What's Your God Given Talent?

And Are You Being A Faithful Steward?

         

   It does not take much searching to see how much God has blessed us. As American college students we are privileged well above many other people in our region, not to mention the world, and all of our blessings and gifts flow directly from God. Something I tend to lose sight of is this divine source of my gifts and how I was intended to use them. By breaking down the Parable of the Talents, I think we can get a better understanding of what God has given us and what He expects us to do with it.

            The Parable of the Talents is found in Matthew 25:14-30:

¹⁴  “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants^[a] and entrusted to them his property. ¹⁵ To one he gave five talents,^[b] 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.^[c] 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.’

            In this parable, there are two types of servants that the master has entrusted with his riches: The Faithful Servants and The “Other” Servant. It’s not hard to tell that clearly we are supposed to resemble the Faithful Servant, but how exactly would somebody “invest their talents” for the benefit of God’s glory? (As a side note, a “talent” in the parable is a type of money. So the “talents” I am referring to could be any gift from God: public speaking skills, artistic talents, financial situation, bow hunting ability, etc.) By examining the attributes of each servant, it should paint a better picture of what we should be doing with God’s gifts.

            First off, the Faithful Servants went to work immediately. They didn’t sit around complaining about how they wish they had received more talents or how “Bobby’s talents look cooler”; they “went at once” to multiply their master’s fortune. Not only did they act promptly, but they were also good stewards of what they received by using them in favor of their master. In 1 Peter 4:10 it says, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” That should pretty blatantly answer one question. You were meant to love one another with your gifts so that it would bring glory to God’s kingdom. A good example of this could be anything from offering people rides somewhere, to taking someone a meal—if you’re a good cook.

            Another desirable attribute of the Faithful Servants was that they were working for the sole benefit of the master. Their master didn’t say that they were going to be rewarded for expanding his wealth, but they used what they were given to the best of their ability regardless. Fortunately for them, they were rewarded even though they weren’t told beforehand: “I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” Fortunately for us, we will also be rewarded with God’s kingdom for our faithful stewardship and we are being told (through this passage!). That being said, it is not our stewardship or the use of our gifts that earns us the Kingdom, faithful stewardship is just evidence of a child of God. It is easy to be misguided by focusing on your gifts as well. So, rather than trying to achieve happiness, we should happily achieve for the glory of God and we will be filled with joy from the Spirit.

            The “Other” Servant that was cast “into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth,” looked a little different when he was given his talents, clearly. He was immediately fearful and anxious about what his master had trusted him with and he hid his talents in the ground. This is NOT what God wants you to do with your outgoing personality or your basket weaving skills. This ungodly fear is what cripples us into hiding God’s gifts rather than sharing them and making God smile accordingly. And not only is the other servant fearful, but he is lazy and selfish for not investing for his master knowing that the master was a hard man.

            The truth is that these are not set roles and that as Christians we don’t ever fully embody one servant or the other. We will constantly struggle with the presence of pride when recognizing our gifts and try to attribute them to ourselves. In reality, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change” James 1:17. Although it sounds Sunday School-esque, we must constantly remind ourselves where our gifts came from and ask God how to use them by praying and reading the Bible daily. One gift in particular that God has entrusted with every one of us is the message of the Gospel, and God has even been more blunt about the need to share it with everyone. A great way to think about it is that God gave us very specific talents, gifts and passions so that we would be more capable of sharing the Gospel with very specific people He put in our lives. In doing this He will look down upon us with a beaming smile and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

            It’s also crucial to also understand that the use of God’s gifts will not get us the Kingdom of Heaven, but faith and trust in Christ alone will bring us salvation. Read Ephesians 2:1-10 for more clarification.

            Some questions for reflection:

1.     What gifts has the Lord entrusted me with?

2.     Am I being a faithful steward of these “talents”?

3.     How can I become a better steward for Christ?

Written by Kevin Walker