What if our economic choices have eternal effects?
Text: Matthew 25:14-30
Hosts:
J. Kent Edwards
Vicki Hitzges
Nathan Norman
Narrator: Brian French
The CrossTalk Podcast is a production of CrossTalk Global, equipping biblical communicators, so every culture hears God’s voice. To find out more, or to support the work of this ministry please visit www.crosstalkglobal.org
Produced by Nathan James Norman/Untold Podcast Production
© 2025 CrossTalk Global
Brian: Many people today are eager to live without the necessity of work. As a result, more individuals are increasingly embracing the FIRE movement, which stands for financial independence. Retire Early. Fire is a collection of financial practices that involve rigorous budgeting, saving and strategic investing in moderate to high yield options until you have enough money to never work for money again. So how much money is that? The fire movement suggests we need to save 25 times our annual expenses rapidly. Saving that much money necessitates rearranging priorities and a great deal of self denial and resourcefulness. Nevertheless, many of these laser focused individuals have succeeded, reached their fire numbers and are retiring while still in their 30s and 40s. But while I admire their frugality, I wonder if they have their goals too low. They believe that financial success depends on a plan that guarantees they can live comfortably until the end of their lives. But what if life doesn't end at the graveyard? What if our financial strategies need to consider life after death and to prepare for the unexpected return of our Savior? What many don't realize is that the economic choices we make today will resonate through eternity. Join Kent Edwards, Nathan Norman and Vicki Hitkiss as they peer into our financial futures through the lens of Jesus Parable of the Bags of gold in Matthew 25, verses 14 to 30. Welcome to CrossTalk, a Christian podcast whose goal is for us to encourage each other to not only increase our knowledge of the Bible, but to take the next step beyond information into transformation. Our goal is to bring the Bible to life, into all our lives. I'm Brian French. Today Dr. Kent Edwards, Vicki Hitskus and Nathan Norman continue their discussion through the Gospel of Matthew. If you have a Bible handy, turn to Matthew, chapter 25 as we join their discussion.
Kent: Vicki Nathan, do you know people who are laser focused on their early retirement like those fire people Brian talked about?
Vicki: I don't, I don't. Certainly not in their 30s. That was kind of stunning to me.
Nathan: I think I've met one or two in passing. I don't know of anyone who's achieved it. I know one of now who he might not quite be that extreme. I think he's shooting for his 50s, but he is pretty focused. He has multiple jobs and he's very frugal about the things that he does and the things that he buys and what he does or doesn't do for entertainment. Yeah, he's very focused.
Kent: Yeah. My wife has mentioned some people she's met in her work context that have been that focused. But even if you're not extreme like the fire people, do you Know people who are concerned about having money for their retirement?
Vicki: Oh, that's a very different question. And I've known many people who retired in their 50s.
Nathan: I do know of people who, their whole goal is to get out of any need for financial or to work for financial gain. Right. I owe, I owe. So off to work I go, kind of mentality that they want to get out of. Compared to that though, you know, I've known some people who've retired and one friend, unfortunately, he's gone home to be with the Lord recently. But he used to say, I got to keep doing something. I got to keep doing something because when you stop, you die.
Vicki: And I think there's something to that. And I think people are surprised by that. They retire and their friends are still working, or they retire and you can just play so much golf or, you know, life. There's something about the stress of working that's good for you.
Kent: Yeah, Work is not a curse. Work is a blessing.
Vicki: It can be a blessing.
Nathan: Well, work existed before the fall of humanity. Now because of the fall, it's toilsome. But there is something innate that we need to do work not necessarily for financial gain for, but in order to bring value into the world.
Kent: I admire people who plan ahead financially, I really do. But I think Jesus parable about bags of gold needs to be included in their strategy. Before we jump inside into the parable, however, let's remember the overall context of which this is placed. Nathan, could you help us?
Nathan: Yeah. So we're dealing with the question all the way back in the beginning of chapter 23 that got us started here. So the disciples said, what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?
Kent: Okay?
Nathan: And so this is talking about the things that precede the coming of Jesus. His second coming, his return, second Christmas again, I'm trying to make that catch. I want that to become the Christian touch point. So then later on in Matthew 24:36, Jesus said, but about that day or hour, no one knows, but only the Father. So you also must be ready because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. So this is about how to be ready for the unexpected return of Jesus.
Kent: Okay? And he doesn't give just one reason or one answer. He actually gives four, doesn't he? And he gives for each of them in the form of a parable. Do you remember the first parable?
Nathan: So the first parable he gives is about the Master going away and giving one of his servants the job of feeding the other servants. And instead of feeding and taking care of them, he abuses them and nourishes himself. So the servant leaders of God's people must nourish the people that they lead to avoid spiritually abusing them.
Kent: What does Jesus say is going to happen to those who abuse the ones that are supposed to serve?
Vicki: It's not going to be pretty. It says, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him, cut him to pieces, and assign him a place with the hypocrites. That seems like flowery language, for there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Kent: So one of the consistent things about these parables is that the consequence of not being ready in that way is eternal and it's terrible, right?
Vicki: It's eternal and it's terrible.
Nathan: Yeah, right. Because hypocrites is the Greek word for actors. So he's saying, you're going to spend eternity with a troupe of actors.
Kent: To be fair, he's not talking about George Clooney necessarily. He is talking about people who fake their religiosity.
Nathan: Fine, ruin the joke.
Kent: And the second parable, he talks about five foolish virgins who were waiting for the bridegroom, ready to do their part with a lamp of celebration. And they remembered the lamp. But what did they forget?
Vicki: They forgot the. Oh, this. This was our last week's lesson. And this bothered me. I thought about this really hard. Last week they forgot oil, but they didn't seem to know they forgot the oil. They were. They thought they were ready. They were all prepared. They expected to be included, but they weren't. They weren't ready. And the bridegroom said, get out of here. I don't know you.
Kent: They had the outside of the lamp, but not the inside oil. I think Jesus is talking here about holiness, about internal righteousness, that they were ready for his return. They knew he was coming, but they were not living lives that were expected, that the bridegroom expected them to live. And you remember when the bridegroom came and he came those five. For them, the door to eternity was shut and it was not opened. Let's look at this third teaching Jesus gives on how to be ready for his return. And starts off, you know, pretty happy.
Nathan: I'm having a feeling this is going to be a really positive one.
Vicki: Well, let's see. It says again, it will be like a man going on a journey who called to his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one, he gave five bags of gold. To another, two bags and another one bag each According to his ability. And then he went on his journey. Wow.
Kent: I'd like to be those guys, wouldn't you?
Nathan: Yes. No one has ever given me a bag of gold.
Kent: No, No.
Nathan: I check the offering box regularly.
Kent: But God doesn't trust all of his servants with his money. Doesn't he?
Vicki: Well, he does in a way.
Kent: Sure he does. He provides for the needs of his children. He did that in the Old Testament. Remember, they didn't have to go grocery shopping. He gave them manna. He gave them what they needed. In the New Testament, Jesus says, we can be confident that as we pray the Lord's Prayer, God will answer and he will give us our daily bread, our basic necessities of life. I find it interesting, looking through the Bible, how God's people are supposed to acknowledge that everything they have comes from God's good hand. From the beginning of time, God has asked his people to give back to him what he has given to them. Not all, but to give some of it back. In the same way that children give gifts to their parents at Christmas, not because their parents need anything, but because their small gifts are a beautiful way to express their love for. For the parents. So in the same way, every godly person gives to God, don't they? We're told in the Bible, tithes. Remember Abraham was the first when he met melchizedek in Genesis 14, and he saw Melchizedek, a priest of the Lord, and he gave a tithe to him. We see that even in the New Testament, the whole principle of tithes, Matthew 23:23, Jesus tells the Pharisees that they were wise to tithe and melt, deal and cummin, but they should also have done the weightier matters of the law. The widow gave her mite. Paul said to the Corinthians that they should take a collection for the Lord's people, didn't he?
Nathan: Yeah. To The Corinthians in 16:1, he says, now about the collection for the Lord's people. Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up so that when I come and when I look, no collections will have to be made.
Kent: But in the parable of Matthew 25, Jesus goes beyond saying that God expects us to give just in general, and shows us how we should target our giving. Because look at how this parable continues. He doesn't just give the people bags of gold. What do we read in verse 16?
Vicki: Well, this is where the guy, the master, gave the money to the three men. The man who received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work, and he gained five bags more. So also the man with two bags of gold gained two more.
Kent: Right. Because interestingly, that as you pointed out earlier, Vicki, the servants were entrusted with the king's wealth. It wasn't a gift, it was an obligation that they had. Because this is what is the king's money that they couldn't do anything they wanted with it belonged to him. And these guys understood this, these first two men, and they doubled their master's money. Right?
Vicki: Right.
Kent: I mean, that's pretty good. 100% return. I think that's.
Vicki: I don't know how long he was gone, but that's an excellent return. It is. That's a great return.
Kent: So in order to do that, they would have had to invest what he gave them for the benefit of the Master, right?
Vicki: Right.
Kent: They didn't make money for themselves. They were building his kingdom, not theirs. And it's clear that's what the Master wanted them to do. Because look at verses 19 and following.
Vicki: After a long time, the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. Master, he said, you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I gained five more.
Kent: And when the second servant brought out his two bags, again 100% return, the master gave him exactly the same commendation. So that's clearly what he wanted. He wanted them to multiply the money he'd entrusted to them. But then the master goes on to say.
Nathan: His master replied, well done, good and faithful servants. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your Master's happiness.
Kent: So now we're talking about eternal consequences, right?
Nathan: Yeah, that sounds great.
Kent: Because they have been faithful with these few things. I'll put you in charge of many things, which means they're going to be given responsibilities, some honors in glory, and you will come and share your Master's happiness. Well, I don't know. Is eternity a good place? Eternity with God? Is that a good place to be?
Vicki: Yes.
Nathan: Doesn't get better.
Kent: And why are you looking forward to it? What are we going to enjoy?
Vicki: Everything's good. There's no sadness, no reason not to look forward to that.
Nathan: Jesus himself.
Kent: We are reunited with not only loved ones, but other people who have loved God through history. We will spend time with them. Maybe you'll get to talk to Paul Nathan and give him some advice on how he could have done one of his chapters better?
Nathan: Nope, nope, not going to do that one.
Kent: Well, if nothing else, it could be a good learning opportunity.
Nathan: Probably ask for clarity on some stuff.
Kent: But the third servant, the one who received a single bag from the Master, didn't follow in his colleague's footsteps, did he?
Nathan: 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's what belongs to you.
Kent: Ooh. So the first two got what kind of a return?
Vicki: 100%. They doubled the money.
Kent: And this guy, what was his return on the Master's money?
Vicki: Zero.
Kent: And how does Jesus respond to him? Who did not strategically invest the Master's money for the Master's benefit?
Vicki: Well, I have a heart for this guy. He's not a risk taker. And the Master says, 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 deposited my money with the bankers so that when I returned, I would have received it back with interest.
Kent: So Jesus is saying, yes, I want a harvest where I have not sown. I want to gather where I have not scattered seed. So who's supposed to do the scattering so that there is a harvest?
Nathan: Jesus is saying, minimally, you should have deposited it with bankers so that you would have at least some sort of return on investment.
Kent: They should have scattered the seed. And that's hard work. If you weren't even willing to do that, you could at least have given it to a banker where you get a minimal return. A banker, I mean, that's low hanging fruit. How much money do you make on your savings account?
Nathan: Oh, nothing like 0.5% return.
Kent: That's Jesus point. But if you are willing to take the risk and you have good seed and good soil, and farmers take risk, right? They're depending on the rain, they're depending on the sun, they're depending on factors outside of their control. But if they take the risk, they have the potential to have a huge benefit. And here he says, you are a wicked and lazy servant. You didn't do the best you could do. You didn't do anything.
Vicki: The Master says to the lazy servant, the wicked lazy servant, he calls him. You knew that? I harvest where I have not sown and I gather where I have not scattered seed. That sounds to Me, like he's saying, you go give this to bankers. You go give this to investors. You go give this to. In a spiritual sense, you give this to missionaries. All these people go and gather. Go and sow seed and gather. I don't do it, but I give them my money. I don't bury it. That's why he's angry.
Kent: Yeah, he's angry because this servant failed to utilize the Master's money strategically to expand the Master's influence.
Vicki: Right. Okay, okay.
Kent: The servant did not use it to grow the Master's kingdom. He failed. He wickedly failed to use God's resources to expand God's work in the world. He did nothing with it. That's why he calls him lazy and wicked. Because the Master wanted his servant to use his initiative, his intelligence, to discover where the best investment opportunities were available.
Vicki: Okay, so listen to this. If in this case, the Master is Jesus, so Jesus could make anything happen to that money he wanted. But if we're just talking about a master, if he loses the money and that happens, you invest money and you lose every penny of it, do you think he'd be angry?
Kent: I think if you made very bad investments with.
Vicki: You don't always know.
Kent: Well, that's the job.
Vicki: But I mean, that's the reality of life.
Kent: Right. But you understand, we're not really talking about the stock market here. We're really talking about what can we invest for kingdom growth. That we have done our research, we understand what the opportunities and risks are, and we've made the best possible choice we can.
Vicki: And if we invest in a Christian school or a ministry and it doesn't make it. We've done the best we can do. I'm thinking. Right.
Kent: Yes. Let me go on and just try to explain a little bit more. Okay, so what is Jesus telling us here? He's telling us it's not enough to simply drop our money in an offering plate, to simply give to whoever comes and asks that is to be wicked, because it is lazy giving. We can give to all kinds of ministries and opportunities that bear no fruit. But he's urging us. He's telling us that we need to be strategic in our giving. Let me try and give an example of what I think we should be doing. In some ways, our investment of God's money needs to imitate that of Warren Buffett. Have you heard of that name?
Vicki: Oh, yeah.
Kent: In what context? Who's Warren Buffett?
Vicki: Well, he's one of the richest men in the world. Somebody was telling me they saw him at a stockbrokers meeting, it must have been on television. And he was testing the microphone and he went, A, B, C, a million one, a million two, a million three.
Kent: Well, I'm not surprised because according to my research on the Internet, he's worth at least $160 billion.
Vicki: Oh, man. Wow.
Kent: He is the chairman and CEO of a company that he owns called Berkshire Hathaway, and he's one of the most recognized and respected investors in the world. And when people ask him, how were you able to consistently make such good investments? He's famous for explaining that he follows a value investing strategy. What does that mean? What is value investing? He searches for underappreciated, undervalued companies that he recognizes has something unique about them that gives them the potential for growth. He recognizes small, relatively small companies, but he sees that they have something that others in their field don't have. He invests in them making a long term financial commitment so that they can grow and reach their full fulfillment. It takes a lot of research to do that, to understand the market, to understand how their competitors do their business and how this company does their business. And he invests in them not because they are making huge profits, but because they can. I think that's what God's calling us to do, to take a careful look at everything we invest his money in to say, is this likely? Does this have the potential long term to bring 100% returns so that the master's money will be properly utilized? I think we have to look very carefully at where we give our money as Christians. I know that that was true of a good friend of mine who recently passed, John Kalmakov. John was long term treasurer of Crossdock Global and, and when we first met, it was interesting to see why he was attracted to crosstalk. John was an amazing financial guy and he made very good investments. Not quite Warren Buffett results, I'm sure, but man, he was the most brilliant financial man I've ever known. And he decided to invest in crosstalk because he had done the opposite and invested in a more traditional missions program. He had just spent the money needed to sponsor a couple all through seminary. That cost a lot of money. He spent enough money to put them through language school. That was a lot of money. He covered the cost of moving them and getting housing for them overseas. That was a lot of money. And after he spent that money, he estimated it was well over $150,000. The mission changed their mind and sent them home.
Vicki: Oh, no.
Kent: And he was furious at himself because that was not a Wise investment of God's money. So he asked me, tell me about crosstalk. And when I said, we're different, we train indigenous volunteers who actually know the language, people who actually are in ministry where they are, so we know that they're gifted and accepted by the local people. And we train them with volunteers rather than paid faculty. And we have proven results that we have the ability to teach people to communicate the Bible to their home culture with significant impact. And these people, we don't build buildings around the world. We build into people who will train other volunteers, who will train others. Now, John gave to Krostock and became our treasurer because he saw the money he gave could have an enormous impact on the kingdom of God. He was acting like Warren Buffett. He was a value investor. He decided to give because he could see he would get a great return on his investment. I think all of us as Christians need to be careful where we give our money. Stop giving it away. Start investing it so that we get a good ROI return on investment for our Lord. But this podcast is not a commercial for crosstalk. This is just an example. According to Jesus, we should not simply give our money. He commands us to be strategic investors with our giving. Use his money thoughtfully. Do your research. Look for results so that God's money can make an impact, it can be multiplied, and so his kingdom can grow exponentially. I think the question all of us have to ask is how can we get the most bang for his bucks? What if we choose not to? What if we decide it's just easier to drop our money into a ministry that is Christian? At least, what if we don't give strategically? Well, what did the Master do in verse 28 and following?
Vicki: It says, so take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has 10 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. So much for a positive story. Nathan. Yeah? Take all this stuff seriously.
Kent: Yeah, it's wicked and lazy not to do value investing with God's money. Why? Because our money is his money and it's a sin not to invest it wisely. And man, it has eternal consequences if we don't. Maybe it'd be a good thing to remind us of what Jesus said about giving. In Matthew 6. Do you remember back in the Sermon.
Vicki: On the Mount, he said, don't store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Brian: It's easy to squander our money, to either overspend or to save our money like a miser. But God tells us that our money is his money. It's a sin to not invest money wisely on kingdom investments. When we use our money wisely, not only will we be assisting a ministry, we'll also be investing in benefits for our future that will last for eternity. I trust that today's discussion of God's Word has been helpful and served as an encouragement to not just be hearers of the Word, but doers together. Let's bring God's Word to life, to our lives. This week, the crosstalk Podcast is a production of crosstalk Global, equipping biblical communicators so every culture hears God's voice. To find out more or to support the work of this Ministry, please visit www.crosstalkglobal.org. we just held a phenomenal event in Southern California, and we have an upcoming one in New England. Help us train the next generation of biblical communicators. All you have to do is click donate in the show notes. Make a donation of any size. You can also support this show by sharing it on social media and telling your friends. Tune in next Friday as we continue our discussion through the Gospel of Matthew. Be sure to join us.
Nathan: But while I admire their frugality, I wonder if they have set their goals too low. Boing.
Brian: What?
Kent: I hope you can add that when Brian reads it, I probably could. Little Looney Tunes. This is not related to our podcast, but I think my definition of hell is golf. To be forced for eternity to do something so pointless as to go for an endless walk that doesn't give you exercise, to try and put a ball in a hole that never goes there. It's constantly frustrating and has no consequence whatsoever. That, that is. That's hell. Retirement hell, maybe, but it's hell. Yeah.
Nathan: I have so many close friends. They love golf. I've. Every time I try to, I've played a little bit. Every time I try to get involved with it, there's always some catastrophic life situation where, you know, God keeps putting in my way. He's like, no, you will not golf. But I have so many, so many good friends who just absolutely love it.
Kent: Well, I keep telling everyone Jesus was not a golfer. They had balls and sticks and he could have whacked one anytime he wanted. But he never did. He was a boater. You want to be Christlike, get a boat.