When it comes to pastoral or evangelical work in church, I tend to worry excessively about the outcome before even beginning the work itself. What if I’m not met with a favourable response from the sister I’m trying to encourage? What if my preaching efforts towards my friend fail?

Wouldn’t God be upset that I didn’t manage to win any souls for Him?

Luke 19 records the parable of the minas: before going off to a far country, a man gave each of his servants a mina to do business with. When he returned, only one servant had not done as the master had said.

‘Then another came, saying, “Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. For I feared you, because you are an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.”’ (Lk 19:20-21)

In the original language, the word ‘fear’ here refers to being scared or afraid of someone/something – perhaps this servant worried that whatever gains he made would never be enough to please his master, leading him (quite ironically) to do no business and earn nothing at all.

The master may have been austere, but he was certainly not unreasonable. He did not set a fixed quota for all the servants to hit, but accepted whatever earnings were made, regardless of the amount (Lk 19:16-19). He even stated that putting the money into the bank to earn interest would have been acceptable (Lk 19:23), if the servant really had no means of doing business.

In other words, the servant could have easily avoided angering the master by at least trying to earn a little money. His fear was passive, misplaced and ultimately empty.

To be clear, we should not think that putting in minimal effort and work is satisfactory to God. But in times when we are not confident in the work given to us, we also should not let the fear of failure or disappointment disable us from putting in any effort at all.

What we should do is emulate the fear of the other two servants: not a paralysing state of alarm, but a deep respect and honour for the master that motivated them to fulfill his instructions to the best of their abilities, no matter what the outcome was.

Additionally, let us take comfort in knowing that our Lord will surely work alongside us if we have a willing and humble heart to accomplish whatever He has asked us to do. ‘For if there is first a willing mind, it is accepted according to what one has, and not according to what he does not have.” (2 Cor 8:12)