pornography forever. And I do not own a laptop anymore. My phone I use has blockers on it so I can’t watch pornography. That is how I am able to send you this message. Because of my sin over the years I thought I was was never saved 20 years ago. So I made a new profession of faith to God and accepted Jesus into my life as Lord and Savior. The problem I have now is I’m confused with where I stand with God. Will He forgive me for my past sins? Was I saved 20 years ago a just backslide or was I lost? Am I saved now or am I still lost? I am really confused and worried about my salvation. Can you help me with my situation I’m suffering for. Thank you so much for reading my story and God bless you. One more thing, I asked my wife to forgive me and she did.

This question would be best answered in a one-on-one private conversation, but I get it a lot, and so in the podcast, I try to give some general guidelines that apply in all situations.

CS LewisThe basic truth when it comes to defeating pornography and masturbation is to remember that God always loves and forgives you, and you are always accepted and welcomed by grace. Also, God is not nearly as upset or disgusted with your behavior and you are…

Here are some of the links I mention in my answer:

  • C. S. Lewis on Masturbation
  • Is it wrong to masturbate?

The Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30

In the last several years, there have been several politicians who have been elected to political office in the United States who call themselves Democratic Socialists, and they claim that this is where the United States needs to go. Many Christians and pastors have bought into this, and some are even going so far as to say that Jesus was a socialist. That the values and goals of socialism reflect the values and goals of Jesus.

This is absolute bunk. Socialism is completely contrary to the values and goals of Jesus. Those who claim Jesus was a socialist do not know the first thing about socialism or Jesus. I want to do some more teaching and writing on this in the future.

But before I do, I want to make sure you know that I also do not think Jesus was a capitalist. I have found some Christians say that Jesus was a capitalist, which is also complete bunk. Jesus was not a capitalist, and those who say so do not know the first thing about Jesus.

One of the passages in Scripture which many use to defend the idea that Jesus was a capitalist is the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30 (or the Parable of the Minas in Luke 19:11-27). I have taught and written about this parable several times over the years (see here and here for example). In my recently recorded lesson on Judgment for the Gospel Dictionary Online course, I spent some time teaching on it again. Let me summarize for you some of what I teach in that lesson.

The timing on this is interesting as well because of what is going on in the stock market this week, as I briefly discussed earlier.

Parable of the Talents

In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus tells the Parable of the Talents. Most people believe that the Parable of the Talents is about how Jesus will reward faithful and unfaithful servants at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The typical explanation of this parable is that just as the first servant and second servant turned their talents into more and were rewarded as a result, we also should do the same with what God has given to us. But we must never be like the lazy, unprofitable third servant, who simply hid his talent in the ground. If we do, we will be punished, just like he was.

This “traditional” understanding of the text is quite popular in materialistic, greedy societies. But it is likely the opposite of what Jesus meant or what His hearers would have understood. We live in a materialistically-driven culture, which is governed by greed and the accumulation of stuff. The Bible was written in an honor culture, where stuff and money didn’t matter. In an honor-shame culture, people want honor. Money is not an end in itself, but was a means to an end. Money and wealth was a tool which allowed a person to gain more honor. Of course, if they used their money unwisely, then they could lose honor. So in an honor-shame culture, someone might be insanely rich, but if they had no honor, they were not well-liked or respected.

Furthermore, honor-shame cultures believe that wealth and possessions are in limited supply. They believe in a zero-sum economy. In other words, if one person gained wealth, it was only at the expense of someone else. The only way someone could accumulate wealth is if they took it from someone else. The rich get richer only at the expense of the poor, which, in an honor-shame culture, was an extremely shameful way to live. This is one reason why honor-shame cultures had so many “Patrons.” As the rich accumulated wealth, they saw it as their duty and responsibility to give this wealth back to society in the form of music, arts, schools, hospitals, and other such humanitarian works. This way, the wealthy gained greater honor, but not necessarily greater wealth.

This is why Zacchaeus was so despised and rejected (cf. Luke 19:1-10, which immediately precedes the Parable of the Minas in Luke 19:11-27). Zacchaeus had not engaged in any criminal behavior, and yet had become extremely rich. People believed that he had robbed his fellow countrymen. Yet Zacchaeus had done nothing but what his earthly master wanted. He had taken the talents given to him, and multiplied them. As a result, Zacchaeus was praised and rewarded by his earthly masters. But he was despised and rejected by everyone else.

However, in our materialistic, economic-driven culture, the heroes are the servants who accumulate more stuff. Zacchaeus would be a hero. He would have books and seminars about how you too can become rich like he did. But in an honor-based culture, the people who accumulate stuff are the villains. Why? Because the only way they were able to get more stuff was by taking it from someone else. In an honor-shame culture, the hero of the story is the third servant who did not become rich, but instead was content with what he was given.

So in this second parable, who is the master? It cannot Jesus. Indeed, the master is nowhere equated with the “Son of Man” as in the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:13) or the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (Matthew 25:31). The master behaves in ways that are opposite to Jesus. Therefore, the master represents the god of this age, the one who models and encourages the morally reprehensible behavior of stealing from the poor to make himself rich. The master is Mammon. Followers of Jesus should not behave in such ways. If they do, while they may receive the blessings and honor of the master of this world, that is all they will receive.

Parable of the Talents

So the faithful servants of Jesus are represented by the third servant in the parable. The third servant in the Parable of the Talents was content with what he had. He didn’t even put his one talent in the bank to collect “interest” (recall the prohibitions against “usury” in Exod 22:24; Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:19; etc.). However, the master becomes angry at the third servant and tries to shame him by taking away (“stealing”) his possessions and giving it to the one who is already rich. He also calls this third servant “wicked and lazy.” However, since the master has already proven that his own behavior is wicked and shameful, his words hold no weight. He condemns the third servant to the darkness outside the earthly party (Matthew 25:30), but the third servant knows that the rulers of this world will not have the last word. Rejection by the evil rulers of this world is worn as a badge of honor by the faithful followers of Jesus.

There are numerous other lines of evidence for this view. For example, while the preceding and following parables clearly describes the kingdom of God (cf. “kingdom of heaven” in Matt 25:1 and “Son of Man comes in His glory” in Matthew 25:31), no such terms are found in this parable. While many English translations do have the words “kingdom of heaven” in Matthew 25:14, these words were added by the translators and are not found in the Greek. Furthermore, this parable begins by saying that the master went into a “far country.” This term was also used in the Parable of the Prodigal Son to indicate someone who is walking away from fellowship with God (Luke 15:13). All of this reveals that the Parable of the Talents is set in contrast to the surrounding two.

The parallel account in Luke 19:11-27, along with its surrounding context, also reveals that this is the proper way to read the parable. Luke’s account changes the details a bit, and also refers to the Talents as Minas, but the same understanding can be applied. This is especially true when it is recognized that the story of Zacchaeus immediately precedes the Parable of the Minas (Luke 19:1-10). Zacchaeus is the perfect example of a man who became rich by robbing and stealing from the poor.

If Jesus truly is the master in the Parables of the Talents and the Minas, then Jesus should have praised Zacchaeus for his wealth. If the traditional interpretation of the Parable of the Talents (and Minas) is accepted, Jesus had no right to tell Zacchaeus to give back the money he had received by doing his job (there was nothing illegal about what Zacchaeus did). But Jesus told Zacchaeus to regain his honor by giving away his wealth.

Furthermore, the final statements of the Parable of the Talents has the master demanding that his enemies be outcast and killed. Again, this does not represented something God will do, but foreshadows what will happen to Jesus Himself and those who follow Him when they stand up to the god of this age because “they do not [him] to rule over them” (Luke 19:27). This master wants his enemies slain before him. Immediately after this, Jesus sets his face toward Jerusalem where He knows He will be killed (Luke 19:27-28). When He arrives in Jerusalem, one of the first things Jesus does is clear the temple of those who were using it to enrich themselves by stealing from the poor (Luke 19:45-48). As a result, the wicked “servants” of the temple seek to destroy Jesus (Luke 19:47).

The Parable of the Talents

So when the Parable of the Talents is studied in its various contexts, we see that it does not describe life in the kingdom of heaven. Rather, it describes life in the opposite of the kingdom of heaven, which is the kingdom of this world. The Parable of the Talents is about what life is like for faithful and unfaithful servants in the kingdom of the world. The kingdom of the world has the opposite values and standards as the kingdom of heaven. And so while unfaithful servants will not experience the joys and blessings of the kingdom of heaven, they may do quite well for themselves with worldly joys and blessings. Meanwhile, those who choose to faithfully honor Jesus by loving and serving others will likely be shunned and rejected by the power brokers of this world.

If we are the “evil servant” in this parable, the world may praise us and we will be honored by some in this world. But if we truly live honorably (as the third servant did), the world will shame us and take away what we have and give it to those who are already rich.

God is Redeeming God, Redeeming Scripture, Redeeming Theology, z Bible & Theology Topics: capitalism, greed, Luke 19:11-27, masturbation, Matthew 25:14-30, money, Parable of the Minas, Parable of the Talents, podcast, porn, pornography, socialism

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Bible and Theology Questions 2

By Jeremy Myers
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Bible and Theology Questions 2

The last couple weeks I have been working my way through dozens of Bible and theology questions which people have submitted through that “ask a question” area in the sidebar. If you have been following along, you will note that some questions require a whole post to answer. Others can be answered more succinctly. These shorter answers get put in one post like the following where I try to answer several Bible and theology questions together.

This post deals with Bible and theology questions about attending church, tithing, and…. masturbation.

bible and theology questions

Feel free to leave your own comments about these questions in the comment section below.


Question on Going to Church

Can a person be a Christian and not go to church ?

Yes! A thousand times yes! People who believe in Jesus for eternal life are the church, whether or not they “attend church.”

It’s an old saying, but it’s true: Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going into a garage makes you a car.

Similarly, a car can be a car whether or not it ever parks in a garage, and a Christian can be a Christian whether or not he or she ever attends church.

Scripture backs this up as well, for there is not one place in the Bible that commands us to attend church. Not even Hebrew 10:25.


Question on Tithing

If it is the priests only God is speaking to through Malachi, then why in 3:6 does the audience seem to change to the “the children of Jacob” and “the whole nation of you” in verse 9 –it seems there is a change here.

I imagine you read this post about tithing and your question is based on what you read there? Maybe you could leave your question in the comment section there so that people could interact with you on it…

tithingI probably should have clarified that Malachi was written primarily to the religious leaders of Israel, but not only to them. As the spiritual leaders, they were the spiritual representatives for Israel, and so naturally, Israel followed their lead. So Malachi 3:6 does mention the sons of Jacob, which may refer to all the people of Israel. Although even then, the statement in Malachi 3:6 is not so much about the actions of the son of Judah, but God’s long-suffering grace upon them. I read this verse as saying that God does not consume the sons of Jacob for the actions of the priests (or of the forefathers – Malachi 3:7). God is patient and long-suffering, and keeps His Word.

As to the statement in Malachi 3:9 about the whole nation, I did reference that in the post. Malachi is saying that the priests are not just robbing from God, but are robbing from the whole nation as well. This is further evidence that Malachi is primarily writing to the priests here, because if he were writing to all the people, it would not make sense to say that all the people were robbing from all the people. It makes more sense to see that the people are tithing, but the priests are stealing the tithe, and as such, they are robbing God and robbing the whole nation.


Question on Masturbation

I’ve been asking to be free/liberated from addiction to porn and masturbation. I have yet to be set free and I don’t want to lose my salvation because of it. Am I forgiven for doing theses things, because deep down I think it’s wrong, but I’m just not sure it’s a sin. I just know I’m a slave to this. Please help.

Honestly, this question probably demands a full post, but I just didn’t want to write a blog post with the word “masturbation” in the title… so let me see if I can answer the question briefly…

First, the Bible really doesn’t say anything one way or the other about masturbation. Sure, some people make some arguments from the Levitical laws, but I’m not going to get into all that. I don’t think they apply.

I personally do not think that masturbation is sinful.

Pornography, however, is definitely wrong, and almost all studies show that pornography and masturbation go hand in hand…. Sorry. Bad pun. Pornography objectifies women, creates unrealistic ideas about sex, and causes immense mental and emotional damage in the minds of men who look at it. Besides all this, there are numerous Scriptures which instruct men to not look at women lustfully (e.g., Matt 5:28).

But the real question is how to deal with the addiction of pornography and masturbation.

The answer to that is the same answer for any sort of addiction, whether it is overeating, drugs, alcohol, gaming, or gambling: Addictions are overcome only by the supernatural power of God.

How do you tap into this supernatural power of God? There is only one way: recognize that no matter what, God loves you and forgives you.

You asked about whether or not you will lose your salvation for looking at porn and masturbating. The answer is no. Why not? Because God loves you and forgives you. Only this knowledge will lead you to the freedom from sin that is yours in Jesus Christ.

As long as we are afraid of not being forgiven by God, that fear keeps us enslaved to sin. It only when we begin to understand the infinite love and grace of God toward us that the power of sin loses its hold in our lives. Fear keeps us in bondage. Fear keeps us trying to depend on our own effort and our own strength to liberate ourselves from our own sin… and it never works. Only when we lose the fear of losing God’s love, and come to see that God loves us and forgives us no matter what, do we get to the place where sin no longer has the draw that it once did.

I know that this seems backwards and upside down from what is taught in most Christian books and Christian pulpits.

I know that what I am saying sounds like people have the freedom to go sin all they want.

But you know what? This is what I read in Scripture. Sin has dire consequences, for sure, but one of those consequences is NOT that God will stop loving you or forgiving you.

I maybe should also share that I speak from experience on this sort of question. I have an incredibly addictive personality. I have been addicted to many things during my life (I am not comfortable saying which things on this blog). Some of the things I was addicted to for twenty years or more. For some it was only five years or so. Some of these addictions have caused great pain for myself and my wife.

I tried everything to conquer and defeat these addictions, from fasting and praying for days on end to accountability groups to self-help books. Nothing ever worked until I came to the realization that God’s love and forgiveness for me was without end. Though I continued to stumble and fall, the recognition that God loved and forgave me led, over time, to a lack of desire for that particular addiction. I cannot say “how” it worked, only that it did.

God is Redeeming Life Bible & Theology Topics: attending church, be the church, Bible and Theology Questions, forgiveness, go to church, Hebrews 10, Malachi 3, masturbation, pornography

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