Buried Talent

I recently joined an online writing community.  Immediately, feelings of inferiority kicked into high gear.  “There is so much out there already! There are enough books, and blogs, and articles!  Every conceivable thing has already been written! No one needs your words!” The disparaging thoughts taunted me and urged me to put down my pen, and with it, my God-given gift.

According to Matthew 25 and Luke 19, I am the servant who has been entrusted with a “talent”, to steward for the benefit of my master.  When I look around and see all the other servants, making the most of what they have been given, suddenly my “talent” seems very small. And fear picks up a shovel.  

“I have nothing original to say.” Dig, scrape, lift, thud. “”I have no  platform.” Dig, scrape, lift, thud. “That book I’ve always wanted to write - someone has already written it.  She is bigger and brighter and better than me.” Dig, scrape, lift, thud. “I don’t really have time for this anyway.” Dig, scrape, lift, thud.  The hole is finished. I lay my pen and paper in the dirt. “There, I’ve freed up some time, no need to bother with that anymore. I can drop out of that writer’s group now.  I can just write in my journals. The whole world doesn’t need to know all my thoughts.” The earth covers over, one shovel-full at a time. I’m burying my talent. Hiding it.

Time passes. One day, I see in the distance, the master returning.  It’s time for us to give an account. Those other servants, the ones who invested their talents, even the smallest ones, offer them back to the master with earnings.  They are celebrated, rewarded. “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!”

It’s my turn.  I pick up a shovel and start digging.  Surely he will be pleased that I haven’t lost anything.  It was such a small talent. Why was I given something so insignificant anyway? I couldn’t do much with it. Besides, anything I wanted to do had already been done by someone else.  Excuses swirl through my mind. But when I open my mouth, the truth tumbles out. “I was afraid, so I hid your talent in the ground.  Here, you have what is yours.” The Master’s response chills me, “You wicked, lazy, worthless servant!...”  

I’ve spent a lot of time unpacking these passages.  I’m not finding any loopholes, any valid reasons for us to hide our God-given gifts.  But hide them we do. Comparison, fear, self-pity and discouragement are often at the root of our irresponsibility and lack of initiative.  Comparison makes us feel small. Fear paralyzes us. Self-pity and discouragement often masquerade as humility. 

The servant in Jesus’ parable spoke these words, “I was afraid, and I hid your talent in the ground.”  Are we afraid of taking risks, of how we will look to others, of failure or even of success? Satan will feed us fear all day long to keep us hiding, worthless and ineffective.  And why wouldn’t he? The glory of God is on display when we take what we’ve been given and invest it to further His kingdom.  

God has entrusted each of us with something.  What are we doing with it? It might be financial savviness, artistic talent, a sharp mind, an outgoing personality, the ability to fix things, or grow things - the list is endless.  It might be something we feel is small and insignificant, like the one mina as opposed to the five minas (See Luke 19). Whatever it is, it is a GIFT of Grace. God isn’t obligated to give us any gifts at all.  But He distributes them generously, with wisdom, and according to our ability. He empowers us to use them. And He asks us to steward and invest them for HIs glory.  

Often, we think we are being humble, when we’re really just caving to insecurity. Note the servant’s words, “I hid your talent”. If we could remember that our gifts don’t originate with us, maybe we wouldn’t be so quick to hide them. I love what Andi Cumbo-Floyd said, “Humility is that we don’t try to control the things that we can’t control and we don’t overinflate our egos based on the things we do control.” True humility recognizes  that God is the originator of our gifts. Anything we do with them, gets offered back to Him. 

Think about the gifts God has given you.  Are you using them or letting fear cripple you? I challenge you to defy fear and do something with your “talent”. Just take one step today. Even if it’s picking up a shovel to dig out what you’ve buried.