In finance there’s a well-known problem called the principal-agent conflict. The conflict arises when managers and owners of a firm have different incentives. When that happens, managers may make decisions that benefit themselves at the expense of owners.
To minimize this problem, owners attempt—often unsuccessfully—to devise compensation schemes that align the interests of managers with those of owners.
This problem is presented in Matthew 25 in the parable of the talents. Before departing on a journey, a man called his servants together and gave to each, according to his ability, a number of talents. Then, after a long absence, the man returned and settled his accounts, rewarding each servant according to how they used the talents.
An important key to understanding this parable is in the first line. It reads, with my emphasis and interpretation: “For the kingdom of heaven (not an earthly kingdom, but the kingdom of heaven) is as a man (the Lord) traveling into a far country, who called his own servants (not the servants of another household, but His own servants, servants who had agreed to abide by the rules of His kingdom), and delivered unto them his goods (not their own goods and not the goods of another master, but the goods of the Lord of the kingdom of heaven).” As members of the Lord’s Church, or earthly kingdom, we aspire to become members of His heavenly kingdom. He has given us His goods to enable us to make that transition. How we deal with those goods will determine how successful we become.
For that reason, I want to speak about the importance of using the Lord’s goods wisely. Later in the parable those goods are called talents, which we often associate with money, aptitude, or ability. However, I prefer the phrase “the Lord’s goods” because it implies accountability on our part for the way we use what really belongs to the Lord.
I will talk specifically about money and service, but I acknowledge that there are many other illustrations of what I have to say. I strongly believe the goods the Lord gave His servants in the parable were spiritual gifts to help them develop attributes of Deity. We can observe much about a person’s feelings for spiritual gifts by his or her approach toward money and service.
A few years ago, I was at the Provo Temple when the thought occurred to me that I should offer my students a choice of finals. One alternative was for them to take the regular final, dealing with issues we had discussed that semester. The test would be a comprehensive, take-home, open-book, open-note, but closed-neighbor experience. Students from earlier semesters had taken from four to twelve hours to complete this final, which would account for 50 percent of their grade.
The alternative final would allow students to keep the grades they had earned to that point in the semester. To keep their current grades, students had to spend four hours serving someone they wouldn’t otherwise have been able to serve, and they had to spend two hours reading the scriptures and other church literature to learn what the Lord has said about the accumulation and disposition of wealth. The students also had to submit a report on their service and reading. I estimate that most of 126 students who took the alternative final spent between seven and eight hours on it. One student spent twenty hours on the service portion alone because, in his words, the service became “addictive.”
As for me, I spent more time reading these finals than I would have the regular finals. At times, what I read brought tears to my eyes. On a regular final, that would not be a good sign. For this final, my tears were tears of gratitude.
I first want to do what I asked them to do—namely, examine what the scriptures say about the accumulation and disposition of wealth. I begin by referring to 1 Corinthians 10:24, “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.”
In the Joseph Smith Translation, the prophet changed the word “wealth” to “good.” Thus the scripture should read: “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s good.” Each of us should be concerned about the welfare of others and only by so doing can we truly find wealth. This is fundamental to understanding the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The idea suggests that in the parable of the talents, or the parable of the Lord’s goods, part of our responsibility is to enlarge not only our own portion of those goods but also the portion enjoyed by others. This idea is consistent with the statement in the Doctrine and Covenants that, “to some is given one (spiritual gift), and to some . . . another, that all may be profited thereby” (D&C 46:12).
This principle holds, not only in sharing spiritual gifts but also in caring for each other temporally. In D&C 104:15–17, the Lord states:
And it is my purpose to provide for my saints, for all things are mine.
But it must needs be done in mine own way; and behold this is the way that I, the Lord, have decreed to provide for my saints, that the poor shall be exalted, in that the rich are made low.
For the earth is full, and there is enough and to spare; yea, I prepared all things, and have given unto the children of men to be agents unto themselves.
In pre-mortality the Father’s plan called for a Savior. It called for someone who, though a Son of God, would “go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind” and would “take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people” and “their infirmities” and even death.
It was to this invitation to descend below all things that Christ voluntarily responded, “Here am I, send me” (Abraham 3:27). Because of that response, the Lord, the richest of all earth’s inhabitants, came to earth and did descend below all things that we, the poor, might be exalted through His sacrifice and our obedience. His way of saving us temporally is a witness of the way He saves us spiritually. It is His way. He has no other.
When we sacrifice for another, we show gratitude for His sacrifice, and we do it in the “similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father” just as Adam did when he offered the firstlings of his flock (Moses 5:7). “All things (both spiritual and temporal) are . . . made to bear record of (the Savior)” (Moses 6:63). “All things,” including His plan to provide for His saints temporally, “are spiritual unto (Him)” (D&C 29:34).
When we participate in His plan, we are standing in His stead. He is teaching us how to become saviors because we are doing for others what they cannot do for themselves, just like He did for us. And, as His gift was voluntary, so must ours be if it is to have the intended sanctifying effect. That is why He has made us agents unto ourselves.
The offerings we make may be more frequently determined by our attitude than by our ability. One of my students wrote:
My family has never been rich. But I believe my dad and mom have helped more people financially than I could count four times over on all the appendages of my body. I know that in the scriptures as well as other doctrinal sources, it speaks of giving when you have nothing to give. I can say honestly that my wife and I have nothing to give. But when we give, we receive back tenfold. I deeply subscribe to the thought that if you cannot give when you have little, you will not be likely to give when you have everything.
Some years ago I attended a Marriott School banquet honoring Jon Huntsman. Though his wealth and philanthropic gifts are now legendary, the deepest impression I took from that evening came from a story his wife told. In the early days of their marriage, the Huntsmans had a meager income. Sister Huntsman was in charge of their books and could account for all their expenditures except $50 each month. When she approached her husband about it, he told her not to worry. She remained unaware of how the money was being spent until several months later when she heard a needy mother thank an anonymous donor in testimony meeting who had given her $50 each month.
The Lord gratefully accepts gifts of whatever size so long as we give them with the right attitude. Perhaps some truly do not have the ability to help others financially. In those cases King Benjamin instructs us to say in our hearts: “I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give.” That way, we avoid “(coveting) that which (we) have not received” (Mosiah 4:24, 25). Moreover, sometimes what people need is not our money but our time or service. Elder Marion G. Romney stated, “Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made.”
One of my students wrote of her service to an elderly man:
Alma lives alone, is ninety-three years old and nearly completely blind. His wife died just one year ago and his son, his nearest relative, is sixty-five years old and lives in Salt Lake. . . . A month ago I started taking a tape recorder with me on my daily visits with Alma and recording the stories he told me without him knowing. I had hoped to transcribe the tapes in time to present them to him in book form for Christmas, with copies for his grandchildren. . . . This final provided a way, not only for me to complete the work, but to solicit the help of my group members in making the book look good and flow well. . . . (We) took the book over to
Alma yesterday and read it to him. He cried. He is very excited to be able to pass these stories on to his grandchildren.
Another student wrote:
For my service, I spent the day sewing a baby dress. My sewing machine rarely comes off the shelf during the school year, so I was grateful to have time to do this. . . . This project is meaningful to me because of a little girl I used to babysit. Her mother had a life full of poor decisions, so my family kept the baby about half of the time so that she would be safe. After a couple of years, the baby was taken from her mother and put in foster care, so we never got to see her after that. I think about her a lot and wonder about all the things she went without because of her situation. I used to sew dresses for her, but now that she is no longer part of my life I like to sew for other children who are also in need.
Whether we are making family albums or sewing dresses for babies, the Lord accepts our offerings as if they were done unto Him (See Mosiah 2:17).
Brigham Young said:
The worst fear I have about this people is that they will get rich in this country, forget God and His people, wax fat, and kick themselves out of the Church and go to hell. This people will stand mobbing, robbing, poverty, and all manner of persecution, and be true. But my greater fear . . . is that they cannot stand wealth.
Brigham Young also said, “I like to see men get rich by their industry, prudence, management, and economy, and then devote it to the building up of the kingdom of God upon the earth.”
Brigham Young was not opposed to wealth, only to its misuse. One of my students illustrated the dichotomies in Brigham Young’s statements by contrasting the examples of his two grandfathers. He wrote:
I have been blessed with two contrasting examples to help me to know the meaning of (seeking first the kingdom of God). Both of my grandfathers can be considered successful businessmen. Both of them are members of the Church; however, one has been much more diligent in striving to first seek the kingdom than the other. This grandpa . . . is abundantly more blessed materially than my other grandpa. In addition, he has been so richly blessed with a large, loving family, and all of them have testimonies of the gospel and are raising his grandchildren with this same testimony. He is much happier and much more enjoyable to be around than my other grandpa who is worried about looks and things of the world.
Perhaps my favorite quote from the final came from a student who originally viewed the alternative as an easy way to retain his A. But, as he got into the assignment, the Spirit took over. In the two hours he spent in the scriptures, he took four pages of notes, more than he had ever taken in a single session with the scriptures. He began seeing what the Lord required of him as a steward. He wrote:
Money is one of God’s tools to help us become like him. (As) with many of God’s tools, Satan manipulates money’s use and tries to bring us down. . . . Money is the power of this world. The priesthood is the power of heaven. (When) we use money how God intends for us to use it, then He will also show us how He intends for us to use the priesthood.
I have pondered this statement many times. The scriptures teach that the “rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven.” Those powers, we are told, “cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness” which requires, among other things, that our bowels be “full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith” (D&C 121:36, 45). As that occurs and as we garnish our thoughts unceasingly with virtue, our “confidence (waxes) strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood (distils upon our souls) as the dews from heaven” (D&C 121:45).
The words “bowels” and “filled” occur in the same verse only five times in scripture. Each of those verses refers to the Savior, whose bowels are filled with mercy or compassion toward us. In D&C 121:45, the words “bowels” and “full” appear together. That verse informs us that a prerequisite to having the doctrine of the priesthood “distil upon (our) souls” is that our bowels be “full of charity.” Are these similarities between the Savior’s compassion or mercy and our charity coincidental? I think not. The Lord is instructing us that if we want to understand His priesthood, we must develop His attributes, one of which, perhaps the most important of which, is charity (Moroni 7:47).
The talents or goods we return to the Savior will be returned to us because they will be who we have become—pure and charitable like him.
I offer this prayer in the form of a poem that I composed.
A Servant’s Prayer
Dear Lord, give me two eyes to see
The needs of those surrounding me.
Let thy eyes my poor sight improve
To see some broken heart to soothe.
Dear Lord, give me two listening ears
Attuned to cries so faint, yet dear,
Ascending to thy throne divine—
Let my ears be attuned like thine.
Dear Lord, give me a generous heart
That seeing, hearing I impart
To those in need, who stand alone,
Who mercy seek before thy throne.
For I, like them, a beggar am
In need of grace, a fallen man.
Thy power alone can us restore
To yonder realms we knew before.
But oft on earth thy power is shown
As fruits of seeds in silence sown
By those who see and hear and do
The service thou hast led them to.
We are all servants. We have received talents that are the Lord’s goods. Those goods should help us develop His attributes. We should strive to become like the Savior, to have His eyes, His ears, and His pure heart in seeking “every man another’s good” (1 Corinthians 10:24).
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About the Speaker
J. Michael Pinegar is the Joel C. Peterson Professor of Finance. He earned his PhD from the University of Utah and his BA from BYU. This article is adapted from his devotional address 16 November 2004.
Etching courtesy of the Pitts Theology Library, Candler School of Theology, Emory University.
