Matthew 25: There Is No Shortcut to Becoming Faithful

Introduction

A few months ago, on the Paris metro, Joël Warzecha came across an advertising campaign for an extramarital dating site that boasted of the benefits of infidelity, displayed "in plain sight of everyone, families, children." That shock became the starting point of this message, preached at an evening of the JAP, the Jeunes Adultes à Paris (Young Adults in Paris) of the Église Paris Métropole.

The pastor sees it as a symptom of a society of individuals who move quickly from one project to another, from one job to another, from one church to another. "Faithfulness is a word we no longer know, that our generation no longer knows."

Starting from the parable of the talents, which he likes to call "the parable of faithfulness," he makes two statements: God is looking for faithful servants, and there is no shortcut into God's calling. He illustrates them with his own testimony, before reminding us that faithfulness is first of all a fruit of the Spirit.

Outline of the Message

1. A Generation That Has Made Faithfulness a Weakness

The preacher cites several figures: in France, couples divorce most often between the third and fifth year of marriage, not after fifteen or twenty years.
According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, young workers stay in the same job for less than three years on average, compared with nearly ten years for their parents' generation at the same age. Another study indicates that one in three young Gen Z workers already plans to leave their current job.
Even in friendship, the share of people with no close friend has quadrupled in thirty years. "This world has made faithfulness a weakness": why stay, when there is surely something better elsewhere?
The Church is affected. In the Île-de-France region, where churches are plentiful, people go from one church to another, from one ministry to another. They come out of a fiery weekend, then a few months later they are gone, or they stay until the pastor says something wrong.
The pastor adds some nuance: there are real abuses of authority in the Church, and there are times when you must leave. But he is talking about healthy settings, where people commit only halfway so as to keep "an emergency exit."

2. Faithfulness, First of All an Attribute of God

The dictionary defines faithfulness as the quality of a person who is steady, loyal, and devoted to their commitments, their affections, or the truth.
In the Old Testament, the central word is emouna, from the root meaning to be firm, stable, trustworthy. It is the same root as the word "amen." Faithfulness is not first of all a feeling, but a steadiness you can lean on, like a load-bearing wall or a pillar.
It is linked to the word hesed, often translated as kindness or unfailing love: God's loyalty to his covenant, an attachment that does not depend on the merit of the other. "It is because of Yahweh's loving kindnesses that we are not consumed, because his compassions don't fail. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23)
God remains faithful to the covenant even when his people are not. The "spoiler" of the Old Testament, says the pastor, is the story of a people who were loved, chosen, and set free, but who fail to be faithful: man is incapable of it by his own strength.
In the New Testament, the word pistis covers both faith and faithfulness, like two sides of one coin. "You could say that faithfulness is faith lived out over time."

3. The Parable of Faithfulness: God Is Looking for Faithful Servants

In Matthew 25, starting at verse 14, a master entrusts his goods to three servants: five talents to one, two to another, one to the last. The master is Jesus; the talents represent what God has entrusted to you personally: singing, organizing, communicating.
The pastor distinguishes this parable from the one in Luke 19, where ten servants each receive the same sum: there it is rather about the "common core," what everyone received in equal measure, like the twenty-four hours of a day or the Word of God.
When the master returns, he does not say to the servant who doubled his five talents: "Give me the key to your investment." He praises neither performance, nor intelligence, nor the quality of the gifts. He says: "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things" (Matthew 25:21).
Hence the pastor's conclusion: "Multiplication equals faithfulness." Growth in God's kingdom is not tied to the opportunities you seize by moving from project to project or from church to church.
We are a generation too impressed by gifts and by whatever catches the eye: the voice of a worship leader, someone's preaching, videos of miracles. The pastor believes in a God who heals and delivers, but "these are things that do not impress God."
When the disciples return full of joy because the demons submit to them, Jesus tells them to rejoice instead that their names are written in heaven (Luke 10:17-20). What impresses you is normal for God; what interests him is the invisible.
"God is not impressed by your gifts." Why? Because he is the one who gave them to you. Paul says it: "What do you have that you did not receive?" (1 Corinthians 4:7). God is looking for faithful men and women.

4. There Is No Shortcut

The master adds: "I will set you over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord." God wants to entrust you with much: projects, works, souls, your calling.
"We are a generation that wants God to entrust it with much without going through the step of being faithful over a few things." There is no side road, no shorter path: be faithful in what God asks of you today, in the ministry he has entrusted to you.
Concretely: if you have made a commitment, keep it. If you said you would be on time, be on time. If you said you would be there, be there.
Social media makes the shortcut tempting: a good camera, punchlines, a favorable algorithm, and thousands of people applaud you. Your pastor won't let you preach, your leader won't let you lead worship? You post. The pastor makes clear that he has nothing against social media, which he considers excellent for preaching the Gospel, but he is talking about the heart.
"God allows your leader to be a bit annoying. God allows your leader to tell you no." Because he is looking for your faithfulness and wants you to be attached to him.
You have a calling? So did Paul. Between his encounter on the road to Damascus and the fulfillment of his calling, about fourteen years went by, lived out of the spotlight: Arabia, Damascus, Tarsus, then Barnabas going to find him and bring him to Antioch, where the Spirit and the Church set him apart for the mission (Galatians 1 and 2, Acts 13:1-3).
Jesus also had a calling, he came to save humanity. Yet after the episode in the temple at age twelve, Luke closes about eighteen years in a single passage: he went down to Nazareth, he was subject to his parents, and he grew in wisdom, in stature, and in favor (Luke 2:49-52). A carpenter, very surely faithful to the synagogue, Jesus waited for God's timing, even though the needs around him were immense.
"God will necessarily take you through faithfulness first. It's 100%." Don't let yourself be impressed by the noise around you or by comparison on social media: "Good and faithful servant, that is what he wants from you."

5. Be a Streetlight Rather Than a Firework

"Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man?" (Proverbs 20:6). A faithful person is rare.
The pastor borrows an image from another preacher: stop being a firework. It is beautiful and it shines, but it serves no purpose. Be a streetlight: it doesn't make anyone dream, it just stands there, but it saves lives. On the highway, you are glad there are streetlights.
Every leader will tell you: better a person who is present, stable, and keeps their commitments than an extremely talented but unstable person. Being faithful does not mean being there when things are going well, it means being there even when it is hard.
Serving God is a joy, and the pastor encourages young adults to serve. But he warns what will happen: from the moment you start serving, you will want to leave, to throw in the towel, to say "this is too much for me, I'm not in the right place." "Welcome to the club," it happens to everyone.

6. "It Is Time for You to Become Faithful"

Joël Warzecha admits he could have preached on impatience. He gets bored very quickly: three years ago his passion was the NBA, two years ago it was cooking, today he doesn't know anymore. He struggles with patience and steadiness, he likes it when things are moving.
In his Christian life, he alternated between missions across Europe and returns to the local church. On paper, he was serving God; in his heart, there was "a choice of the easy way": when something no longer suited him, he left again.
While helping a pastor plant a church in southern Italy, he had to preach every week and take care of groups. He realized he was limited and could not give what he did not have. God led him to the Église Paris Métropole to be trained.
Very quickly, nothing went the way he had imagined: "I did all that to end up here, sitting on a chair, without being given the place I deserve." Over a coffee, he told Pastor Sami he was going to leave. Another opportunity was already lined up.
A longtime Italian missionary friend then stopped him: "Joël, it is time for you to become mature, it is time for you to become faithful. Stop wandering, stop leaving." The word hurt, but he recognized God's voice in it.
He thanks the pastors of his church who showed discernment, walked with him in a healthy way, and knew how to tell him no. He understood that he had to become the person he would have liked to have beside him, and God spoke to him clearly about it. When you serve, you dream of having someone close by who is firmly planted and says: "I'm here, no matter what."
He told God: "OK, let's go, it costs me, I don't feel like it, but let's go." And today: "What a joy to be in God's will! I wouldn't want anything else."

7. Put Down Roots, and Let the Spirit Produce Faithfulness

A tree that is constantly uprooted and replanted lives "a programmed death": its smallest roots, the ones that absorb water and nutrients, are destroyed with each move. It exhausts its reserves re-rooting itself at the expense of its growth, and never develops the anchoring it needs to stand upright.
To grow, a tree has to stay in the same place. Its roots take months, sometimes years, to spread. A baobab becomes, over the years, a landmark where it stands. It is a bit monotonous for the tree, but it is the only way to grow.
"It is time to put down roots where God has placed you," even if it is not the most comfortable place or the one you dreamed of. Settle into God's house, serve faithfully, and God will make you a solid tree, under which people find shade. Faithfulness equals growth.
But it is impossible for man to be faithful by his own strength: the history of Israel shows it. God's Spirit had to come and transform the heart. Faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22).
If you feel like letting go of your marriage, a discouraging job, your local church, or your ministry: don't let go. Do as Moses did, tired of leading an unfaithful people, who knelt down and said: "Lord, help me." Stop leaving and start crying out to God: "Holy Spirit, make me a faithful servant."

Key Takeaways

Faithfulness is first of all an attribute of God, who remains faithful to his covenant even when his people are not.
In the parable of the talents, the master praises neither performance nor gifts, but faithfulness. Multiplication equals faithfulness.
There is no shortcut to God's calling: Paul and Jesus themselves went through years of quiet faithfulness.
Better to be a streetlight, stable and present, than a firework that is brilliant but unstable.
No one becomes faithful by their own strength: faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit, which you have to ask God for.

Personal Application

In what area do you keep an "emergency exit" that keeps you from committing fully: your church, your ministry, your job, a relationship?
What impresses you most in others: their visible gifts or their faithfulness over time?
What simple commitment can you keep this week: being on time, being present where you said you would be?
Are you looking for a shortcut to what you believe is your calling, rather than being faithful in the few things God has entrusted to you today?
Where is God asking you to put down roots, even if it is not the place you dreamed of?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Why call the parable of the talents "the parable of faithfulness"?

In Matthew 25, the master does not congratulate the servant for his performance, his intelligence, or the quality of his gifts. He says to him: "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful over a few things." For Joël Warzecha, the parable shows that multiplication equals faithfulness.

Is there a shortcut into God's calling?

No. The master promises to entrust much to the one who has been faithful over a few things. Paul waited about fourteen years between his calling and the fulfillment of his calling, and Jesus lived hidden in Nazareth until he was about thirty. God takes everyone through faithfulness in small things.

How can you become faithful when you feel like letting everything go?

The preacher reminds us that it is impossible for man to be faithful by his own strength: the people of Israel did not manage it. Faithfulness is a fruit of the Spirit. Like Moses, tired of leading an unfaithful people, he invites us to cry out to God: "Holy Spirit, make me a faithful servant."