I am often motivated by scripture readings in Sunday service to write about them from a different perspective than is customary. Recently, the Gospel Reading in our little ELCA Lutheran Church was the parable in Matthew 25:14-30. Christian commentaries and sermons on this parable typically describe it in terms of judgement (especially of the unsaved, who are "servants" (sometimes translated 'slaves') - entrusted with the monetary denomination "talent" representing God's blessings to which we are to be faithful) :
14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.
19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.
20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.
28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.
30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness:
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
My prior use of the term 'perspective' applies also to commenters
other than me. Scriptures have been massaged, twisted, and misrepresented continually and forever. This parable (and its fraternal twin in
Luke 19) is perfectly suitable to such misapplication. A natural example is found in American politics. Conservatives have, in this parable, the exemplification of some of their most persistant themes: the wealthy have earned more than folks like me because they have worked harder ; it takes money to make money ; it is the wealthy who make it possible for us to earn the right to continue working ; those who do not make the wealthy yet more wealthy are lazy and condemnable.
These are plausibly, if superficially, supported by the parable. Perhaps it is the reluctance of politicians to be specific about religion that has kept this connection from being exploited. Even so, there are many who bend Christianity to their secular purposes. Either I am oblivious, or they haven't yet focused upon this parable.
It is (I think) not too late to preempt such arguments.
The parable begins "For the kingdom of heaven is as ...", which explicitly announces that it is a spiritual lesson, not a management or financial seminar. Even so, it is odd that the kingdom of heaven might be compared to anything involving such a nasty person as the master ("Lord"). Be careful to note that the master did not
gift the money to the servants - it, and all profits derived from it, belonged to the master.
The servant element might explain why this parable has not been appropriated by conservatives. Folks who aren't wealthy will probably relate to the servants. That makes a rather strong statement about the distribution of money and influence in America. Conservatives appeal for support of the wealthy, which is not an original attitude - even for slaves.
The master did not participate in the investment activity. He was a 'passive' investor who did not even provide guidance before he "straightway took his journey" and returned "after a long time". This is our current situation. It is only the wealthy who have spare cash and the capacity to risk it on investments which require no work. Rather than being people who work 50? 100? times harder than their employees, they must acknowledge that "I reap where I sowed not". That is, they purchase seed which they do not even plant, then take the profits of the work of others.
My co-workers & I work plenty hard. Someone would have to work 24/7 to work merely 4 times harder than we do. The wealthy aren't especially smarter than anyone else, either. The stock market has been shown to have fractal price behavior over time. It is a chaotic system, perfectly unpredictable. Those who 'make a killing in the market' are seldom geniuses. They also are not idiots. They are lucky. I am not referring to the fictitious 'you make your own luck'. This is true chance, unaffected by merit or unworth.
The servants had no money of their own to risk. They risked something less tangible. The wicked servant might have paid for his poor choice by being sold to a less forgiving master. What might have happened if, as in real life, one of the servants had LOST money? People who are not wealthy understand the harsh reality of such risks - loss of job, health insurance, or savings.
For those who want to have reality-based opinions on this subject {WARNING - some math ahead}, here are a few references: 'Pareto Distributions in Economic Growth Models' describes how "the concentration of the wealth can be interpreted as the result of the extraordinary concentration of risk bearings." ; 'Market Efficiency, the Pareto Wealth Distribution, and the Lévy Distribution of Stock Returns' finds specifically "chance, rather than differential investment ability, is the main source of inequality at the high-wealth range." ; 'Why it is hard to share the wealth' provides a brief commentary on structural forces in wealth inequality - without the gnarly math of the first two references.