Scripture: “His lord said unto him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things.’” – Matthew 25:23 (KJV)
The Interruption That Illuminated Everything
The relentless beep-beep-beep of my load-shedding alarm clock echoed my internal frustration that Friday morning. Eskom's relentless schedule had become the backdrop to my ministerial life here in Akasia, a perpetual reminder of systems failing and lights going dim. With precious sermon preparation hours before me, I looked at the blank page on my screen with a certain desperation—the Sunday deadline loomed like a gathering storm.
Then my phone buzzed. Again. The screen revealed the name of a parishioner known for what I had privately labelled "petty problems." My thumb hovered over the "ignore" button, my mind screaming about content creation, exegetical precision, and the looming platform ministry. Something stayed my hand—a nudge I've learned to recognize as the Shepherd's crook.
When I answered, the voice on the other end trembled with what I immediately recognized as genuine despair. No theological abstraction this, but the raw material of human crisis—a marriage fraying at the edges, a faith shaken not by intellectual doubt but by the slow erosion of daily disappointments. In that moment, the brilliant sermon point I'd been crafting suddenly felt like theological vanity, while this stumbling, inarticulate plea embodied the very flesh Christ took on.
And then it struck me with the force of divine revelation: Christ cares more about my character than my content. This minor ministry moment, this inconvenient interruption, was my mandatory test. Could I be trusted with a person before a platform? Your divine promotion is perpetually predicated on your performance in the petty. Your palace is prepared by proving faithful in the prison.
The Philosophical Foundation of Faithfulness
Let us define our terms with philosophical precision, for confusion often begins with semantic sloppiness. What do we mean by "faithfulness"? In our instant gratification culture, we've distorted this rich concept beyond recognition.
Faithfulness is not:
· Mere busyness or religious activity
· The size of your ministry platform
· The volume of your spiritual rhetoric
Faithfulness is: Covenantal loyalty expressed through consistent stewardship amid the mundane. It is the unwavering commitment to treat every assignment—whether tending a garden or governing a nation—as a sacred trust from the King himself.
The Greek word pistos used in Matthew 25:23 carries this robust sense—it means trustworthy, reliable, faithful. It's the same word used to describe God Himself in 1 Corinthians 1:9: "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ." Our faithfulness, therefore, is nothing less than participating in the divine nature itself.
The philosophical tradition has long recognized this hierarchy of value. As the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes in its entry on Christian theology, Christian thinkers have always drawn on philosophy to help answer difficult questions about doctrines, including the nature of moral responsibility and human freedom . The classical realist tradition from Aristotle through Thomas Aquinas understands that we ascend to higher truths by mastering lower ones first . There are no shortcuts to character.
Confronting the Cultural Lies We've Believed
We must sound the prophetic alarm against the diabolical deception that has infiltrated even the household of faith—the lie that bigger is inherently better. This cancerous thinking has produced a generation chasing platforms while neglecting responsibilities.
In our South African context, we see this played out in the devastating parade of political leaders who seek the prestige of office but abandon the diligence of service. Is this not the same spirit as the faithless servant in Matthew 25 who buried his talent? The master's condemnation—"you wicked and lazy servant"—should terrify us into sober assessment of our own stewardship.
Recent findings from the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer reveal that 71% of South Africans believe "business and government serve only a select few" and that "the system favours the wealthy" . This staggering grievance stems from a crisis of faithfulness—from leaders who see positions as spoils rather than sacred trusts.
But let me confront the elephant in the sanctuary: have we not done the same with ministry? We celebrate the megachurch pastor while the faithful village elder, who has buried seventeen members during the pandemic and still visits the sick, labors in obscurity. We have created Christian celebrities while neglecting Christian character. This is theological insanity—a complete inversion of Christ's clear teaching that "many who are first will be last, and the last first" (Matthew 19:30).
The Unbreakable Logic of Small Beginnings
Let us construct a clear logical argument to dismantle this stronghold of error:
Premise 1: God's governance of creation operates through established patterns of growth and development (Mark 4:28—"first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear").
Premise 2: God consistently tests individuals with smaller responsibilities before elevating them to greater ones (Luke 16:10—"he who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much").
Premise 3: All authority in heaven and on earth belongs to Christ, who distributes gifts and callings according to His sovereign wisdom (Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 4:7-8).
Conclusion: Therefore, faithful stewardship of present "minor" assignments is the necessary and non-negotiable precondition for future divine promotion.
A common objection arises: "But my gifts are being wasted in this obscure place!" However, this fails because it misunderstands both the nature of God and the purpose of training. Do we accuse the master carpenter of "wasting" time when he sharpens his tools? Of course not! The sharpening is essential to the craftsmanship.
The biblical text reveals an intentional epistemology of increment—a divine pedagogy where knowing God and serving Him faithfully develops through progressive revelation and responsibility. As scholar Dru Johnson argues in his work on biblical philosophy, the Scriptures present a robust "epistemological process" where understanding develops through faithful engagement with God's commands and rituals . We don't begin with cosmic responsibilities any more than a child begins with quantum physics.
The South African Faithfulness Experiment
Imagine, if you will, a different South Africa—one where we embrace what I call the "Faithfulness Reformation." Picture municipal workers who see their pothole filling as maintaining the King's highway. Envision business owners who view their enterprises as outposts of the Kingdom rather than personal fiefdoms. Visualize pastors who measure success not by attendance metrics but by fidelity to the whole counsel of God.
This is not pious fantasy—it is the only pathway to national healing. The Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Rights Commission's recent investigations into religious commercialisation reveals how far we've strayed from faithfulness to exploitation . When snake-oil salvation peddlers replace faithful shepherds, we have a theological emergency.
In my own Akasia context, I've witnessed the power of what Professor Mark Hill KC calls "Ubuntu in Action"—where "community resolutions are readily achievable" through "reasonable accommodation" offered "with a spirit of trust and respect" . This is faithfulness incarnated—the body of Christ functioning as alternative polis amid state failure.
The Eternal Economics of the Kingdom
Now we arrive at the ultimate hope: the eschatological reality that today's faithfulness generates eternal reward. This is not the prosperity gospel's crass materialism but the biblical promise of increased responsibility in the coming Kingdom.
The "Well done" of Matthew 25:23 is not empty praise—it is the commissioning ceremony for eternal governance. Those faithful with the earthly shadows will be entrusted with the heavenly substance. The servant who multiplied five talents didn't receive a gold watch and a retirement plan; he received authority over more cities (Luke 19:17-19).
This is the scandalous truth we've neglected: Your performance in the petty determines your placement in the eternal palace. The connection between present faithfulness and future glory isn't arbitrary divine caprice—it's the logical outworking of character formation. God isn't being difficult; He's being deliberate.
The War for Your Attention
We are engaged in spiritual warfare, and the battlefield is your daily agenda. The enemy doesn't mind if you have grand theological visions—as long as you neglect the practical obedience right before you. His strategy is to make the proximate seem petty, the immediate seem insignificant, while elevating the distant and dramatic.
But we have this assurance: the One who calls us to faithfulness is Himself the faithful and true witness (Revelation 3:14). Jesus Christ, who was faithful over God's household as a son (Hebrews 3:6), now empowers us by His Spirit to walk in that same covenant loyalty.
So I return to where I began—with a choice between my sermon and my parishioner. By God's grace, I chose the person over the platform. And the miraculous irony? The interrupted sermon became far more powerful, infused with the fresh authenticity of obedience. The content flowed from the character.
Prayer: Father, forgive our frustrated fixation on the "big" and "important." Give us eyes to see the eternal significance of small assignments. Help us to embrace each interruption, each mundane task, each seemingly minor responsibility as a sacred step toward Your purpose. Make us truly and practically faithful, just as Your Son was faithful unto death. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Final Word: Your divine promotion is perpetually predicated on your performance in the petty. Your palace is prepared by proving faithful in the prison.
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