The Bible Story
Posted on November 13, 2008
Filed Under Loser Share | 12 Comments
Excerpt: The Parable of the Talents (Mathew 25:14-30)
Again, it (the kingdom of heaven) will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received the five talents brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’
His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
The man with the two talents also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two talents; see, I have gained two more.’
His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
Then the man who had received the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. So I was afraid and went out and hid your talent in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 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.
‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have in abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Well, whatever it means, I find this story very true. Whether it’s the “kingdom of heaven” or this reality, life is hardly fair. I heard this story in church when I was little and hoped that the third guy make another talent from his money. Then I heard it again and again later when I grew up, but the story never changed! Anyway, I felt sorry for that freakin’ loser. Why wouldn’t the master give each of them 5 talents? Or each of them 2 talents? Or each of them 1 talent? It would be a little more fair, wouldn’t it?
Ah what the heck! Here is a modern story that is “similar” to the above:
Working for a brokerage firm were 3 brokers: Moe, Larry, and Curly. Moe had a big, nice office in which he spent most of the time playing solitaire. Yet he got a salary of $100 thousand a year, a free car to drive, and a sizable compensation package. Larry had a smaller office where he shopped online half of the time. His job was to supervise Curly, so he got pension plan, 401(K), medical & dental care, and life insurance on top of 60-grand salary. Curly had a small and dirty cubicle where he piled up tons of paper and worked like hell. He got a salary of $20 thousand a year. The only benefit he received was medical insurance as required by law.
Moe couldn’t spend all the money, so he put it in stocks. Five years later he got $100 thousand in profits. Similarly, Larry kept his extra dough in mutual funds that earned him another $60 thousand. Poor Curly didn’t have enough money to spend, so after 5 years he ended up with $20 thousand in credit card debts.
As the company expanded, their boss called them to the office to inquire about their financial performances. There he asked “what have you done with your money?” Moe said “me, boss? With your generous offer I invested my money in stocks and got $100 thousand over 5 years.” The boss said: “Well done, buddy; since you’ve done good with your personal finance, I’ll put you in charge of our new branch with an extra $100 thousand yearly compensation.”
Similarly, Larry told the boss about his financial gains, to which the boss replied: “fabulous, fellow; since you’ve done good with your personal finance, I’ll put you in charge of this branch with an extra $60 thousand yearly compensation.”
Curly scratched his head and couldn’t answer the question. So the boss asked him again “what have you done with your money?” “C’mon boss,” Curly said, “I’m tired of your heartlessness and hypocrisy. What can I do with my salary? Fixing my used car?”
So the boss replied: “It is said that ‘For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have in abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.’ So pack your shit out of here and don’t ever ask for reference from this company!”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.