The Comparison Trap: What the Parable of the Talents Really Teaches

One thing we all share is that we have habits. Would you agree? Some of us have good habits, and there are plenty of those, such as exercising regularly, having a daily quiet time with God, and brushing your teeth.

Then there are bad habits, like smoking, watching TV with a family-size bag of Wavy Lays in your lap, or losing your temper at the drop of a hat.

Of course, some habits are neither good nor bad; they’re just aggravating, like certain people in my family who eat one thing on their plate at a time. Who eats all their burger, then their fries? So crazy.

One bad habit that many of us have is comparing ourselves to others. Whether we think someone is better than us or worse than us, there’s no winning when we feed this habit. We can see this truth when we look at a parable Jesus told, but to see it, we need to ponder the story, and to do that, we need to understand the context.

 Matthew 24-25 is often called the “Olivet Discourse,” because it’s a long speech Jesus gave while sitting on the Mount of Olives. The disciples had marveled at the beauty of the Jerusalem temple, and Jesus had said, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2).

Then Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, and the disciples, who were stunned by his words, asked, “When will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (verse 3). Jesus then spends two chapters answering those questions.

One theme that runs through his answer is that of “being ready” for the end of the age. With the idea of “being ready” in mind, he tells the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30), and in doing so, he explains what it means to be ready for Jesus’ second coming.

A man is going on a long journey, and before he leaves, he calls in three of his servants and gives each of them a certain number of “talents.” A talent is just a sum of money, each talent being about twenty years of wages for a day laborer. So this is a large amount of money. The owner realizes that not all his servants have the same business skills, so he gives each one an amount he feels the servant can handle. He gives one servant five talents, one servant two talents, and the third servant one talent. Then the master leaves on his trip.

The servants know that the master will return someday, so they get busy with what he gave them. The servant with five talents puts his business skills to work and makes five more talents. The second servant does his thing and doubles his, earning two more talents. The third guy buries his talent so no one can find it.

After “a long time,” and those words are important concerning the timing of Jesus’ return, the master comes home and wants to know what the servants have done with what he entrusted to them. The first servant shows the master his ten talents, and the master says, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (verse 21). The second servant shows the master his four talents, and the master says, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master” (verse 23). Notice he says the same words to each of them. The total they had wasn’t what was important. Their faithfulness in using their abilities and gifts is key to the master.

Then the third guy shows the master his one talent. He dares to say, “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours” (verses 24-25). He’s lying. The master, in his graciousness and wisdom, had only given what he knew each man could handle. He did not give this servant too much responsibility. But this servant didn’t want to do the work. He basically said, “I was afraid of losing this talent, so I hid it, and here it is. You should be thankful you’re getting it back.” He wasn’t afraid; he was lazy. He also didn’t believe the master would actually return. After all, it had been “a long time” since the master left.

To this servant, the master says, “You wicked and slothful servant!” Okay, so we already know the master’s response to this guy will be different. He continues, “You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. 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. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (verses 26-30).

Many of us read this and think, “Wow, that was harsh. At least he got his talent back; the guy didn’t lose it. Maybe this master really is a hard man.” Which is just what Jesus expected his listeners to think. Remember, he’s telling his followers how they should behave between his first and second comings, and what “being ready” for his return means. What “being ready” means is using what God has given us for his kingdom.

There’s a lot to unpack from this story. What is Jesus saying to us? And what does any of this have to do with the bad habit of comparing ourselves to others?

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of “The Parable of the Talents.”