Talent, incompetence and service

Ever hear of the Peter Principle?  In business it means that people rise in hierarchy to their level of incompetence.  There is no Peter Principle at play in the parable (Parable of the Talents) we looked at Sunday morning.  Instead, the Master knows exactly the competence level of every individual and gives each individual exactly what they can handle in serving Him.  The servants who received the 5 and 2 talents respectively obviously were adept and able to handle a good deal of responsibility.  Meanwhile, the servant that received one talent had little skill, or maybe it was something else the Master perceived correctly.  

It is impossible to disguise the actual condition of our heart toward the Master.  Yet, the Master still entrusted that servant with the one talent.  Imagine what could have been if instead of digging a hole in the ground and burying the talent, the servant had put the talent to good work on behalf of the Master.  Though not a part of the parable, a Biblical principle is that all work that we do on behalf of the Lord within His will, will not only be blessed, but also empowered by the Holy Spirit.  When we work in this way for the Kingdom, there is no chance of failure from the viewpoint of the Master.  

Instead, the third servant (the one with only one talent) allowed his skewed view of the Master to stymie him and lead to a hole in the ground.  This isn’t the Peter Principle, but the disobedience principle in action, revealing the true nature of man’s heart.  May the Master find us faithful (and when we stand before Him to say to us, “Well done, my good and faithful servant”) in all that He places in our purview for glory of the Kingdom of God.  And I will tell you that while the Master says to enter His joy, there is great joy already in serving the Lord with all you have. 

Pressing on…

Ron Tipton, Senior Pastor