If you’re like me, when you hear that phrase, it’s common to associate it with someone’s funeral. We love the idea of hearing those words as we pass from this life to the next. I admit, I’ve fallen into that mode from time to time myself.
But did you know that the context of this phrase is NOT about that at all?
The biblical context of this phrase comes from a parable that Jesus told about the handling of talents, a monetary unit. You can read the full story in Matthew 25:14-30. There’s a good message there about using the gifts that God gives us, but I’m not going down that road today. I just want you to know that it’s the true framework for this phrase.
This might be stretching things a bit theologically, but if you bear with me, I think you’ll see that there’s still a lesson to be learned in taking these words out of context. To, in fact, think of them in terms of what we long to hear when this life is over.
What do we generally think this statement is saying? I almost immediately think about what kind of Christian this person has been. Were they actively involved in their church? Did they perform many acts of kindness throughout their life? Were they a good father/mother/husband/wife/friend etc. etc.? Did they faithfully study the scriptures and pray regularly to God?
In other words, did they DO all the right things as a follower of Christ?
Please don’t misunderstand me; those are all very good things to do. And an active faith means we want to serve God by serving those around us, and by allowing God to make us more and more like Christ as we walk through this life.
As precious as this phrase sounds to us, in essence, it’s telling us that God will be so pleased with us at the end of our life because of all the good deeds WE did. And the unspoken “reward” for those good works is entry into Heaven.
That couldn’t be further from the biblical truth.
Here are a couple of scripture texts that remind us how little we contribute to our own salvation:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:8-9-10
He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness,
but according to his own mercy,
by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3:5-7
These scripture texts make it abundantly clear that salvation is strictly God’s doing, not ours. We don’t even come up with our own good works! God does. He works in our hearts to call us to him, but we need to take the step of accepting Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins on the cross.
So the thought about this phrase that hit me with a new perspective this week is this:
The less we do in our own strength, and the more we rely on God’s strength and empowerment, the truer the “well done” statement is! “Well done” actually means we let go of our own desire for control, and let God do the heavy lifting behind our feeble attempts at good works.
That feels really backwards, doesn’t it? But if you think about it, the whole Gospel message makes little common sense to us. John 3:16 says it all, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
God is behind it ALL, with a love greater than any of us could ever imagine. And the icing on this blog-post cake is that he wants to do the hard work through us as we bless those around us.
“Well done, good and faithful servant,” in this blog context means we finally and humbly understand the true source of our strength.
For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Philippians 2:13