‘“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip. “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money. “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’ “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’ “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’ “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’ “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’’ Matthew 25:14-30(NLT)
‘So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”’ John 13:34-35(NLT)
‘This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. ‘ John 15:12(NLT)
Many of you reading this are familiar with the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30.
I have heard this story many times and the familiar emphasis is always on the two servants.
Verses 15 -16: ”To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more.”
They received the master’s money, worked hard and diligently, doubling the master’s money.
They were praised, being called good and faithful, and pleased their master. These two servants were “all in”. They did not withhold their hearts or service from the master.
Today, I want to focus on the servant who was practicing the sin of withholding. Verse 18 states, “But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.” This servant did not even try. He wasn’t all in, he was trying to do the very least in this relationship. He actually hid his talent, so he was not reminded of his obligation. He did not value the master. He created a strategy (hid it), ate the same food as the responsible servants, and didn’t even think the master would give him a consequence for his selfishness.
Verses 24 – 25: “Then the man who had received one bag of gold 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 gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “Here, we are able to see a real symptom of withholding, which is blame. Those who struggle with the sin of withholding blame the other person in the relationship for why they themselves are withholding. Here we can also see another symptom. I call it the negative narrative. They create a negative story about the other person to justify their behavior.
Let’s see what happens to the servant who practices the sin of withholding, in verse 28-30, “So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
The talent was taken from the servant. The sin of withholding can have the consequence of losing quite a bit. The servant lost the trust of the master, respect among others, and lost his home. He was cast into outer darkness which doesn’t sound like the house, meals, and relationships he had before.
The sin of withholding can often be an unseen sin to many, but it can have major impacts for the withholder and their loved ones.
from Sin of Withholding by Dr. Doug Weiss