What If?

It is a question we ask ourselves in contemplating the positives and negatives of a decision we are about to make. Sometimes it is good to ask this question. Teenager about to jump off the roof onto the trampoline asks himself, “What if this doesn’t turn out like I plan?” That is a good what if question. When Gideon and Josiah start to do things like this I hope they have these what if questions. If not we are going to numerous trips to the emergency room. Asking the “what if” question does pay off on occasion.

This Sunday in Bible Class a passage was used to define the sin of sloth. It was the parable of the talents. A talent in Greek is an amount of money. I believe I read that it was 75 lbs of gold. Brief overview of the passage: A master entrusts a certain amount of gold to three servants. Two of the servants make a profit for the master by using the gold they were given while the third was afraid he would lose it, so he dug a hole and buried it. You see the third servant asked the what if question. “What if I lose the money I have been trusted with and then the master gets angry with me?” So he does nothing out of fear. The master returns and rewards the first two servants. But to the third servant he says, “You are a wicked and lazy man…and now you must be punished.” Matthew 25: 26 & 30 FDV (Freakin Deacon Version).

What do you think the master’s response would have been had one of the servants tried to make a profit for the master but ended up losing it? Since parables are meant as a teaching tool and we know that the master represents God I feel like I have an answer to that question. I think the answer is Grace! That is what the master’s response would have been. I have had discussions with people that I am close to who are afraid of upsetting God and so they live and, unfortunately, worship God in fear. Now I am not saying we shouldn’t fear God and shouldn’t worry about upsetting Him. I actually think I need to have a stronger sense of fear of God in my life. What I am saying is that we don’t need to let our fear of God stop us from trying to do something for God. I have heard people say, “I think this is ok to worship or serve God like this, but in the back of my mind I worry, What if(There is the question again) I am wrong and I raise my children wrong.” The fear is that God will punish them and their children because he didn’t like the way they served and worshiped him. I just disagree with that type of theology. I believe God will honor the fact that we serve and worship him. The master in the story didn’t give the servants instructions on how to serve Him. He just rewarded the ones who did serve him. Don’t let your worship be defined by fear. Just worship. Also, don’t let your service be defined by fear. Just serve. Don’t refuse to do work for God because you are worried that you might mess it up. The parable above explains how God views the person who does that. “Wicked and lazy!”

I pray that we will have a healthy fear and respect for God and I also pray that we will not let our service and worship be hindered by the terrible “What if?”