The Use & Misuse of Capital

“ . . . the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money. After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’ The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.’”
Matthew 25:14-29, NLT

It would be hard to find a more classic, biblical example of the use and, yes, the misuse of capital. To be sure, the underlying principle here is a spiritual one; however, Jesus again and again uses financial principles throughout the Gospels to illustrate the spiritual. The lesson here is two-fold: take what God has given you, be it a little or a lot, and maximize His gifts to their fullest potential, and “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance.” Invest wisely, and you will reap the rewards, spiritually and financially. Unfortunately, results of the fearful side of human nature are also forecast. “But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.” Sit around and watch television all evening, spend everything you earn, and never think about tomorrow but simply live for today and you’ll end up with nothing, spiritually and financially.

Incentives

“‘Have you seen the giant?’ the men were asking. ‘He comes out each day to challenge Israel. And have you heard about the huge reward the king has offered to anyone who kills him? The king will give him one of his daughters for a wife, and his whole family will be exempted from paying taxes!’”
I Samuel 17:25, NLT

Talk about an incentive program! Kill the giant and get the King’s daughter and tax exemption for the rest of your life. It’s got me looking for a sling and five smooth stones myself.

The first King of Israel understood the power of incentives more than 1,000 years before God became a man via The Man Christ Jesus. What really fascinates me about this story is that only one person took advantage of the King’s incentive program. Sure, there were risks in the King’s proposal, but there were also huge rewards for the successful, and David was determined to be successful.

He was no fool, but realized that conventional methods weren’t the answer for this job. Here was a man, wise beyond his years, smart enough to not believe it couldn’t be done, but instead looked for new methods for Giant Killing. The old ways weren’t working anymore, but that didn’t mean it couldn’t be done. He just had to figure out how, and figure it out he did.

It’s amazing what the right incentives just might inspire us to accomplish.