When you have done all you have been commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do.' These can be jarring words to hear. Isn't it mean and rude to suggest that those who do the will of God are "unprofitable servants"? Well, what does it actually mean to be an unprofitable servant? An unprofitable servant is one who does not increase beyond what the master invested. With this understanding, can any instrument of God truly be a profitable servant? Can any person provide a greater return beyond what God has done? This is impossible, because God is always at work building the Kingdom. The most we can do is to participate in his work, but it will always still be his work. So we cannot honestly boast about being great instruments and great workers when it was God all along who was doing the work through us. Jesus, then, is urging us not to be proud, but rather to be humble and selfless. Yet Jesus' urging does not mean that Jesus neither recognizes nor is appreciative of the work that his instruments do. Remember, Jesus is asking us to say to ourselves that we are unprofitable servants. But what does Jesus say to us if we do our work faithfully? Well done, good and faithful servant. (Matthew 25:23) May we humbly say the former so that we may joyfully hear the latter.