Charlie Loften: The questions we wrestle with as Christians about who God is, how do we live out our faith, what is the Bible, what is the truth of the Bible, what are we supposed to believe? How are we supposed to live? There are really big, deep questions that we ask each other, that we ask God, that we wrestle with ourselves. And that's why the Cultivate podcast exists, to help us go deeper in our understanding of who God is, his word, and the way that he's called us to live. Hi, everyone.
Welcome to the Cultivate Podcast with The Grove Church. I'm Charlie Loften. I'm the lead pastor there. And we
Abigail Boone: are what on earth? Is that a protein the most delicious journey.
Charlie Loften: Two o. I've heard
Abigail Boone: of I would not promote many things like this, but this stuff is tastes like Gatorade.
Charlie Loften: This is back to back product placement. What did I do last time? Oh, talked about the female my pod. You talked about airship coffee.
Abigail Boone: Yes. No. But I usually think protein stuff tastes like chalk. Also, it was a
Charlie Loften: bit of a Walmart plus advertisement that you did. And I
Abigail Boone: do heavily advertise for that because it is worth it.
Charlie Loften: So who would who would sponsor this podcast? Like, hey. You got a you got a 100 faithful listeners. Yeah. And who like,
Abigail Boone: I don't know. Be your Chick fil A cup or Panera cup. My protein drinks are a Coke.
Charlie Loften: I feel like chick yeah. Chick fil A would do a I mean
Abigail Boone: They should sponsor us.
Charlie Loften: They're Christian's place. But, like, what, like, what, like, what's in it for them? Like, Charlie, you already spend all your money there. Like, like, what are we? And you bring bring everybody everybody to me.
There, and they're spending their money.
Abigail Boone: It's brand loyalty. You gotta build it in. Make sure you don't ditch them at some
Charlie Loften: point. Right.
Abigail Boone: Right. So we need to really hook in Panera. Here's what we could do,
Charlie Loften: that Chick fil A Springdale has to really lock me down because Layla starts high school
Abigail Boone: That is gonna change things. This fall. And that could not be further apart.
Charlie Loften: And there's a chick and there's a Chick fil A right there. But you can't sit Yeah. You can. You just can't sit inside the one in North Fayble. The MLK one, you can sit
Abigail Boone: inside. Seats. Okay. I didn't
Charlie Loften: know that. Know if I'm trying to do that. I mean, like, especially during There's no way out. College. You can't was no way in either.
True. And anyways.
Abigail Boone: Alright. We are
Charlie Loften: we're not in the middle anymore. We are at the tail end. We're at mile 24 of the marathon going through all the parables.
Abigail Boone: Teaser for people to look forward to. You just told me that some really big ones are coming.
Charlie Loften: Shockingly, we haven't covered the biggest made this list a long time ago. And by I, I mean
Abigail Boone: Our good friend, Chad.
Charlie Loften: No. You don't do, Chad. We you know, it costs two cups of water to True.
Abigail Boone: To to just for
Charlie Loften: him to make a list for us in in a in a in an how to handle all the parables. And how did I don't know. I understand. I can't
Abigail Boone: Did you tell it to do it
Charlie Loften: in In teaching order that makes sense. And so they they are grouped somewhat together thematically. But it is it is surprising to me because there were so many of the bangers there at the front. I didn't think that we had any bangers left. But you didn't tell was prepping for this session of recordings.
But I would say number one this is like number this is easily top three. Easily top three, maybe number one.
Abigail Boone: But you didn't tell it to organize it based on banger.
Charlie Loften: No. It was not no.
Abigail Boone: It it just went a different route.
Charlie Loften: As but but, like, yeah, we should it was surprising to me that such a big no matter how you arrange it, that a top three woman would end up in What's the back end? Number 30 or whatever The it Parable of the Talents, or depending on your translation, Bags of Gold. Alright. Sorry. Scrolled up to this.
Abigail Boone: Made a confused face. I didn't realize I had actually switched to the page before or chapter before. So I was like, oh, you misspoke. But it was me. Alright.
Charlie Loften: Matthew chapter
Abigail Boone: Mine does say bags of gold. Bags of gold. Does the ESV say talents?
Charlie Loften: Well, let's talk about that after I read the passage. Okay. Alright. Matthew 25 verse 14. Again, it uh-oh.
It it what what what is it? What are we even talking about? Verse one, Matthew 25, the parable of the 10 virgins coming soon to a podcast near you. At that time, the kingdom of heaven will be like. So we're talking about the kingdom.
Okay. Okay?
Abigail Boone: They talked about this in Grove Kids last week. The kingdom? Or the No. The Talents.
Charlie Loften: The bags? Bags of gold?
Abigail Boone: That's why it was so familiar in my mind because my small group talked about it this week.
Charlie Loften: We talked about that, talked about Grove Kids, talking about the small group. I did go back and looked at our entire list of podcasts that we've done on this to confirm that we had not done this badly. We haven't. Again, the kingdom will be like a man going on a journey who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one, 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. So also the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master's money. After a long time, the master of these servants returned and settled accounts with them.
The man who had received the five bags of gold brought the other five. Master, he said, you entrusted me with five bags of gold. 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 two bags of gold also came. Master, he said, you entrusted me with two bags of gold. 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 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. 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 received, I would have received it back with interest.
So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has 10 bags. Forever has will be given more, and what they will have in 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. Yikes.
Abigail Boone: One thing I've never noticed about this, that is the happiest line to say, come and share your master's happiness. If I came to one of my clients and they're like, come and share in her happiness, I'm like, okay. Let's go. That's such a happy thing. All
Charlie Loften: right, so let's get to your bags of gold question.
Abigail Boone: I guess I've never read this
Charlie Loften: in NIV. Yeah, the word is talent. Okay. And talent is a measure of weight. Okay.
Okay? So I've been like an ounce of gold, a brick of gold, right, is a certain size and weight, like a ton of gold, right? So a talent is a certain amount of So they'd be
Abigail Boone: like, you owe four talents or something?
Charlie Loften: Well, mean, that that we're when you start talking about talent, like bags of gold Mhmm. Even one bag of gold would make Okay. You immensely
Abigail Boone: Okay. So it's not like at the cashier's table, they'd be like, that banana cost this many talents.
Charlie Loften: Yeah. I mean, for our purposes right now, we might as well be talking to, like, okay, we're talking about we start talking about talents of gold, we're talking at least 5 figures worth of stuff. Right? Mean, you
Abigail Boone: read So this guy's wealthy.
Charlie Loften: Yeah. So for the fact that he would have that much kind of, for lack of a better word, discretionary income, I mean, you're probably probably really I mean, the math on this is complicated. So let's let's for our purposes, let's say
Abigail Boone: He's a billionaire.
Charlie Loften: Yeah. Let's say that one bag of gold is a million dollars.
Abigail Boone: Okay.
Charlie Loften: So somebody got $5,000,000, somebody got $2,000,000, somebody got $1,000,000. Is that fair? Yeah. We're talking about a decent amount.
Abigail Boone: Rich enough to have a bag of said money, a whole other rich to be like, I have this bag, you deal with it. That's a flex.
Charlie Loften: Well, why would he why would the master why would the master do this?
Abigail Boone: Because he's too busy vacationing or something.
Charlie Loften: Oh, my that's my first
Abigail Boone: thought is that, like, he has he, I guess, wants his money but it says that he's he works hard and has he's still working with his crops and stuff. That's what one of the guys says in response.
Charlie Loften: Yeah. You get the impression that he's really going
Abigail Boone: He on went on a journey.
Charlie Loften: On a he's going on a work trip.
Abigail Boone: So he want but he still wants his money to be, like, earning interest or something.
Charlie Loften: Yes. Okay. So he there you go. Okay. I was I was just con I'm just just confirming here online.
Yes. That's a million dollars.
Abigail Boone: Really?
Charlie Loften: Yeah. A million dollars.
Abigail Boone: Wow. That was so smart of you.
Charlie Loften: Yeah. So It's like you went to Bible college. Here's here's sometimes sometimes I sometimes things are in my brain, and I think, yeah, that that's that's what we that's what we should say. Yeah. And then, like, now, like, I don't wanna just rely on what I consider
Abigail Boone: to be
Charlie Loften: fairly decent memory when it comes to odd facts. So this guy has enough money that he's gonna go on a journey, and you get the impression really that it's to go about and do business. Okay. Right? That he's not somebody who's gonna be like, I'm gonna go on a journey around the world to see what's out there.
Because again, by the way he reacts, what he expects, I need somebody He to needs take his money care
Abigail Boone: to still be doing something.
Charlie Loften: I need someone to take care of my estate while I'm gone. So you have access to this much of my wealth, you have much of this. So this guy has $8,000,000 that he is leaving them in charge of, which I'm sure is not his entire estate, and is not a how many bags of gold did he bring with him on his journey to do whatever business
Abigail Boone: Mhmm.
Charlie Loften: He was going to conduct. And so I think that is the first and so the kingdom of heaven is like this.
Abigail Boone: Okay. Was about to say
Charlie Loften: that's what The we're of heaven is like this. God is incredibly wealthy Yes. And generous. Mhmm.
Abigail Boone: Interesting. And
Charlie Loften: trust oh, try yeah. Like, he is willing maybe that's a broke person's perspective. He's willing to take risks, maybe? Yeah. Right?
He's a risk taker. You know, he's, you know, I guess we don't get to it that he's generous until later. Yeah. But, all right, here he's a risk taker, he believes, right? Trust I'll trust you.
Yeah. Yeah. And so, we'll start there. He gives one person five, one person two, one person one. Are we to make something out of that or not?
I would have. No. No. No. No.
Just in the hearing of the story, what are
Abigail Boone: we Maybe not. I guess only to show that, like, the amount doesn't matter. It's, did you do something or not?
Charlie Loften: Yeah. Because it's like
Abigail Boone: Just like was action taken? You know,
Charlie Loften: the the reward? Doesn't vary. Does
Abigail Boone: He he praises them the same. Well done, good and faithful servant. Yeah. His praise of them is all the exact same K. For for the two guys that did something with it.
So it's and one had more than the other, but still they got the same amount of praise. But in the
Charlie Loften: end, you know, he now one guy has 10. One one guy has 10,000,000, one has 4,000,000. Yeah. They still have more than the other one. And plus the 10, he actually has 11 now.
Yeah. Got the
Abigail Boone: Oh, because he got the other guys.
Charlie Loften: He got the dirt gold.
Abigail Boone: The lazy, what do you call them? Lazy, wicked servant. Yeah. I feel like still that doesn't matter, though. They don't make a big deal out of it.
Charlie Loften: Yeah, it's almost like it kind of it does and it doesn't. Yeah. Like different people are going to be entrusted with different amounts. But I don't think it necessarily does not communicate in the heart of the master value. Right.
You're more important, I love you more. You're less important, I love you less. Doesn't seem like people are just people based on unknown factors are going to be put in charge of more things than other things, and ultimately have more than someone else.
Abigail Boone: That feels like a very
Charlie Loften: It is amongst the most you know, there's a lot of debate online and have been since before there was online about which economic if if Jesus had to pick between various economic systems, which one would Jesus pick? This is definitely one of the most capitalistic Yeah. Parables and teachings of Jesus where indiscriminately, for no reason really given, some people just have more than others. And is not shown as something is bad or wrong or broken or there's something wrong with master. Just some people are Have more.
Able to handle more and should have more than what other people can. But, again, I don't that's the basic idea.
Abigail Boone: My mind just keeps going to the end, and it makes me think of, like, fatherhood. I would assume you're the same, but my dad looks at all of his kids, and we're all at different financial positions. But his response is there's no good or better. It's just like you haven't fallen on your face or done nothing so I
Charlie Loften: would think of it more in terms of at what age would I consider each of my kids to have been responsible enough to leave them alone or to leave them in charge of somebody or to, Hey, I know you're going out with your friends. Here's some money. As opposed to, I know the kid needs $20 for whatever it is they're going to. Do I hand it to them or do I hand it to the youth pastor? Pastor?
Or the other kid's dad? Different kids. Even some of the decisions that we have to make as parents, if something happens to us, we've got two adult daughters and then we've still got a kid at home, something were to happen to us, you know, I've got two kids.
Abigail Boone: Would be That's dicey.
Charlie Loften: Who's in charge? And it's interesting, like there's one that would say, We think she should live with you, but we want you to manage the money. Yeah. And that's not a question of favor, that's a question of just kind of who they are and what they are most qualified to handle.
Abigail Boone: My parents just did power of attorney stuff. I didn't get anything. My mom said, You just have fun. I love that.
Charlie Loften: Don't feel like there's anything I can say to that that, I can't agree or disagree with them because it's being problematic either way. So here's the big question. So the master leaves them these bags of gold, which are in fact, it is important. It is a lot. It is a lot.
We mean
Abigail Boone: don't know who he's talking to, right? What's that? I know he's talking about the kingdom of heaven, but we don't know who he's talking to.
Charlie Loften: I would imagine this is a disciple slash crowd situation. He's teaching about the kingdom. He's trying to help everybody understand.
Abigail Boone: Understand. Okay.
Charlie Loften: What does a bag of gold represent?
Abigail Boone: Value? No.
Charlie Loften: No. No. So in the same way that this master has given a bag of gold to these three servants, God also has given Abigail
Abigail Boone: This, like, being the light? No. That was a wrong answer.
Charlie Loften: What has he given you? He's given you something to manage until He comes back.
Abigail Boone: My relationship with Him? I'm only giving wrong answers, aren't I?
Charlie Loften: I can tell by your eyes you don't believe Him when you're saying them. So you should either say
Abigail Boone: you don't know or you
Charlie Loften: should say something that doesn't make you do the Abigail squint.
Abigail Boone: My first thought would be like, Cask of Evangelism. That doesn't but you said that's a job. You said that's a job my first answer.
Charlie Loften: He has entrusted you with something to what to where he gives more of it to somebody else Mhmm. Than he does to other people. He there is a way to do something with it where you earn more. Mhmm. And you doing something with it garners God's favor.
Abigail Boone: My final answer that I'm walking in Final answer. Is evangelism.
Charlie Loften: Evangelism is not something that God gives you.
Abigail Boone: Dang it. That's true. Alright. I don't know.
Charlie Loften: So the interesting thing is
Abigail Boone: Was I anywhere near on any of them?
Charlie Loften: You were hovering you're hovering around what you believe God wants us to do with what we have. Yeah. But that doesn't necessarily Right? Answer what we So when we call it the Parable of the Talents, and again, talent is a weight. Mhmm.
It is special skill. But, you know, growing up and hearing these stories in Sunday school and whatnot, you know, they would do the play on words on it because that's what they would say that it is. God has entrusted you with Talents. Talents. Yes.
And you need to use them in a way that honors God.
Abigail Boone: So
Charlie Loften: you have talent and got there, it's almost like whatever it
Abigail Boone: that makes
Charlie Loften: Abigail Abigail, he has given all of that to you. And like it should be considered in its totality. That's more global than what I was thinking. Your resources, your gifts, your skills, your opportunities, everything that is Abigail and Abigail's life, he's given all of that to you. Somebody may live longer, someone may have more talents or different talents, more resources or whatever.
Everybody has what they have, but what you have, you now have to use, and he's going to come back and ask you, you use it What for you did with it? The
Abigail Boone: Did you
Charlie Loften: hide it or did you use it? Here's the thing though, for me, and I confess, I think I'm overthinking it.
Abigail Boone: Okay.
Charlie Loften: And I have said as much when I've taught about this publicly.
Abigail Boone: Okay.
Charlie Loften: Because if it is your talents and skills, And so T you
Abigail Boone: a l, talent. T a, like skills, talents.
Charlie Loften: Yeah.
Abigail Boone: Not the
Charlie Loften: Yeah. But you have been given skills both with an s and a z. Skills. Okay. Yes.
Right? And if you are faithful with them, you will earn Double or more skills?
Abigail Boone: Yeah.
Charlie Loften: You know, if I if God gives me money and I'm faithful that He can give me more money, if he gives me if I'm faithful with my first ten years of my life, he's gonna give me ten more years. Right. And so there's a sense in which, like, the thing that God gives you, you can earn more of makes it
Abigail Boone: I think that kind of pans out. That, like, if I didn't God gave me the gift of creativity. I could not use it and it lay dormant forever, but I used it and I have gone exponentially further than other people.
Charlie Loften: But if, again, if we're taking this, the story here, really the master coming back.
Abigail Boone: I guess that's true. I'll have a huge creative enterprise in heaven. You heard it here.
Charlie Loften: And so that's when your, evangelism answer comes in a little bit like there is there is something right if I invest this well, then there are going to be more people. Maybe not the way I was thinking of.
Abigail Boone: Maybe more people
Charlie Loften: in the kingdom. There are going to be more people with talents. Now there's not one Abigail, there's two Abigails. There's three or four Abigail. So taking what you have is like what God has given to people, and you invest those into other people, and you're multiplying the kingdom, not financially, but relationally.
And so me taking what God has given me, the right way to invest them to try to double it is to invest into other people. And now we come back and it's like, look at how much kingdom work has been
Abigail Boone: done. Have people ever twisted this until, like, you'll get a better house in heaven?
Charlie Loften: You know what? If I don't know, that that is really twisting this so much.
Abigail Boone: Oh, really?
Charlie Loften: Mean
Abigail Boone: You think there'll be neighborhoods in heaven?
Charlie Loften: Did we talk about this last year in our theology thing, theology of heaven? I know you got me to talk about theology of hell. I think I do not think that there is any reasonable way to take all of the Bible's teachings about heaven and put together something that's coherent and makes sense. I just don't think that there is.
Abigail Boone: I would really like there to be neighborhoods.
Charlie Loften: I think there so much of it that is just not it doesn't seem like it fits well together. Right? That it's like, I don't know what it's going to be like. I don't know. I honestly don't.
This it does but just about everything that you read says there are rewards in heaven.
Abigail Boone: Mhmm.
Charlie Loften: And it does seem that there are enough places that say that they will be tangible, seemingly physical sorts of rewards. Yeah. And so I think faithfulness on this Well, and like treasures in Yeah. Faithfulness with what I have here is going to bring me personally some benefit in heaven. And then we feel the need at the end and say, but then we're gonna take everything that God gives us and we're just gonna lay it at His feet and then we're gonna
Abigail Boone: have I think the modern invention of the cul de sac should be the corner piece of heaven.
Charlie Loften: Right? So we we kind of equal equal parts. Right? We like
Abigail Boone: Yes and no.
Charlie Loften: I want it to be I want heaven to be representative of what I particularly value. Mhmm. And then other people's like, that's just selfish American thinking or whatever. And it's like, we wanna make we wanna make heaven cultural
Abigail Boone: Mhmm.
Charlie Loften: Or we feel this need to make it anti cultural. And then
Abigail Boone: it's just because, you know,
Charlie Loften: because if, like, if there's neighborhoods, right? I mean, some somebody who lived two thousand years ago, he's gonna have a mansion, and he's gonna be like, I don't even recognize. What what are these? What kind of wood is that? Yeah.
How what did he even like, somebody was like, oh, I guess you yeah. I guess you can.
Abigail Boone: But it's going to be so many more dimensions like The Matrix story or like, not The Matrix.
Charlie Loften: Yeah. Are the neighborhoods going to be are we going to be culturally separated because we what I consider to be a great house is going to be vastly different than someone who lived in India eighteen hundred years ago. Right. Or we all are going to have big American looking mansions.
Abigail Boone: Don't know what they're missing without cold sex. Right.
Charlie Loften: And so, again, I don't want to underthink this parable, but I don't want to overthink it either at its simplest.
Abigail Boone: Does
Charlie Loften: mean God has empowered and gifted you, and you have an absolute responsibility to steward that in a way. And you will be held accountable as to whether or not you do or don't steward that well.
Abigail Boone: Well, and just that it all hinges, everything comes after the master returns.
Charlie Loften: Yeah.
Abigail Boone: That, like, that is however you interpret that to look like he is mirroring that with him being the master
Charlie Loften: It that is either an end of days or just an end of your days. Right? It's something that's either going to happen at the end of all of our lives
Abigail Boone: or
Charlie Loften: is it going to happen to all of us at the end of time. Regardless, again, just like the passage last week, what you do in this life Mhmm. Is what determines your relative joy in the next in the next one.
Abigail Boone: Mhmm. I do think the last guy is really interesting, though. I don't know if they would have had this type of business mindset theological mindset, but you would assume at least not screwing up your boss's money would be, like, kind of a thumbs up, not like a, you wicked.
Charlie Loften: It's almost like, at that point, when we get to the third guy, I'd just imagine Dave Ramsey as the one that comes back. You should at least put that in the bank, could've gotten some interest out of it. You're the dumbest person I've ever seen You with put it in a hole. What's the best you could have done is get me right back to me. Could have lost it.
At least give it to the bank.
Abigail Boone: But it's not like he was the prodigal son that went squandered all
Charlie Loften: of it. I mean, think that is the point that he's making. It's not just simply, I didn't do the worst thing that you can imagine, but just not being faithful. Yeah. It's not just simply because I think when we think of it in these terms, we think of everything in terms of is it sin or is it not sin?
He didn't do anything bad, but he did not do what was asked of him. That was enough to receive the full displeasure of the master, which is significant. Because sometimes it's like, well, I've been good. I haven't been bad.
Abigail Boone: It's almost like he's actually calling you to be an activated soldier. Yeah. Not, which maybe that's a weird term to put it into, but not just stay safe, board up your walls.
Charlie Loften: Sword really is the best word. Who is left in charge of something that does not belong to them for a period of time. That's what they are. That's what we are. I have been given responsibility for something that does not fully belong to me for a determined period of time that I will be held accountable for.
Mhmm. Can I just say this? Yep. Just kinda Sidebar? Sidebar.
To me, the most shocking part of this passage is that first century Jerusalem Mhmm. Had banks with savings account where you could earn interest. They actually did? It's what it says. You should have at least given it to the bankers so I could have gotten it back with interest.
Interested? To me, that feels like such a modern concept.
Abigail Boone: Yeah.
Charlie Loften: It's a little bit like double sidebar that essentially almost the equivalent of billboards existed in the time of the gladiators, like at the Colosseum. Oh, like they would
Abigail Boone: have big, like, announcements and stuff or, like, kind
Charlie Loften: of these big giant kind of paintings on the wall that would be advertising something.
Abigail Boone: Really?
Charlie Loften: Like a like like like the equivalent of a modern day billboard. And Ridley Scott, who directed first Gladiator Mhmm. Chose not to include them because he didn't think that people would believe that they were real. That's really interesting. That it was like, Oh, that he had made something up.
That it would have felt out of place for Yeah.
Abigail Boone: Have taken
Charlie Loften: us out Just like it this would broken have felt out of place to me if you're imagining somebody walking around Jerusalem and hands a bag of gold to a guy at a bank counter and hands them back a deposit receipt? Were banks that feel like
Abigail Boone: more so that you got back more than you put in. That feels
Charlie Loften: like That is how savings accounts work.
Abigail Boone: But I mean, that just feels like modern money handling, there's an institution that you're going to get benefited by putting your money there.
Charlie Loften: And there is a, I'm sure it was not FDIC insured or whatever, but still, you give the bankers $100 and you let them have it for a year, and you come back and you get it, you get 103. That feels like a modern Western invention, but apparently it does not.
Abigail Boone: My dad is a lifetime banker, but I didn't really understand all of that stuff until I watched It's A Wonderful Life. That really sealed the deal of, oh, that's what the
Charlie Loften: brain I mean, I was just gonna be like, what movie is she about to say? I I was gonna say The Big Short. No. But then you said
Abigail Boone: It was good, but
Charlie Loften: You you said It's a wonderful life. I'm not
Abigail Boone: sure. It really breaks down how the bank How much how banks make money. Yeah.
Charlie Loften: That money that money's not in the bank. It's a 10 year old.
Abigail Boone: I'll just still house. Home and their fence yeah. Oh, George.
Charlie Loften: Imagine 14 year old Abigail going.
Abigail Boone: What? No, that would have been much younger Abigail. My our family like everybody has their Christmas movie that we watch like as a family, but everybody has their pick and every year my dad does.
Charlie Loften: At what age would Abigail have really finally I now understand banking.
Abigail Boone: I had more so I understood what my dad did.
Charlie Loften: At what age? You're watching wonderful I mean, you're watching it every year, but at what point did it all click for you?
Abigail Boone: I feel like probably, like, 10 or something like that. He always Wasn't
Charlie Loften: too far off at the
Abigail Boone: He always was, like, wanting us to have, like, our little kid account.
Charlie Loften: Right. So, again, to stop overthinking it and go back to kinda just kinda being in the pocket here. Mhmm. You have a life, and God has entrusted you with a lot. What you do with it in this life matters immensely both in this life and the next.
Mhmm. And people who fail to steward what God has given them are in trouble. Again, now we've to talk about, okay, well, what if somebody puts their faith in Jesus but then doesn't do anything with their life afterwards? Okay, stop. Stop already.
Okay. Stop already. Because there is a category of, at least I put it in the bank. To do nothing with your life means to reject Jesus and God altogether.
Abigail Boone: Yeah.
Charlie Loften: That is the category of the wicked servant that gets thrown out. This mythical person who puts their faith in Jesus, but is somewhat is a let down as far as what they do with their life afterwards, that's the guy who at least gave it to the bankers. At least he recognized that his life mattered and did something. He didn't really work at it. It's not great.
The thing that I think that Paul talks about in one of his letters where he says, People who kind of don't build their house on the right thing, it's going get burnt up and they're going to experience loss, they'll be saved, but yet like one passing through fire. Like, there is that category of people. So we just gotta stop with that. I know I'm arguing with nobody because we're on a Yeah. Podcast But I'm arguing with people who like to make everything about, oh, so you can lose your salvation.
Like, It's not stop. Stop putting post resurrection Pauline theology on a parable. What he was talking about. In a post Pauline Mhmm. Kind of post resurrection theology, you still can Yeah.
Make that fit. But, basically
Abigail Boone: But more so, he was talking about, like, y'all think the kingdom of heaven heaven is like this. I'm telling you the kingdom of heaven is this, and you need to, like, actually use what God created you to do. Right.
Charlie Loften: Yep. You you have you have a significant stewardship. So I think to his people, it I think it would have been surprising to them to have heard that God has given me a million dollars. Mhmm. I don't have a million dollars.
Yeah. No. Everyone here in this like, has there. You have the equivalent of a million dollars that God has given you. You may feel like you only have a little bit, but what God has given you is actually crazy significant.
And what you do with what you have is going to matter. Do not dig a hole.
Abigail Boone: Yeah. And hide it. Right. Have you seen that meme that's like, there's these kids that are, like, doing insults at this kid, and then the kid turns around and looks like all angelic and he says, my mama says I'm special. That's what he's making me think of.
Charlie Loften: Yeah, so I think that would have been the big shock point for them, for them to have put them into the category of someone who Has been given. Was significant enough to have been given a significant amount of something that they were then called to steward.
Abigail Boone: And then a later is the other guy that didn't do anything. But they first would have been caught up in the
Charlie Loften: First, you gotta put your mind around the fact, Abigail, God has given you something very significant to manage.
Abigail Boone: Very valuable.
Charlie Loften: Woah. Woah. Woah. Really? Yeah.
Woah. Woah. Woah. Woah. And if you don't.
Yeah. So you've kind of awakened me to the idea that I have a significant stewardship, and then immediately gone to, if you don't steward it well, you're in trouble. That's a double shock because I didn't even know I had it. I obviously haven't been stewarding it because I didn't even know I had it. And so now I'm like, Oh, really?
Uh-oh! Right? It was like good news, bad news, right? Yeah. Good news warning, right?
Good news, you've been given a lot. Significant news, you better do something with it. But the reward is great. Do you think this is of ignoring it are worse.
Abigail Boone: Do you think this is because they would have categorized, like, the only special people are, like, the Pharisees and people like that? Okay. So she's bringing it back to, like, the everybody level.
Charlie Loften: And the interesting thing too about it is, and again, I don't know if this is overread overthinking it or not, it took a significant amount of effort to dig a hole and bury a giant bag of gold.
Abigail Boone: Really?
Charlie Loften: Mhmm.
Abigail Boone: Because it's like a big bag or because it's hard to dig?
Charlie Loften: A million dollars worth of gold? I've never seen that visual representation. It'll be very, very heavy. It'll be very large.
Abigail Boone: Okay.
Charlie Loften: It'll a large bag of gold that was very, very heavy.
Abigail Boone: If there's a game show where you had to cut up a piece of gold to represent something, I would get it wrong every single time.
Charlie Loften: There used to be this thing at Cracker Barrel when I was a kid that I was like, I would be oh, this looks fun. They would have these big blocks of cheese,
Abigail Boone: and
Charlie Loften: then you cut off a piece, and if you could guess exactly how much weight was, you got to keep it, but otherwise you had to buy it. And I was like, I want to do that someday. And finally, when I was old enough to have my own money to be able to do that, they don't do it anymore.
Abigail Boone: Well, that's
Charlie Loften: I would absolutely at any point. If there's any place, we'll cut off your own hunk of cheese and guess what, I would do it. I'd do it in a heartbeat. What's the worst case scenario?
Abigail Boone: Yeah, you have to buy cheese.
Charlie Loften: The worst case scenario is I'm eating cheese.
Abigail Boone: Yeah, which you already were willing I to buy
Charlie Loften: mean, obviously I'm attracted enough to this, I like cheese. I think it's like, why are we letting people in Cracker Bar handle cheese? That's true.
Abigail Boone: With their bare hands.
Charlie Loften: Anyways, thank you, Abigail, as always, and thank you guys for joining us. I encourage you. We got a few more weeks left here as we're working our way to Parables, hope you will continue to join us, and we will see you next time. Thank you for listening to the Cultivate podcast. Our hope is that you are taking steps to go deeper in your faith, that you are asking big questions, and you're looking for answers.
We hope that we can be a resource for you through our podcast and any other way that we can help you. You can find all our episodes anywhere that you can find podcasts, including YouTube. And, thank you so much for joining us.