Most people have probably heard Jesus’ “Parable of the Talents” from Matthew 25. In this parable Jesus told of a master who gave five talents to one servant, two talents to another, and one talent to the third servant. The first two servants invested their talents and doubled what their master gave them. The master was proud of their service because they fully used theirs talents. The master made no distinction between the servant with five talents and the servant with just two. The master told these servants, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” The third servant buried his talent because he was afraid of his master and what might happen if he failed at using his talent. When his master found out he called him lazy and wicked. I can understand lazy, but wicked scares me to death.
Back in Bible times the talent was a portion of money. In ancient Greece, a talent was the amount of money it would take to pay a crew of a trireme (a Greek warship) for one month’s work. This was at least 50 people, but probably more. M-W.com’s definiton of “talent” is: a characteristic feature, aptitude, or disposition of a person or animal or the natural endowments of a person.
I think Jesus was probably “double talking” to those listening to this parable. They would clearly understand a talent is a lot of money, but might also see that Jesus was trying to get at the particular aptitude or endowment that the individual was good at.
I have always been kind of jealous of some of my friends and even my brother. They seem to be the guys that God gave five talents to (or sometimes more). And their gifts are very clear. They are good musicians and singers, artists, and speakers. Something that God could really use for his kingdom here on earth. I feel like I’m the guy that just got one talent. And it seems like it is pretty obscure. I have been working hard trying to find out what my talent(s) is/are, but more importantly how I can I use my talents for God’s glory. Because I don’t want to stand before God when I die and look back on the things I did in my life and have God call me lazy and wicked because I buried my talent and did not use it.
In my daily Bible reading I am currently reading in 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy is a letter from the Apostle Paul to his protege, Timothy. Kind of a little coaching session from the master to the student. In Chapter 4, Paul told Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift you have…Practice these things , immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.”
Like the first two servants in the parable of the talents, we have to use our talents and gifts. We should also take Paul’s advice and practice and immerse ourselves in them so we progress to the point of excellence. Our gifts and talents come easily and naturally to us. But we should strive to be the best in the world at them and not do them half way. It was always frustrating to me when I was playing high school football. There were some natural athletes on the team that didn’t have to work out and they could bench press 300 pounds and run a 4.4 secord 40 yard dash. Then there was me – the skinny, short, slow kid who did everything he could and seemed to hit the glass ceiling on his potential way too early. Those “naturals” out there could have played college football, but they didn’t. They were lazy. They didn’t use their talents. I know if I was frustrated and mad because these guys who were my teammates didn’t use their talents to their full potential – I can’t imagine how frustrated God must get when His children, His creation fail to use their talents or fail to give him their full and best effort.
So. Are you burying your talents and gifts? Or, are you fully using them to bring glory to God? Will God be able to say “well done, good and faithful servant?”