Verse Of The Week (10/27/17)

The Unprofitable Servant (Mt. 25:30)

Read Matthew 25:30.

In context (Mt. 25:24-27), "unprofitable" (Mt. 25:30) is not defined by lack of results but by lack of effort.  The Master did not give this servant a trust he couldn't manage (Mt. 25:15).  What's behind the lack of effort?

• Comparison with others.  Remember, you don't have another man's assignment, gifts, perspective, history, education, etc.  Faithfulness is about implementation before it is about increase.
• A skewed perspective of the Master.  Yes, He is exacting, but He is also fair and loving. Remember, He didn't have to entrust you with anything!
• Self-pity.  Your assignment isn't as glamorous as someone else's.  You get easily discouraged and believe subconsciously that you don't deserve success.  All you can talk about are failure and hardship.
• Laziness.  The assignment becomes about preservation rather than expansion.  You get easily overwhelmed, so you pull back and keep things safe and manageable.  You enjoy talking about hard work but that's all you do -- talk.
• Suspicion of the "successful."  You think that, somehow, others are in an ideal environment or have an unfair advantage.  It is actually envy that is at work here.  Because you are envious, you won't reach out for help.

The Slacker (Prov 26:13-16)

Each of these four verses tells us something about the slacker.

1. The slacker is great at identifying problems, but he offers no solutions. He's not willing to be the solution. If there's a lion outside, it's dangerous and hungry. To avoid being eaten or terrorized by the lion, someone must kill it or at least drive it away. At best the slacker sounds an alarm. He then lets others deal with the lions.
2. The slacker lives to sleep. A door won't work without hinges. The hinges are what makes a door a door. A slacker can't exist without his bed. Sleep keeps a slacker a slacker. He rolls over when he ought to be up and working. He rolls over and over, long after everyone else is at work. By sleeping, he's letting others do all the work.
3. The slacker is a high maintenance, low impact person. He is lethargic, using all his strength just to get to the table. He has no sustained strength to feed himself. Can you say, "Immaturity"?
4. The slacker is a know-it-all. He is wiser than the wise, wiser than those who have lived through it already. He doesn't have a teachable spirit and refuses to learn new skills.