In Matthew 25, Jesus shares the parable of the talents. A man entrusts his servants with bags of gold – 5 for one, 2 for another, 1 for the last. We all know how the story goes, two of the servants get to work, doubling their master’s wealth, while the third buries the gold in the ground and gives the original amount back to his master on his return. The first two are rewarded for using their resources wisely, the third is thrown out into the darkness.

The point isn’t how much gold they started with, nor the amount they ended with. The focus of this parable is what the servants did with what they were given, whether a small or a large amount. The point is the faithfulness (or lack thereof) of the servants.

This lesson is something we, as cross-cultural workers, would do well to pay attention to. We hold in esteem the workers of old, who packed their belongings in their coffins, thus dedicating their whole lives to their calling overseas. We probably all know someone who has spent decades on the field, and we are often inspired by the fruit of their ministry over so many years.

We prepare hard, we train, we spend years in language and cultural acquisition, to set ourselves up well for long-term ministry. And this is good. We all know that learning and understanding culture takes time. Making disciples takes time. Planting healthy, growing churches takes time.

But if we aren’t careful, longevity can easily turn into an idol, into the ultimate goal.

But what value is being on the field for a long time if we don’t actually use those years faithfully? What we do with our time can sometimes be more important that the amount of time, especially when we remember that time is fleeting, that we aren’t promised tomorrow.

“Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15-16).

Many years on the field is inspiring. But 2 months of taking advantage of every opportunity does more for the kingdom than 20 years of burying our talents in the sand. God isn’t going to ask us for the amount of time we gave, but how we used the amount of time we were given.