16The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. (Matthew 25:14-15, NIV)
For the most part, at first glance, this parable in Matthew seems pretty straight forward. It’s a story about making wise financial investments even in the face of risk. Based on that interpretation it can serve a kind of creed for a variety of types of investments—be it our time, money, or our relational investments (see last Sunday’s Pastor’s Word). Don’t be paralyzed by fear in the face of risk, seek a solid return wherever possible, and enjoy the fruit of good stewardship! But, when I was preparing to write this, I found some crazy theories by some who argue that it’s not the first two servants who are worth modeling our behavior after, but instead the third: the guy who buries the money in the ground. They say that based on likely money practices of the time, it’s quite possible that servants one and two engaged in exploitive business practices in order to double their money. Their theory is that the two servants were engaged in shady lending practices, the kind that prey on the vulnerable, put them in debt, and charge so much interest that it’s hard to ever get out of it. If this were to be true, the third servant who refuses to participate in such a practice is the exemplar. As farfetched and crazy as the theory may be, let’s just consider what it would mean if these people were right. What would it mean if this was a passage that was more about not participating in exploitation than it was about the fact that God loves wise investing? Regardless of who’s the exemplar, this possibility challenges us to think about not only the risk and return involved in investing but also the methods by which profit is made. Profit is good, but not if it comes at the exploitation of others. In some ways, it feels hard to know if the money we earn costs others too much along the way. If you’re like me, your investments are managed by a company who specializes in that and whose goal is to ensure you see good returns. And, I’ll admit, I don’t always keep a close eye on things. But, our investments go beyond the stock market. Think about all the discretionary spending you do: where you shop for clothes, what restaurants you eat at, or what news you pay for. Every choice we make to spend money is a way of investing in systems and goods and communities. And so we can ask ourselves: are we investing in ways that exploit people? Or are we investing in ways that align with God’s redemptive work in the world? If you have investments in the stock market, do some digging. Work to understand if what you’re supporting comes at the cost of others, or if it aligns with Kingdom values. Gracious God, we want to invest in things that matter to You. We want to invest in ways that are wise and don’t exploit people. Grow our understanding and help us to recognize when we might need to look at things in a different way. Amen Comments are closed.
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