The Parable of the Wicked Servant: Does it Apply to Christians?
Verses
42 The Lord answered, "Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time?
43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns.
44 I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
45 But suppose the servant says to himself, 'My master is taking a long time in coming,' and he then begins to beat the menservants and maidservants and to eat and drink and get drunk.
46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. Luke 12:42-46 (NIV)
Background
The parable of the Wicked Servant has fairly dire implications for those who support the OSAS perspective, in that it would appear (at face value) that a servant of Christ can end up dead and in "a place with the unbelievers". For that reason there are some OSAS proponents who would say, for example:
"Don't read too much into the role of the master and servant.
After all isn't God the God/Master of all even if they are atheists?"So let's dig into it more deeply and see what surfaces
Personal Exegesis in Refutation of OSAS
The main reason OSAS proponents have a problem with this particular parable is that the parable ends with the once high-ranking servant being cut to pieces and assigned a place with the unbelievers. OSAS proponents would naturally have a problem with that. Hence the dismissal of the parable (or parables) as being something we shouldn't "read too much into".But let's dig a little further into this parable. This parable is also captured in Matthew's gospel with a few small (but very significant) differences which shed more light on who the Master & Servants are:
45 "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?
46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.
47 I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
48 But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,'
49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards.
50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of.
51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matt 24:45-51 (NIV)Notice that the passage is virtually identical with the ending being slightly different, but communicating the same message: the wicked servant will find himself in the place reserved for those who do evil; with the unbelievers. Let's see who else is destined for the place of "weeping and gnashing of teeth".
12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." Matt 8:12 (NIV)Matt 8:12 was directed to Jews who thought they would be "guaranteed" a place in the kingdom based on their heritage or "connections".
41 The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil.
42 They will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matt 13:41-42 (NIV)"Weeping and gnashing of teeth" is shown in the preceding verses as the fate of all those who do evil. So we can easily see that the place of "weeping an gnashing of teeth" is not the place the saved will go, but rather the unsaved.
By the parallels in the two accounts of the Wicked Servant parable, we can see that being assigned "a place with the unbelievers" is the same place as where there will be "weeping an gnashing of teeth" (both are endings to the same parable).
But who will go there? Both Luke's and Matthew's versions of the parable are preceded by discussions of Jesus' second coming:
40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." Luke 12:40 (NIV)39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Matt 24:39 (NIV)There is nothing in either passage preceding the parable of the Wicked Servant to indicate that the subject or objects have changed. It would certainly not be a stretch, even with this limited information, to assume that the "master" being referred to is Christ.
But there's more. In a directly parallel verse, from the passages immediately preceding the Wicked Servant parable, the connection is made between Jesus and the "master", and between the disciples (believers) and the "servants":
42 "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. Matt 24:42-43 (NIV)38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night.
39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. Luke 12:38-39 (NIV)Notice in Matthew 24:42, Jesus refers to "you" (disciples) and "your Lord" (Jesus). The parallel verse in Luke replaces those terms with "master" and "servants", directly equating the terms. This establishes firmly and directly that the subject of the "master/servant" parables to follow are Jesus and the disciples/believers. Hence, the warning is to servants/believers of what might happen to them if they should act as the wicked servant acted: assignment of a place with the unbelievers where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth in the fiery furnace! Believers (or at least those who had been believers at one time), can suffer the fate of the "unsaved"!
Just to add further support to the conclusion that the master/servant parables are references to Christ and His followers, we can look to the parable of the talents, which we all know quite well, and which is (as far as I know) universally recognized as applying to believers and their responsibility. Christ has given us a gift (the gift of the gospel and of eternal life). We are responsible for what we do with that gift. If we do not use that gift wisely, what happens?
26 "His master replied, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed?
27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 "'Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents.
29 For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.
30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' Matt 25:26-30 (NIV)If we fail to do with the gift what we should, the gift that we were given is TAKEN AWAY from us, and we are cast into the darkness where (surprise, surprise!) there will be "weeping and gnashing of teeth".
Some might find a way to try to show how any of these parables does not apply to believers, but in so doing, they would also have to say that neither do the others. I think that the most logical, common-sense, face value interpretations of any of these parables requires the translation of "master" to Christ and "servant" to disciple or believer. And I would take Christ's warnings to us EXTREMELY seriously.