Serving the Local Church

Here's my Thought of the Week which I wrote for the church bulletin last Sunday.

“For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away.”
(Matthew 25:29)

We know the parable of the talents. A master gives three different servants different amounts of wealth. With that wealth two use it to generate more wealth but one simply hides it and presents the same amount back to the master when he returns. He is called a wicked servant, what wealth he has is taken and given to another.

Teaching on this parable usually concludes with the idea that our faith equips us with the wealth of the Gospel and we are to go out and produce more wealth by spreading faith. Each servant began with a certain amount and it increased… just like faith increases as we share the Gospel. But it was those who took their initial amount and worked well with it who received more—their responsibility became greater after they had demonstrated their commitment to the work.

That’s why I feel our local church community is so important. It’s our initial working ground—the place we can take the initial wealth of our faith and put it into action. We don’t ask people to get involved at dBay Baptist because we just want to put people to work, or provide a cosy environment for us all… but we do it because it provides an opportunity for people to work well with the faith they have received. If you’re wanting to change the world for the Gospel, that’s great, but if you’re not working well with the initial portion of the wealth you've received then it’s unlikely the Master will give out more. Let’s all strive to be like the servant with 5 talents, not the servant with 1.