Walter Martin on smart investing:

Matthew 25:34-40

"Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' "


God gave mankind the capacity to do all of the above things, but the good and faithful servant is the one who invests the talents that God has given and does indeed become a servant to mankind. If the parable of the Good Samaritan means anything, it means that my neighbor is the person who needs me. The command is this: I should love my neighbor as I love myself.

It’s obvious that if we, as professing believers, claim to have a relationship to Christ then we must invest the talents of God. Jesus is not talking about investing money in this passage, he’s talking about investing life. We are good and faithful servants to the degree that we invest our lives, our fortunes, our abilities, and the talents God has given us for the service of our fellow man.

But the person who says,”I believe it” and the person who says, “I should do it,” and doesn’t do it, is the unfaithful servant. He is the one who has all the appearance of godliness but disproves the reality of Christianity in his life, because he does not love his neighbor as himself. If we can see our neighbors—the disenfranchised and the poor—and it never touches us; if we are not going to share our substance with those who are in need, how then do we fulfill this parable?

The unprofitable servant is the one who, when people are hungry, doesn’t feed them; when people are thirsty, he doesn’t give them drink. Jesus is saying, “Don’t you recognize that I’m giving you all of these opportunities to show your devotion to me? Don’t you realize that in caring for the least of these—with whom I identify—you are ministering to me?”

We are supposed to invest the talents that God has given us. If we shut our minds and spirits to the needs of others, how then are we profitable servants? One thing is absolutely certain in this parable: God is telling you—if you really are his child—that you had better invest what he has made available to you: Time, substance, money, concern and compassion.