What are you doing to add value to you?

In the philosophy of Japanese Lean Production one of the goals is to determine what is adding value to the product as it is being processed and what is not.

Everything that is not adding to the value of the finished product is determined as a waste of resources and is removed from the process to create a lean method of production. Any footsteps or motion that does not add value is waste and the process is changed until there is no longer any waste.

Another form of waste is the stockpiling of supplies that wait to be used. The Japanese see this as a waste because the financial capitol that the waiting supplies represents could be better invested to adding value and increasing production efficiencies. To remedy this they order supplies on a just in time order basis so that the money that is being spent is only used as it is adding value to the product. This then frees up the cash flow of the company for use in more profitable ways.

One of the other methods of increasing production efficiencies is by the training and retraining of skilled workers. They invest in their workers to create an atmosphere of efficiency, satisfaction and fulfillment.

In light of the parable of the talents, the owner, in the parable, is looking for a return on his investment. He rewards the ones who give him a return and punishes the ones who do not invest the resources that have been entrusted to them. Many religious people use this passage to apply guilt and shame on their followers to pressure them into some sort of religious service. Unfortunately this has been the case for many years. This parable is applying a business model from the business world, a model that obviously works and is worthy of a parable.

A better way to look at this passage is to temper it with many are called but few are chosen. The essence of this passage is to prepare someone for inevitable rejection so that they dont spin out and take a nose-dive, and crash their life and then blame it on their religion or faith. Are you called? That can be good. If so then be prepared to be weeded out and not chosen, because few are. Being called is not the real issue, being chosen is.

The problem with this is rejection. Is not being chosen a rejection? Yes it is, and it is a rejection from the master. Does he have the authority and right to choose? Yes, and he does. So what does that rejection mean? It simply means that there are those better equipped, better able to serve in the manner called. Thats all. It is not a rejection of you; it is not a rejection of your acceptance of his offer of salvation and redemption. If you want to breed purebred animals do you use mixed breeds? Does that mean there is no use or purpose for mixed breed dogs? No. In fact some mixed breed dogs are better at being a companion than most purebred. Serving him may mean agreeing with his choice of someone else over you.

I have observed a lot of people claiming that they have been called into some sort of ministry or religious service and have seen them fail miserably. A closer observation usually shows that these people have no real life, no real self-identity or self worth and are using (and being used by) religion to keep from being accountable within and to them selves. This same calling gets used as an out from investing or cultivating any real, genuine or long term relationships with other people.

Being called is a great excuse for not growing up and being responsible to themselves and others. It is also a great way to create a form of elitism so that you do not have to explain why you have no real and lasting relationships, for exploiting the ones you do have and for not being held accountable for the lack of genuine interaction with others.

I have seen family members not attend the birthday celebration of other family members because they where needed in the ministry.

Being in the ministry has destroyed marriages; created fatherless children (though there is a father but not present as a father) the parable of the talents is misused and abused for the exploitation of the lost and weak in a manner that was never intended.

When it comes to showing up at the great banquet, what is it that you are bringing to the table? If you say that the only thing of worth that we bring is the souls of the lost that were redeemed then that makes you a thief and him a liar. You did not redeem any souls, and they are not yours (as if by possession or any other means) to bring. They are his and that makes you a thief and no thief is going to be allowed in to that banquet. If you, as a thief, were allowed in then that would make him into a liar. May that never be.

So lets get down to the real essence of the parable of the talents. (NOTE: A Talent is a measure of weight for silver for the use in exchange and commerce, not some supposed form of human talent.)

What resources of your life (the silver talents in the bag mentioned in the parable) were given to you by the master for you to invest and increase the worth of? What are they and how have you added value to them?

In one of the passages in the Old Testament YAHWEH is speaking through a prophet to Israel about his hopes and dreams for them. He gives an emotional plea concerning his desire to bring you to an expected end. He has expectations for his investment.

Another way of wording this is to ask, Why didnt you become you? Why didnt you get to or arrive at your expected end? Why didnt you increase in value from what I had initially invested in you?

So what exactly are those silver resources? The first one is life itself. You were given life so that you could increase life. How? You do it by bearing and raising your children to become your adult peers, or by investing your life into the quality of life, and increase of another. You do it by adding your life to another life and increasing that life in the investment of a committed, nurturing and long term relationship. I give unto you this day life and death, choose life. Life is a cycle of re-investing. The food that you eat whether you eat meat or not is still the cycle of life being re-invested into another life. Life begets life. It takes life to get life. What are you doing with his investment of life that he entrusted to you? He not only invested life but all of the consumable resources (oxygen, food, water, shelter, energy in the form of heat, light, etc.) that you consume to sustain that life. They are his investment into you also.

Other pieces of silver are the qualities, abilities and potential of you, and the personality of you. What are you doing with the person of you? How are you adding value to you as a person? He has invested a measure of ability, skill, and human talent into each of us. That means there is only so much to go around. Not everyone can paint a Mona Lisa, not everyone can sing a stirring anthem or hymn, not everyone can lead a community, wait on tables with elegance or build skyscrapers, etc. What are you doing with what has been given to you? How are you hiding and burying it and not investing it so that it increases in value and worth? What kind of developed and cultivated skills and abilities are you going to bring to the table?

If you think that this is a worldly investment and is a waste to the kingdom of heaven, then you differ in opinion to him. Check out the kind of people that were used in all of the work and maintenance of the tabernacle and you will see that they were all skilled in their contribution. He chose quality to build quality. What level of quality are you and how have you increased the worth and value of that quality. How have you increased his return on his investment by adding value to it?

Another piece of silver in the bag is the opportunities to increase the value of others. One of the greatest principles of the bible and of the world of finance is: Whatever it is that you desire the most that is what you give away to others. Do you desire wealth? Then what wealth are you giving to others so that they may obtain wealth? Do you desire property? Then what property are you giving away to others that have no property? Do you desire knowledge or wisdom? Then what knowledge and wisdom are you passing on to others who have none? How is your giving of what you desire adding to and increasing what others dont have?

Think about the master for a moment. How much was invested into him? How many elders passed on wisdom, how many rabbis passed on torah before he began to teach them? How many meals did he eat or, how many times did his mother wash his clothes? How many homes did his father build to provide for him? How many temptations in the wilderness were there to prove him to be of value and worth? What was invested into him to increase his value and return on his heavenly fathers investment? Did he continually increase in value? Is he increasing now? If so then how can we say that we are becoming like him and not be increasing ourselves?

We need to rethink our perspective of what we think the kingdom of heaven is. Did he die to bring losers with no quality and worth to the banquet as a presentation to his father? Is his kingdom that he presents in submission to his fathers kingdom just sinners saved by grace and of no other value or worth? Or is he a person of great value and worth going to bring his kingdom of great value and worth to present as a worthy offering to his father? Take from him who buried it in the ground and give it to him who has increased much.

What is your increase?

(Please note that though I use references to the Bible, I am only using it as a reference of instruction and wisdom. Any other inference is not implied. I use it because I have respect for it and what it says. It is not my intention to offend anyones religious sensitivities.)