Does my talent even matter?
When I see someone who is way more talented than me, I’m tempted to throw up my hands and bury any ideas I have of making and creating stuff.
But this article by Jon Bloom helped me see that this sounds a lot like something Jesus talks about in Matthew 25.
In this chapter, Jesus tells a story of 3 guys who are given talents. The first guy received five talents, the second guy received two talents, and the third guy got one talent.
The first two guys go out and use their talents. They invest and multiply what they have been given.
The third guy buries his one talent.
In the story, the master returns and is pleased with the first two guys, but he is displeased with the one talent guy.
The Bible doesn’t say this, but I wonder if comparison had anything to do with his decision to bury his talent.
After all, he only had one talent.
The other guys had two to five times more than him.
What does his talent matter?
Have you ever thought that?
Thoughts like, “There are so many great musicians, great photographers, great videographers, great artists? What does my talent matter?”
Well, apparently, being faithful with even one talent does matter.
Facing Reality: you’re not the most talented
Jesus isn’t asking us to ignore reality.
We aren’t all equally talented.
There are likely people more talented than you, and there are definitely people who are more talented than me.
We aren’t encouraged to act as if this isn’t true. We are encouraged to consider that the Kingdom of God values are different than the kingdoms of the world.
The world says, “Only the most talented are worthy enough to go out and use their talents.”
Jesus says, “What you’ve been given isn’t yours in the first place. What you’ve been given is valuable. I expect you to invest and bear fruit with as much or as little as I have given you.”
The value of a talent
By the way, did you know that one talent in this story is worth something like $600,000?
When we compare that amount to a couple million, we’re in danger of forgetting that one talent is significantly valuable.
It’s no small thing to have a talent.
Comparison can easily cause us to devalue what we have while stripping us of gratitude for the fact that we have been given so much.
Be faithful
The point is to be faithful to what you have.
Go use and invest your talents. Grow and multiply what God has given you.
This call to faithfulness will look different for each of us.
For some of us, the first step is to dig up the things we’ve buried.
Some of us need to let go of the fact that we probably won’t ever reach the success of ten talents because it’s hindering us from considering how to multiply what we have.
Some of us need to be brave and willing to risk our talents. Investing and putting ourselves out there is scary and vulnerable. It rarely feels like the safe option.
