Parable of the Talents Matthew 25: 14-30
“For it is as if a coach, pursuing his last victory before retirement, called his players and entrusted his faith in their abilities to them and told them to not fail; to one he gave the position of pitcher, to another catcher, to another shortstop, each according to his ability. Then he went into the dugout.
The one who had received pitcher went off at once and pitched lefty for the first time to make five innings of strikes. In the same way, the one who was catcher took a chance and made two outs throwing to second base. But the one who had received shortstop went off and played by the rules.
After a long game, the coach called them into the dugout and appraised each player’s performance. Then the one who had received the position of pitcher came forward saying ‘Coach, you made me pitcher; see, I pitched five perfect innings.’ His coach said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy player; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will raise your salary; enter into the joy of victory with your coach.’
And the one with the position of catcher also came forward, saying, ‘Coach, you gave me the position of catcher; see, I knocked out two steals.’ His coach said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy player; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will raise your salary; enter into the joy of victory with your coach.’
Then the one who had received the position of shortstop also came forward, saying, ‘Coach, I knew that this was your last game, and you value your game rules; so I was afraid of letting you down and played everything by the book.’ But his coach replied, ‘You lazy player! You knew, did you, that this was my last game and I wanted to win? Then you ought to have used your talent to make amazing plays and won the game for me. So you are kicked off the team and I will give your salary to the others.
For all those who try, more salary will be given, and they will be successful; but for those that only follow the rules, even the talents they have may not be enough. As for this player, throw him out of the league, where he will spend of the rest of his life weeping.’”
Macayle Fuchs 