Transcription

Connor:
You’re listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun and practical ways.

Jeff:
Here we are. We are here. Yeah, absolutely. As opposed to there. And today is Friday. Yes. TGIF.

Chris:
Which is your favorite day. It is my favorite day.

Jeff:
It’s your favorite day because you get to complain about the things you’re mad about. And so today you’re going to be mad about the fact that we’re not asking you what was Chris mad about? What? I know. What do you mean we’re not asking that? I know. I know. Says who? Well, Desiree. Oh, I see. She put it in here that we are pivoting a little bit. Okay. So it’s fun to see where our listeners are from.

Chris:
That only means it’s going to be next Friday.

Jeff:
It just makes you madder.

Chris:
I’m so angry.

Jeff:
Well, you might be angry about this place. No, I’m not angry at this place. These people might make you mad. They’re so mean, these people. They’re known for being mean. That’s right. So let’s state a few fun facts about this location. There’s four of them, and we’ll see if our listeners can figure out what we’re talking about first. Okay. All right, you go first.

Chris:
Okay, so here it is. Number one, it is considered to be one of the most multicultural cities in the world. Well, I didn’t know that. With more than 180 languages that are spoken in the city. 180 languages. That is incredible. Wow, yeah. That’s actually extremely interesting.

Jeff:
Yeah, you didn’t know that one?

Chris:
And if they’re listening from this area, these people who are listening.

Jeff:
They already know. They already know. They already know. That’s right. Although if they’re speaking in 179 other languages other than English, they might not know what we’re talking about.

Chris:
Well, they have to be able to understand us to listen.

Jeff:
Okay, here we go. Number two, it has the largest underground pedestrian system in North America, spanning more than 30 kilometers worth of restaurants, shopping, services, and entertainment. Yes.

Chris:
There’s a whole ton of… Yeah, I’ve experienced this myself. Yeah, it’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? Yeah, it is very, very amazing.

Jeff:
But there were several giveaways in that last clue.

Chris:
Oh, that’s so funny. Yeah. Here you go. All right. Number four or number three movie stars that include that from the city include Jim Carrey, Mike Myers and Eugene Levy. Oh, wow. There you go. I knew I knew the first two. Yeah. I didn’t know Eugene.

Jeff:
I knew Eugene was from this place, but I didn’t know he’s from this city specifically. Oh, I see. I see. OK. And the number four, it is home to North America’s only true castle.

Chris:
Hmm.

Jeff:
Interesting. And what place is this?

Chris:
Toronto, Ontario!

Jeff:
Okay, wow.

Chris:
Yes.

Jeff:
So, you know those Canadians, the reason why you’re mad is because Canadians are just angry people.

Chris:
Yeah, they’re so mean all the time.

Jeff:
Actually, Canadians are like the politest people on the planet.

Chris:
Yes, they’re the most polite.

Jeff:
They always say, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. So, have you ever heard Remember the game Angry Birds? Yes. So that was invented by a kid from Finland. Okay. Yeah, he’s the one who put it together, worked out the thing. And it marketed and it did really well all over the world, Angry Birds, except in Canada. And they had to change the name to Saria was so cross birds.

Chris:
Because Canadians wouldn’t play Angry Birds.

Jeff:
Sorry, I was so cross.

Chris:
That’s so funny.

Jeff:
One of my best friends in high school lived in London, Ontario, and I used to go and spend big chunks of the summer with them every year, ride the train.

Chris:
Hey, so when we got married, my wife and I, July 31st, 1992, by the way, we ended up getting married and you know how they do. We had 591 people at our wedding, by the way. It’s a big Italian wedding, and everybody gave their money. We had thousands and thousands of dollars. We collected, we counted them the next day, and we knew that we were able to go pretty much anywhere on our honeymoon, like anywhere. For the amount of money we got, We may not have been able to stay long, but we could have probably literally gone anywhere in the world. And so I was an easy person up until that point. I had never been to Disney World other than when I was 10 and I was 21 when I got married. So I said, Hey, I’d like to just settle for going to Disney World. And my wife says, no, we’re not going to Disney World. She says, I want to go to Toronto, Ontario, this place right here. And I said, there is no way out of all the places in the world, if we’re going to leave the country, we’re not going to go to Toronto. Right. So what we ended up doing is we compromised and we went to Toronto. Oh yeah, for your honeymoon? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jeff:
Wow.

Chris:
That’s where I stayed, yeah. So the idea that it said it has the largest underground pedestrian system in North America, and the clues were the kilometers. Yes, in North America. In North America, yeah. So it turned out that we actually said, oh, let’s go walk the underground. So we went underground, we ended up walking like hours. And then it turns out that it’s such a maze, we didn’t know where we were. So we thought the the number one, we’re not walking back because we don’t have it in us to walk hours back. So we ended up just walking up, uh, out of like a manhole, you know, like, you know, popping up in the middle of the street somewhere and then catching a cab and saying, take us back to our hotel. All right. So we walked that way underground and then we came back the other way.

Jeff:
That’s a good idea. Yeah, that’s a good idea. Yeah. It was really cool. Thank you for watching Toronto fans and listeners. That’s amazing.

Chris:
And I wonder how many people watch from Toronto.

Jeff:
Yeah. Yeah. Uh, I don’t know. She didn’t say that. No, probably most, most, probably most of the people in all 180 languages. So I love Toronto except during hockey season because the Maple Leafs are arch enemies. I see the Red Wings. Yep. So. There you go. Anyways, we are glad that you are listening. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And our neighbors to the north. Did you ever see the John Candy movie, Canadian Bacon?

Chris:
No.

Jeff:
You’ve never seen that movie? I’ve never had. You have to go home and watch that movie. Oh, wow. So he’s a sheriff in Niagara Falls. The president at the time of the United States, his numbers were plummeting. And so his advisors come and say, well, you need a war. That’s what you need. Every president has a war. It’s good. So they couldn’t fight. The whole world was peaceful. So they decided to fake a problem. And they said, why is it that 50% of the population lives within 10 miles of the U.S. border? All this stuff. And they start faking this, like Canada’s our enemy. And John Candy is kind of a little bit of a crazy sheriff living across the border. So he decides he’s going to invade and protect us from Canada. You never seen that movie? No. Oh, you gotta see it. Canadian Bacon. So that’s when I learned to love the Canadians is from John Candy. Well, I’m a John Candy fan, so I’ll watch it. Okay. Well, I can’t believe I saw a movie you’ve never seen. I know. I feel like, let’s just close the whole podcast down today. I achieved what I meant to achieve today.

Chris:
Jesus healed the blind, the lepers, and Jeff saw a movie Chris didn’t see.

Jeff:
I saw a movie. A movie. Yes. Okay, so today we are reading in Matthew chapter 25, and this is all about how Jesus tells this parable of the loaned money. It’s really, maybe you’ve heard the parable of the talents, right?

Chris:
Talents, yep.

Jeff:
So here’s what it says. 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 earn five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received 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, 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, said, Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest. I’ve earned five more. The master was full of praise. Well done, my good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful in handling the small amount. So now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together. The servant who received two bags of silver came forward and said, Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I’ve earned two more. The master said, well done, my good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful in handling the small amount, so now I’ll 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 where you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. And I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here’s 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 don’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 the money, or ordered, take the money from the servant and give it to the one with the 10 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.” There you go. Wow. Turns out our king is an investor.

Chris:
Yes. And there’s a reason why he gives us wisdom and knowledge. That’s right. And so, uh, he gave us a life to invest. Just the other day I was with my team, uh, you know, the arts team at our church. And we were talking about strategy and talking about church growth and things like that. And then I felt the need to, whenever you talk about like the business side of any type of organization, like a church, uh, You never want to make it seem like, you know, it’s about money. Right. Right. You never want to seem like it’s about numbers. Right. Right. But at the same time, we all know that like, I apologetically celebrate numbers because every number is a soul, you know, and Jesus very much cared about numbers and God cares about numbers. Right. So it’s one of these things where you sort of sway back and forth and, and, and people, you know, you assume that people know the heart of God. So you talk about numbers, you talk about money. And you do it in the right way. And if people have the right perspective of God, then they understand that God has, you know, he’s a strategist, he’s an investor, and he wants us to be wise with that which he’s given to us. Right? But instead I have to apologize. I have to say, Hey, I know in this next few minutes, I’m going to be talking about money and budget, but I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. It’s not like I look at this as a money thing, but money is involved. Right? So anyway, I just did that the other day. But anyway, all that to say, this is a reminder once again that God gives us wisdom and knowledge and wants us to be investors. He wants us to be wise with what he’s entrusted us with. By the way, couldn’t this be misconstrued that God is a bad servant or a bad master? Because he said, oh, master, I know you’re a harsh man, right? Because that’s supposed to be God, right? It’s the master. And he says, because you harvest crops that you didn’t plant and you gather crops that you didn’t cultivate, I was afraid And so therefore I hid your money. Well, first of all, I’m thinking, wait a minute, this guy doesn’t know God. This guy doesn’t know the master because look how generous this man is. And then he says to the servant, let’s celebrate together. What master is going to celebrate with his servant? Nobody. Right. So obviously the third servant did not understand or know the master.

Jeff:
Well, have you ever had an employee that just thought you were like the devil incarnate? Yes. Right. So you’ve got all these other employees that think, hey, I like working for this guy. He’s pretty great. Yeah. And then you get somebody who’s just guessing. They’re guessing what you must be like. Well, partly it’s because they’re wicked. He says that. You’re wicked and you’re lazy. Right. So my boss is a jerk because he expects me to produce something. Right. Right? And so I knew that you were, what you want is you want me to produce for you. You didn’t produce it. You just take it. That’s what he’s saying. But the Master is saying, wait a minute, I gave you all that to invest to produce it. Right? Yeah. And so, so he, it’s the, it’s not on the Master. Right. It’s on the perception of the servant. Right. Choosing to believe the master is bad.

Chris:
And he’s thinking that, because the master admits, he says, if you knew, which means he’s admitting it, if you knew that I harvest crops I didn’t plant and gather crops I didn’t cultivate, then that didn’t even make any sense is what he’s saying to the man. Then you should have at least deposited it because that earns interest. But the thing about the master is he doesn’t explain why he’s harvesting crops that he didn’t plant and why he’s gathering crops he didn’t cultivate, which means that God has his own reasons and you can almost guarantee that they’re not wicked reasons.

Jeff:
Well, God’s not affirming that what that guy said is true. He’s only saying, if you knew that that was true, or if you believed that,

Chris:
Oh, so he’s saying, then why didn’t you do this? Then why didn’t you do it? Because even your complaints don’t make sense.

Jeff:
That’s what he’s saying. Even your complaint doesn’t make any sense.

Chris:
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff:
Okay. Okay. Now, no lie. He did take what he didn’t produce. The master gives five and gets 10 back. He didn’t produce that 10 or the extra five. It was the other guy that did. So it’s the perception of this guy saying, you’re taking advantage of us. What do you mean? Because like you pointed out already, what do you mean? The master goes and parties with them because they did such a good job.

Chris:
Right. And honors them. Yes. And who do you think is going to pay for the ceremony? Right. Because they’re giving all the money back to the master.

Jeff:
And he says, you’ve been faithful a little bit. I’m going to give you even more. Right. Right. Everybody’s having fun on that side. Right. Right. This is all great. This is great. Yeah. Right? But this one guy has this, he’s filling in the gaps, he’s decided he doesn’t like the tactics of the master, which, you know, I was in a conversation one time on an airplane and this guy was saying, well, I’m an atheist, right? I’m like, wow, I almost have never actually met an atheist. So you’ve proven there is no God. Is that right?

Chris:
And then he’s like, oh, maybe I’m just an agnostic.

Jeff:
He pivots immediately to agnostic. And I said, well, what’s your influence for being an atheist? And he starts talking about, you know, Christopher Hitchens and a bunch of these famous atheists. And he quotes a couple of quotes by these guys that are just like angry at God, mad at God. God’s a monster kind of a thing. And I was like, wow, is that your experience? And he goes, yeah, I look at the world and that’s the way I see it too. He said, man, I just wish you knew what I knew. I wish you knew Jesus like I knew Jesus. He goes, what do you mean? And I said, it feels like you got most of that argument from a book, right, that somebody else told you about. And I’m telling you, while I have a book, the Bible, my personal experience with Jesus is totally different than what you’re talking about. And he goes, And so then it turned into this personal experience thing. So it’s interesting, this atheist guy, I hate God, right? And he’s just ascribing all these bad things about God. And I’m like, that’s just not my experience. Right? And I think that’s what you got. You got two guys going, this is great. And God blesses them even more. You got one that’s going, no, I hate him. I hate everything about him. And he’s a thief and a robber. He’s taking what’s not his. And so I’m afraid of him. I’m just going to go hide it.

Chris:
Well, you know, when you said that the master wasn’t affirming that he planted, you know, crops, that he harvested crops, he didn’t plant. Even if he had, what I was bailing to is I was bailing to the no explanation explanation.

Jeff:
Oh, yeah, yeah. Right.

Chris:
Because oftentimes Jesus, you know, remember when he hired workers in the vineyard? Yeah, right. And then he decided to be generous and unfair in everybody’s favor. And then he just said, Hey, what’s my business is my business. So I’m assuming always that God’s motives for doing what he’s doing is always good. And it may appear unfair to people who are again, in this case, judging him. And then he’s just going to be like, Hey, that’s my business. But he didn’t offer an explanation. But you’re saying chances are that’s what even true.

Jeff:
Well, so it was a wrong perception. Right. But he’s like, even if that’s your perception, you just banked yourself in the corner, you should have done something. Right. Right? Because what he’s doing here is he’s not affirming what the guy says is true. What he’s affirming is the fact that he’s still the master. Right. That’s what he’s affirming. So if you knew I’m a master, and you’re afraid of me, and you think I’m a jerk master, you should have done something. You did nothing. And so when I look at that, I think of it, you know, God’s given us every resource we have. So it’s not just about money. It’s about everything. And he’s given us our time. He’s given us our talents. He’s given us the opportunities. He’s allowed you to be alive at this time in history. He’s allowed you to have the family that you had, the experiences that you’ve had. He’s allowed everything. He’s given you 24 hours a day, just like he gave everybody else. He’s all these things. Now, it’s interesting because it says that he gave it to them according to their abilities. Isn’t that what it says? Right? One he gave five, one he gave two, and one he gave one.

Chris:
He divided it up according to their abilities.

Jeff:
And he divided it up in proportion to their abilities, which means none of them got more they could handle. Right. None of them. The master knew exactly what they could handle. And then, so the measurement isn’t how much do you produce? The measurement is how well do you use what God gave you? Right? So nobody’s going to measure, God is not going to measure any of our listeners by what Jeff and Chris produce. God’s not gonna measure Jeff by what Chris produced, right? God’s only gonna measure us based on what did you do with what I gave you? That’s it. And by the way, he didn’t give you too much and it’s not too difficult. And so I tell people all the time, you currently have everything you need to honor God today. Everything you need, you currently have to honor God today. And then he says, well done, good and faithful servant. You’ve been faithful a little bit, I’m going to give you even more. Let’s go party. Right? And so it’s so good when you’ve been faithful. So sometimes you find yourself in a little role or a little job or a little thing, and you get frustrated with it because you think, man, if I had a bigger job, if I had a bigger role, if I had a bigger thing, I would be great at that. Well, then be great at the little thing, because that’s how God works. God says, let me test you on the little thing, I’ll give you more. And we just had this conversation talking about staff members and things like that, that, hey, he’s been being faithful with this little thing, it’s time to, let’s elevate him and bring him up. It’s a new opportunity because they’ve been being faithful. And I just think if we can understand the importance of faithfulness, sticking it out, doing the right thing, and giving God glory for what he gave us, then we can trust that he’ll give us more.

Chris:
Yeah. And that’s been my experience. Yeah, me too. Yeah. And so, you know, think about every person who, well, I shouldn’t say every person, I’m just going to say, it feels like to me, every person that I admire, every person that I know, you know, personally and have, you know, know the stories, they’re great men and women of God. It feels like when they have a lot of responsibility, a lot of influence, they’ve earned, you know, top positions and, and all these, all these kinds of opportunities. they all seem to have a story where they pay their dues. Oh yeah. Right. Yeah. And it’s like, it’s like, yeah, it’s like, I remember, you know, back in the day they were just faithful and they were faithful and they were faithful and they started just like everybody else starts. Yeah. And then what ends up happening is, is God rewards them and gives them more influence, more opportunities, more blessing. And it just seems like that’s what ends up happening. And the more faithful they are and the more talented and gifted they are, it seems like God just gives more to them because they have more capacity. Yeah. Yeah. It’s just amazing.

Jeff:
The first church I served in on staff, well the first several churches I served in, it was 15 years, I was the everything else pastor. Sure, sure. Literally mow the lawn, join the club, change the urinal cakes in the men’s room, right? I was the janitor, I was the everything else guy. and it just seemed like it would never end, right? It felt like I think I’m going to be, and then I was poor my whole life, it felt like everything, it was just so hard, like it would never end, and I could find myself on occasion, if I didn’t keep my heart in check, being a little resentful, both of the call God had on my life, making me do this, and on the fact that I didn’t have the other opportunities. But I would say now I look back, thank God, thank God. So many times my wife would keep me heading in the right direction. Hey, be faithful, be faithful and God will bless us. And other times it was me encouraging my wife, hey, we just have to be faithful, right? So we need to encourage each other. And I think it’s neat that there’s three of them here. And two of them did the right thing, right? One of them didn’t. I think we need to be on this journey with others and understanding that we’re all in this together. It’s not just one of us and it’s just me, right? This isn’t a story of independence. It’s a story of individual responsibility. But two guys decided they could make it and they were going to go forward. It was just the one who gave up and quit and decided, I’m not even going to get started. He never started. Right? Right. The failure was he never started.

Chris:
Yeah, and not only that, but he buried it and it says the mass returned after a long time. Yeah. Which means like this guy had nothing, could have, you know, long time is, means.

Jeff:
Yeah, he could have at least gotten interest.

Chris:
Well, interest over a long time, right? I mean, it’s just, it’s not.

Jeff:
Yeah. So I think sometimes our biggest mistake when we don’t know what we should do to give God a good return, our biggest mistake is to do nothing. Right. Just bury it. Right. Right. So do something and get some kind of return. And that’s the, that’s the, I think the central message here of this, this parable. So it’s great, man.

Chris:
I love that one. I do too. And, uh, that’s our time and it’s a good place to end. So hopefully we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.