I love the parable of the Talents in the Bible. It is found in Matthew 25:14-30, and you should look it up. Here is the gist of the story. A landowner or a businessman of some sort was going on a trip. So he called his servants together and entrusted to them his money. This was not unusual. He probably used his money as capital that he loaned to others at interest. He used his money to make money. While he was gone, he wanted the loan business to continue. Now, keep in mind that these were not servants in the way that we might think of servants or slaves. These “servants” were skilled accountants or businessmen who managed the affairs of this landowner. They had business abilities and they knew what they were doing.

He gave three servants three different sums of money: five talents, two talents, and one talent. This must have been an incredibly wealthy landowner, and he must have had great confidence in these servants, because he gave them each a huge amount of money. A talent was equal to 20 years’ wages for a laborer. At, say, $15/hour, this would have been equivalent to about 3 million, 1.2 million, and 600 thousand dollars. When he returned from his trip, he had each of the servants account for the money that he had given them. The two servants who had been given the two larger amounts had each doubled their investment. But the other servant (the one who had only been given 600 thousand dollars!) had done nothing with the money his master gave him. He simply returned to the master the original amount.

In fact, listen to what the servant said. “Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” There is a key phrase in the servant’s response that makes all the difference. The servant did what he did because he was afraid.

Now if you are a fearful person—like I tend to be when I follow the passions of the flesh (1 Peter 2:11) rather than walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16)—you feel sorry for the guy. I mean, at least he didn’t lose any of his boss’s money. He could have put his money in Facebook stock! But my sympathy for the guy is a dead give-away. It shows that I lean toward fear more than I lean toward faith. You see, this guy had the necessary abilities. If he hadn’t, the master would never have entrusted him with so much money. The problem was that he didn’t use the abilities that God had given him because he was controlled by fear and not by faith.

You see, fear causes inactivity, but faith causes action. The servant was afraid so he did nothing. A life of faith always results in action, in movement, in something happening. Fear causes us to hide (this man actually buried the money). We hide from ourselves, from each other, and from God. We are afraid of what we might see in ourselves or what others might see. And we are afraid of what God may show us, about ourselves or about his will for us. Hiding says, “I don’t want to be found out. I don’t want to be seen as unable or unworthy or undesirable.” Hiding blinds us by making us think that we are in control. But when you live by faith, you don’t have to hide. You don’t have to be afraid of seeing in yourself what God already sees. When you live by faith, you don’t have to be ashamed of your weaknesses or inabilities, because your standing with God is certain. When you live by faith, you trust not in your own abilities, but in the fact that God loves you, forgives you, and has given you his Spirit, and thus the power to obey him.

We think that fear protects us, that if we do nothing, then nothing can be expected of us. But it really isolates us from the power of God. It doesn’t protect us; it paralyzes us. Fear says that God can’t be trusted, that I must rely on myself. Faith, however, says, “God has called me to do something that is completely beyond my capabilities (loving my wife, serving my neighbor, being involved with my kids, obeying the Bible, sharing the gospel, giving more money to the work of the Kingdom, etc.). I need God like never before, and I am going to obey him based on his power and his call on my life, not my own abilities.” And living by fear doesn’t deserve sympathy; it deserves punishment. The servant was cast into outer darkness (not a good place to be). God knows how good He is and He demands to be trusted.

Fear keeps us from giving our lives away because we are afraid that our own needs won’t be met. Fear keeps us from giving our money away freely because we are afraid that we won’t have enough to be happy. Fear keeps us from speaking to someone else about the gospel because we are afraid of their opinion. Fear can keep you from enjoying a life of richness and depth and excitement because it is just easier to play it safe. Faith says that God can be trusted. Fear says that he can’t.