Do you ever feel overlooked and unappreciated in ministry? It’s common among church leaders. But that doesn’t mean you aren’t making an eternal difference — or that your faithful service has escaped God’s notice.

You see, a lot of us — most of us, in fact — are in life’s middle. We don’t pastor the biggest churches or manage mega-budgets. We live more anonymously, and we sometimes feel the sting of such a hidden life.

At times, it feels like my ceiling is someone else’s countertop. However, my inability to reach as high as others doesn’t excuse me from reaching for my best. Those in life’s middle don’t exist just to hold up those at the top of the pyramid. There’s big stuff we’re supposed to do, too.

In the Parable of the Bags of Gold (Matthew 25:14–30), there is a man we seldom talk about. Yet his role in the story is no less important. In fact, if there’s someone in the story we can identify with, it’s him.

It’s not the first servant — the top gun, the big success story. He represents the one we wish we were, but many of us know we’re not. Such individuals set the curve for the class; everything they touch works.

For most of us, the key person in the story is not the last servant either. He’s the failure, the one who doesn’t get it because he allows his attitude to block truth. Such people find excuses to avoid responsibilities, while trying to pull down everyone else with them. Most of us know to stay away from the slackers. We can’t afford the failure they will lead us toward.

So, we live somewhere in the middle — and that’s where servant two starts looking familiar. There are truths in this servant’s story we must grasp.

Now, I know the story isn’t really about him. It’s more about the master and the failure of the third servant. The previous parable also highlights those who aren’t ready for the master’s return. Like the foolish virgins, the third servant is not ready; he failed his mission.

But there’s this other guy. You have to wonder why he’s even in the story. I mean, if this is a story about faithfulness and doing your best, the guy who turned five bags of gold into 10 has that covered, right? And if it’s a story about avoiding idleness, the third guy with the shovel gets that across. In any case, that middle servant’s life is where most of us are. We live somewhere between superstar and slacker, trying to do our best with the resources God gave us, even though we have less than some and maybe a bit more than others.

The two-bag guy is not compelling; he doesn’t lead the league in investment success. The first guy had five extra bags of gold when the master returned, while this guy parlayed his two bags into two more. A statistician would call the performances equally successful, but we all know who would give an interview during the post-game show, don’t we?

So, why does the story need a middle guy? I have three possible answers, and each contains a piece of the whole.

Distinctive Assignment

As the story unfolds, the master is making travel plans and entrusting his resources to his team. But he isn’t careless. In fact, he tailors the assignments to their abilities. We see a 5-2-1 split and applaud the five-bag guy. After all, he must be the cream of this crop. But if it’s that simple, giving him all eight bags would make the most sense, wouldn’t it

Somehow, I think the master felt the second guy would do better with two bags than the first guy would do with seven. Perhaps the first guy wouldn’t manage seven well. It seems there are things the second guy might do better. There has to be a reason all the eggs aren’t in one basket.

Let’s stop wishing we were the other person and start doing what God has called us do.

I see that, and I think about smaller churches that seldom find the limelight. As they function in the shadow of bigger places, they may begin to question their value to the Master. But there is a distinctive ability in the smaller church. Often, relationships can reach a level that isn’t easily achieved in big places. There’s a depth of impact that demands intimacy with spiritual leaders. Most great missionaries and spiritual leaders were shaped in such places. There’s a value in being in a place where everyone knows you. Frankly, there are some folks who would get lost in larger settings. The majority of churches in America have fewer than 200 attendees. Someone once observed, “God must have a plan for smaller churches. Look how many He made!”

Yet I meet many pastors in small places who question the value of their effort, who are so convinced that bigger is better. But just as the master in the parable didn’t invest all the gold in the first guy, God didn’t invest all the Kingdom riches in the biggest places and most prominent leaders.

The second servant received an assignment that was just right for him, and each of us has gifts to use for God’s greater purpose, too. God has placed before your church a distinctive assignment. He didn’t design you to follow around the five-bag place, trying to be like them on a smaller scale. He invested uniquely in you for His unique purpose, and He has a distinctive assignment for your life. Others may seem to reach higher, but each of us has God-given gifts to develop. Let’s stop wishing we were the other person and start doing what God has called us do.

Differing Expectation

It’s helpful to understand the expectations on a job, in marriage or in any other area of life. While the story doesn’t tell us the master’s expectations, we can infer some things from the servants’ performances and his subsequent responses. We know the third servant didn’t meet his expectations, while the first two clearly did. Yet, even between them, the expectation must have been different.

Notice that the master did not expect the second servant to turn his two bags into five. The master did not grade the second servant on the curve the first one set. He judged each one by what the servant did with the resources provided.

Again, I see some in smaller churches becoming discouraged when their numbers don’t match those of the bigger places. They may even start to think what they’re doing is less important in God’s eyes. But this misjudges God’s intent. When the master addresses the second servant in the parable, he doesn’t say, “Well, just do your best. I know you’ll never be as good as…” There’s an intentional investment and a matching expectation.

Sure, the big church is doing amazing things, but the smaller one can produce great things as well. Likewise, a leader in the spotlight may shine brightly for God’s kingdom, but in God’s sight, that doesn’t diminish the contribution of the one serving quietly behind the scenes. So, maybe we should stop comparing ourselves — or judging ourselves — by the achievements of others. However small it seems, our mission can be just as critical to the full plan of what God wants to do.

Duplicate Response

The Master’s return was a great day for two of these servants. Notice that the master’s response to them was exactly the same: “Well done, good and faithful servant!

They got all the same balloons, all the same confetti, all the same celebration. Why? Because two differently resourced servants were faithful. They met the master’s expectation and fulfilled His joy.

Give your best to God’s unique vision for your church. Stop wishing you were someone else or somewhere else. Fulfill God’s plan for you, by His Spirit. Love deeply. Serve gladly. Worship God wholeheartedly. Challenge yourself and others to great dreams. Celebrate every victory. Take up your God-given resources and use them for your Master. Stop saying, “What if we were like them?” Start asking, “What if we were everything God designed us to be?”

Over the years, I’ve met many people who believed in God but didn’t believe in themselves. They applauded others but couldn’t look at the possibilities in themselves. Sadly, some of them ended up like the third servant — refusing to try. They became so focused on what they couldn’t do that they never did what they could. They lived in the sin of omission, just like the third guy, thinking they were justified in doing so.

So, take a lesson from our oft-forgotten friend in the middle. Give yourself fully to the God who designed you. Repent for the times you compared yourself to others or insisted you had nothing to contribute. Commit to walking in God’s plan — and watch what He does through your obedience. After all, it’s your obedience God wants and your obedience that He will someday reward.