You Could Have Kept It with the Bankers!

I don’t recall what triggered it. I simply recall sitting at my desk on a Monday morning, a little after work had begun; and I recall earnestly wanting to communicate this opinion without the possibility of limitation in the understanding of whoever was reading. I called it a rant, and would have left it at just that, also particularly because I’d written a similar piece called ‘After Sunday’, but several times a few people have requested that I put it in a blog post for the purpose of sharing; but also for the sake of the many LampedFeeters who may not be in my contacts. Hopefully I do not sound like a broken record, because I intend to throw in a few more scriptures and elaborate on a few more things in this piece. And here was my argument, that:

One of the greatest, most subtle crippling of the impact of Christianity and/or faith, in my opinion, is the reduction of the essence and the relevance of faith into ONLY the spiritual activities of fasting and prayer.

The era in which the purpose and end of faith became merely about the ability to engage in spiritual activities was the era in which the church mistook the journey to be the destination.

Jesus tells an interesting story in Matthew 25. He tells a story of a man who’s going on a journey, to return another day. This is a pretty popular story, and when we were told this story, we were taught that this man gave three of his servants “talents” before he left for his journey. The more relatable translation would be NIV, which says he gave his wealth; the KJV says he gave his goods; ESV, his property to these three servants.

We know from how this story ends that the man did not do a distribution as though he was on his deathbed. He gave of himself, because he expected productivity, industry, output. This was a story told by the Messiah Himself! And He was telling it to His disciples as He spoke of what the Kingdom of Heaven could be likened to!

In the rest of the story that follows, we know that the master returns, and finds that one of his servants did nothing with the resources He gave. He did not destroy it, but he also did nothing with it! The master queries this servant about his lack of industry and productivity, and this servant gives what sounds like tangible reasons – he was scared of risk, of loss, of displeasing his master and of the master himself. He gives him back exactly what his master gave him. Not less, not nothing, but exactly what his master gave him.

His master is displeased. He calls this unproductive servant wicked. And lazy! He says:

“Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.” Matthew 25:27

Basically to say, you know what? Even if your unproductive mind won’t allow you to work, at least find a means of letting the money work for you while you bask in your unproductivity! The Master’s response was essentially to say – “by all means, you must be productive in some way! This was the essence of giving you what I gave!“

This is Jesus! Not Paul. Not Peter. Not James. This is Jesus! And He’s talking about the Kingdom of Heaven of all things!

Much later, to corroborate Jesus, Paul, John and Peter will tell us about a new heaven and a new earth [2 Peter 3:12–13], a new Jerusalem [Rev 3 & 21], about some life after this one in which we rule and reign with Christ [2 Tim. 2:12]. A dispensation in which we will judge angels [1 Cor. 6:3] and of a city which is decorated with precious stones, streets of gold, pillars bearing street names of the apostles etc [Rev. 21]. An entire civilisation! The prophet Daniel saw it! He said:

²⁷ And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him. – Dan. 7

The apostle John saw it on the island of Patmos. He said:

²⁶ To him who overcomes and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations… – Rev. 2

⁹ And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. ¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.“. – Rev. 5:9-10

And so as much as we know that this civilisation is not without worship and praise and a constant worship of our King and that the angels continually cry holy in awe, we also know that this civilisation is not without productivity. And industry. It is not without work!

Work and productivity were not a product of the fall. Adam was tasked with work and productivity long before the fall. Before he was commanded not to eat of a tree, Genesis 2:15 says:

‘The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.’

It was the disdain of work that was a product of the fall. It was the sweat of the brow, the thorns and thistles that made productivity difficult that was the curse, not the work itself! [Gen. 3:17-19]

And until we recognise that at the very core of humanity AND FAITH is a call to be productive (if for nothing at all, in anticipation of the new Jerusalem, the new heaven and earth), we will continue to reduce our experience of faith to the things that were given us to empower us for that path of productivity.

We often separate civil work from faith-related work, and even call it ‘secular’ work. We go as far as to suggest that we will only account for faith-related work. Fasting. Prayer. Yet here we have Jesus, telling a story of a master who says “at least put my money in the bank for me, let it make me a little more money!”. How very carnal of the Messiah!😂

We have reduced the experience of faith to meeting in a room to sing and clap. And conjectured that it is only such attendances and its like activities that will merit us a pat on the back when the Master returns. We have demonised civil work, particularly when it coincides with faith-related activities as though the former was established by the world and its systems. And again, we yet here have Jesus the Messiah requesting an account of productivity. Is it not interesting that one of the things this servant was scared of was displeasing his master?

What’s even more interesting is that just before this parable, Jesus told the parable about the virgins without extra oil. I know you have deep spiritual interpretations of what the extra oil signifies, but permit me to suggest to you that it was about productivity. And yes, Jesus was still talking about the Kingdom of Heaven.

Faith is absolutely crucial to life. As is prayer. And fasting. I do not by any means intend to denigrate their relevance in our walk. That would be foolish, because Jesus taught extensively on these. But I humbly suggest that if we read Jesus holistically, we will find that those things are the journey, not the destination. And I concede that it may be for some, because His purposes for us differ from person to person. That said, please recognise that spiritual disciplines are for your strength, and for your direction and instruction.

A life with God is absolutely the single most irreplaceable thing in this world. But beyond that is a call to rulership. And impact. As He directs. We not only will account for how many hours we prayed, but also for how effectively we used the resources afforded us – for the work of our hands. May we not be called ‘wicked and lazy’ at His appearing.

Love always,
Rad!💖

PS: You may want to check out ‘After Sunday‘ if you haven’t. Just tap the title! Bless you!🤗