Two days ago, Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, made an astounding claim. Writing about the parable of the minas, or talents (Luke 19), he argued:
"One of the last instructions Jesus gave his disciples was "Occupy till I come.""
Perkins asserted, first, that Jesus meant this parable to be a positive example for his followers; and second, that the parable demonstrates that Jesus supported unrestricted, free-market capitalism. He was wrong.
As the truism states "a text without a context is a pretext for a prooftext." Sadly, Perkins read the parable of the minas out of context. What is the parable's context? It varies, as the parable occurs both in Matthew 25 and in Luke 19. Let's start where Mr. Perkins starts -- with Luke.
In Luke, this parable follows the miraculous conversion of Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus is a tax-collector -- someone who works for the occupying power Rome, and who uses his power to defraud his neighbors (cf. Luke 3:12). Imagine the astonishment of Jesus' disciples when Zacchaeus voluntarily gives up half of his possessions to the destitute, returns all monies he has defrauded and then imposes upon himself a 300 percent fine to be given to those he has cheated just because Jesus comes to dinner (Luke 19:8)! Can you imagine that happening on Wall Street?
Zacchaeus' conversion is the immediate literary context for the parable of the minas in Luke. According to Luke, Jesus tells this parable "because [the disciples] supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately" (Luke 19:11). Of course they did! Seeing Zacchaeus' miraculous transformation, the disciples probably assumed that the immediate return of the promised day of "good news to the poor" was immanent (Luke 4:18-19). Instead, Jesus tells them the parable of the minas.
Consider this: Jesus doesn't begin this parable "The kingdom of heaven is like..." And, the slaveowner, whom Perkins assumes is the hero, is described as someone who has gotten rich through violence and cheating other people out of the fruits of their labor. The slaveowner does not deny this. (Luke 19:21-22).
More context: this time cultural. The economy of Jesus' day was a peasant economy. In this culture, the belief was that if you got rich, you got it by cheating someone else (Rohrbaugh). Honorable people did not cheat other people and profit off of them. Honorable people were content with what was theirs in the first place. This is why the slaveowner in the parable doesn't deny his status as a rich, violent cheat. He is one.
The slaveowner's actions contrast sharply with Jesus' teachings about money in Luke's gospel. Jesus announces his mission as the proclamation of good news to the destitute (Luke 4:18). Jesus honors those are destitute, weeping, hungry and maligned while shaming those who are affluent, laughing, stuffed and praised (Luke 6:20-24). Jesus sees wealth and something that can make you unable to be a fruitful disciple (Luke 8:14; 14:31-33; 16:13; 18:18-23). And Jesus tells kingdom parables against hoarding wealth (Luke 12:13-21); and against ignoring the destitute at your gate (Luke 16:19-31).
Given this context, the only hero of the story of the minas is the slave with one talent. This honest slave judges his master's actions, refuses to participate in corrupt behavior, acts with honor and integrity, and tells the truth about his master's injustice. For his trouble, he faces impoverishment, banishment, shame, and even execution, which is perfectly consistent with the path of discipleship that Jesus has described throughout Luke's gospel. Jesus has told this parable not about the way things ought to be, but about the way things actually are under Roman occupation. The rapacious win. The honest are impoverished. The protestors are killed.
So why would Jesus tell this story? For the same reason that Jesus says "the one who would be my disciple must take up a cross and follow me" (Luke 9:21-26). Jesus tells this story because it's true. Jesus tells it to curb the enthusiasm of the disciples, to remind them of the true cost of discipleship
Finally, consider the same parable in a different context, Matthew's gospel. There, it stands as part of a diptych, a two-paneled picture that constrasts the world that is with the world that ought to be. One panel presents a picture of the world run by a rich and violent cheat who acts like a king and requires his slaves to be corrupt or face banishment.
But on the other side of the diptych, we have a picture of the final judgment of the world by the Son of Man, the apocalyptic figure usually equated with Jesus or God. In it, the Son of Man sits enthroned, judging between the people, just like the slaveowner taking account of his slaves. But, his criteria are radically different:
I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me." ... 'just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' (Matt 25:35-36, 40 NRSV)
Jesus is clear. A rapacious slaveowner does not model Christian behavior. Instead, look to the truthtellers and advocates, to those who work for the least of these. These, Mr. Perkins, truly "occupy" Christianity.
Luke 19:11-27:
As they were listening to this, he went on to tell a parable, because he was near Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. So he said, "A nobleman went to a distant country to get royal power for himself and then return. He summoned ten of his slaves, and gave them ten pounds (minas), and said to them, 'Do business with these until I come back.' But the citizens of his country hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, 'We do not want this man to rule over us.' When he returned, having received royal power, he ordered these slaves, to whom he had given the money, to be summoned so that he might find out what they had gained by trading. The first came forward and said, 'Lord, your pound has made ten more pounds.' He said to him, 'Well done, good slave! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small thing, take charge of ten cities.' Then the second came, saying, 'Lord, your pound has made five pounds.' He said to him, 'And you, rule over five cities.' Then the other came, saying, 'Lord, here is your pound. I wrapped it up in a piece of cloth, for I was afraid of you, because you are a harsh man; you take what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.' He said to him, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked slave! You knew, did you, that I was a harsh man, taking what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow? Why then did you not put my money into the bank? Then when I returned, I could have collected it with interest.' He said to the bystanders, 'Take the pound from him and give it to the one who has ten pounds.' (And they said to him, 'Lord, he has ten pounds!') 'I tell you, to all those who have, more will be given; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be king over them-- bring them here and slaughter them in my presence.'" (Luke 19:11-27 NRSV)
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Where I part company is in making the servant who hides his one talent the hero. Jesus on multiple occasions used what one might consider invidious comparisons, probably for their shock value and to quicken the listener's interest. (Compare for example the Parable of the Unjust Judge.) To me the message is quite simple: use the gifts you have been given - the accounting may come sooner than you think.
The criteria in the two parables of Matthew 25 are not really different. The people who feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, care for the sick, are the people who multiply their talents. Those who are willing to let the whole world go to hell so long as they have their ticket on the ark are like the servant who hides his talent, and in the end their ticket will be revoked.
I'm familiar with what seems, to this former-Catholic, like a stunning-absence-of-Christianity in organizations like Mr. Perkin’s! I see little difference between ‘evangelical’-&-‘taliban’ communities, if one looks past the ‘3-pc.-suits-vs-chadors’ exterior, particularly when one looks at the heritage of intolerance in Christianity’s background.
I've never met Mr. Perkins, so I can’t honestly say if he supports slave-owners or slaves; He, (and-all-the-rest-of-us!), have at least 2-billion+ current-decision-choices available in our ‘civilization’!
Pat Robertson, a contemporary of Mr. Perkins, seems to have chosen slavers: He indicted this during his ‘Satan-helped-the-Haitians-vs.-the-French’ controversy…
The Abrahamic Faiths, (Christianity, Islam & Judaism), seem to be ‘D.W.I.-ing' into a superficial awareness of a potentially fatal-experience: Their young are just beginning on a large scale to abandon them! I've said here-&-elsewhere: If I were the >>only
instead of making Paul look bad by calling it a deal for the apostles letters of approval, it is actually Peter who should have done the gentile ministry and in this Minas Parable Paul is the one who would have bore much fruit or the most minas (given 1 gained 10) and Peter would be the one who took his mina "kept it laid away, hidden and covered, I was concerned (you said to the jews first) you do not reap where you did not sow"
so, the result is to"take away the mina (honor of apostleship) from the unproductive (Peter) and give it (honor of apostleship) to the one that has gained ten (Paul)"
1Corinthians 15:8 "For I (Paul) am the 'least' of the apostles"
Matthew 11:11 "whoever is least in the kingdom of heaven, is greater than John the Baptist"
we recall that Jesus' switched the name from Simon to Peter (rock)
Matthew 13:20,21 "The one who received the seed that fell on 'rocky' ground, is the 'man' who hears the word and at once receives it with joy, but since he has no root, he lasts only a short time, when trouble comes because of the word, he quickly falls away" "the one who had good ground, hears the word and understands it, and produces"
no wonder Jesus tells Peter 3 times "if you love me, feed my sheep"
Consider as a point of reference the so-called Marxist Creed: "from each according to ability, to each according to need." The two parts of this creed were taken by Marx from the NT (the latter literally, from various verses, e.g., Acts 2:45).
The parable(s) of the talents/ten minas express the former part: "_from_ each according to ability" - not "_to_ each according to ability," which expresses the fundamental rationale of capitalism (and meritocracy).
Modern society confuses giving and receiving, and thus misses Jesus' point in this parable. "It's more blessed to give than to receive" expresses the same thought. As does "love your neighbour as yourself." As, BTW, does JFK's admonition, "ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
Otherwise capitalism (and meritocracy) don't address the issue of need; just a limited notion of ability. That doesn't relate to this parable directly, but does relate to its context.
So to understand the real point not only of this parable but of much of NT doctrine, one might compare "from each according to ability, to each according to need" to "to each according to ability [ignoring need]."
“Master, I knew you to be an exacting man,†this slave complains. “So I grew afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.†The slave deliberately refused to work in the cultivated field by preaching and making disciples. So the master calls him “wicked and sluggish†and pronounces the judgment: “Take away the talent from him . . . And throw the good-for-nothing slave out into the darkness outside. There is where his weeping and the gnashing of his teeth will be.†Those of this evil slave class, being cast outside, are deprived of any spiritual joy.
This sets forth a solemn lesson for all who profess to be followers of Christ. They must work for the increase of the belongings of their heavenly Master by having a full share in the preaching work if they are to enjoy his commendation and reward and if they are to avoid being thrown into the darkness outside and ultimate destruction. Are you diligent to use your abilities in this regard? Matthew 25:14-30.
“The one that had received five talents came forward and brought five additional talents, saying, ‘Master, you committed five talents to me; see, I gained five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You were faithful over a few things. I will appoint you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’†The slave that received two talents likewise doubled his talents, and he received the same commendation and reward.
How, though, do these faithful slaves enter into the joy of their Master? Well, the joy of their Master, Jesus Christ, was that of receiving possession of the Kingdom when he went abroad to his Father in heaven. As for the faithful slaves in modern times, they have great joy in being entrusted with further Kingdom responsibilities, and as they finish their earthly course, they will have the culminating joy of being resurrected to the heavenly Kingdom. But what about the third slave?
The eight talents—Christ’s belongings—are thus distributed according to the abilities, or spiritual possibilities, of the slaves. The slaves stand for classes of disciples. In the first century, the class that received the five talents evidently included the apostles. Jesus goes on to relate that the slaves who received the five and the two talents both doubled them by their Kingdom preaching and making of disciples. However, the slave who received the one talent hid it in the ground.
“After a long time,†Jesus continues, “the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them.†It was not until the 20th century, some 1,900 years later, that Christ returned to settle accounts, so it was, indeed, “after a long time.†Then Jesus explains:
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