Parable for the Republic

By J. Taylor Davis

"Like any of his fellow church members, family, friends, and colleagues, I've had the honor of witnessing Taylor cultivate his God-given gifts into impactful servant-leader discipleship. Readers will see evidence of the way God will use this leadership to impact our culture, our future, and if it's in His will, our White House." Pastor,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Jun 25, 2024
• ISBN: 9798893333619

J. Taylor Davis

J. Taylor Davis is an American businessman, national news commentator, public speaker, devoted husband, and adoring father. He is known for unapologetically leading, speaking, and living with zeal for his faith in Jesus. Taylor's mission is to equip, inspire, and mobilize Christians to multiply their talents and combat the ever-increasingly secular thinking that he believes is certainly evil but is merely a symptom of lukewarm Christianity.

Book preview

Parable For the Republic

J. Taylor Davis

Trilogy Christian Publishers

Tustin, CA

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Parable For the Republic

Copyright © 2024 by J. Taylor Davis 

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are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

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are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN: 979-8-89333-360-2

ISBN: 979-8-89333-361-9 (ebook)

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my son, James Harrison Davis.

I pray that this spirit-led message will honorably serve God with upright zeal and be used by providence in reviving the ideals of our One Nation Under God that you will grow up in.

Contents

Preface: Parable of Talents

Introduction

Chapter 1. In the Beginning

Chapter 2. Thief of Joy

Chapter 3. Judgment is Coming

Chapter 4. Five-Talent Joy

Chapter 5. Two-Talent Joy

Chapter 6. Burying the Talent

Chapter 7. Rebuke of Burial

Chapter 8. Abundance and Scarcity

Chapter 9. Into the Darkness

Chapter 10. Go at Once

About the Author

Citations

Preface

Matthew 25:14-30 (ESV)

¹⁴ "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶ He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. ¹⁷ So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. ¹⁸ But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. ¹⁹ Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰ And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ ²¹ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²² And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ ²³ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, ²⁵ so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ ²⁶ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? ²⁷ Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸ So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. ²⁹ For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. ³⁰ And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

Introduction

In the long history of the world, we’ve seen leaders of great change and influence. Some led business change, like Henry Ford or Andrew Carnegie. Others led political change, like John F. Kennedy or Alexander Hamilton. Few led spiritual change, like Jesus and the disciples. To be a great leader, as I have aspired to be, I’ve studied the great leaders to emulate their habits and qualities. What they all have in common is that they were blessed with some sort of great talent. However, having the talent alone is not the full recipe. It’s that they were blessed with some sort of great talent AND they put it to ACTION!

Many people are gifted, but few utilize their gifts. In the Bible, a talent was a heavy sum of money. Not like a coin, but more like a cumbersome gold or silver bar. Some in our society are blessed today with great talent, just as in the biblical sense of talent, like family wealth. However, all of us are blessed with some sort of qualitative talent. It might be the gift of knowing and believing the gospel, leading, speaking, writing, teaching, preaching, singing, caregiving, or decision-making. Whatever that talent is, we are called, by Jesus Christ in the parable of talents, to multiply it by taking action and overcoming fear and anxiety.

Far too much of our time and energy today, especially in the business, political, and social arena, is focused in vain on the inequality of what we have each been given. Why do we focus so much time and energy in our society toiling over something we cannot control? I’ll tell you why. Because relenting to fragility and filling our time toiling over the inequality of talents that we cannot control, helps distract from the fact that while we toil in futility, the varying talents we have been given are being squandered on our own accord and to our own peril. Strangely enough, facing the crowd and squawking about inequality of talent and resources, even though we all know leads to nothing of substance, feels better in human nature than having to face the solution, the face in the mirror.

The inclination to keep ourselves filling the space in the bandwidth of our lives with distraction, is a drug. Frankly, it’s a spiritual sedative of sabotage. The sabotage sedative has subdued so much progress in our lives politically, economically, in education, in families, and most damaging of all, in our spirituality. The sabotage sedative is used more than painkillers and antidepressants. The sabotage sedative is what people use to distract themselves from the responsibility and capability they already hold within them that would set them free.

If had I used the sabotage sedative when my first national news interview as a rookie political commentator was booked, I would’ve saved myself some anxiety, but I would have cost myself the opportunity to plant the seed of the Gospel with a producer in the green room. Sitting there in front of a camera with the bright lights and green screen behind me, I knew when that little red light came on, that meant we were live in front of millions of households.

I was so afraid that I would say something wrong, or not perfectly make my point, and would then be exposed for playing above my weight class. Who does this kid think he is? I imagined viewers would say if I stumbled through the interview. Before the interview, my booking agent called me and asked if I was ready. In reality, no, I was not ready. Not even close. My human sensibilities were telling me to back out. Find an excuse to cancel this until you’re prepared, I thought to myself. The Holy Spirit reminded me in that moment when Jesus said in Matthew 10:20, ESV, You are not speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. We all do that too often in our lives. The idea of waiting until our sensibilities tell us we’re ready is a lack of faith. We get an invitation to speak in front of a group, to mentor somebody, or have the microphone at an event, and we feel like we’re not quite ready. I’ve learned that it’s not about if we’re personally ready, but if God’s ready. The truth is, God wouldn’t put us in those situations if He weren’t ready to work through us. It’s not about our ability, but his ability to use us. Yes! Let’s do it. I replied to my agent.

The lights came on and I could see the green screen behind me in my office look as though I was in a professional studio. The studio lights they mailed me were hot, and I could feel my throat closing up. I could see my eyes on the camera, and I felt like I looked like a little boy sitting at the adult table, a freshman picking a locker with the upperclassmen, or a nobody sitting amongst a group of somebodies. I closed my eyes in the virtual waiting room and whispered, Help me, Fa ther. Help me, Father. Help me, Father. The producer jumped in and asked in my earpiece, Is your dad there to help you? I know this can be nerve-wracking since it’s your first time. At least you look the part! She thought I was talking to my earthly father, Jim. No, actually I’m talking to... I began, but then the countdown started before I could finish telling her who I was really talking to. Okay, you’re live in five, four, three, two, one. Go!

What happened during that first national network news segment, I cannot recall. I can only tell you what happened from watching a recording of the news afterward. I totally blacked out. My family, friends, and colleagues called and talked about how sharp my answers were, how poised I was, and how well the interview went. When I got home, my wife Alex gave me a big hug and a kiss and told me how proud she was. At that point, I still hadn’t even seen the recording. "Really? You’re proud? I don’t remember anything except what happened after the segment, so I thought I