In the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a man going on a long trip and entrusting three of his servants with 5, 3 and 1 ‘talents’ of silver (a talent weighing about 33kg, today worth around $24,750). The talents in this parable represent the spiritual gifts, skills and abilities that each of us have been given by the Lord, and that we are expected to use in our service for His Kingdom.
The first two servants invested the money wisely, each doubling the initial amounts given to them, and later on their master’s return were praised as ‘good and faithful servants’ and duly rewarded. The 3rd servant dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money, and could only return the same amount he had received. The master called him a ‘wicked and lazy servant’ and had his money taken away from him and given to the first servant, saying, at verse 29 ‘To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. 30 Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’’
The lesson is clear: we are all expected to use whatever gifts, skills and abilities we have been given in the service of the Kingdom. See Colossians 3:23-24. ‘Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.’
What if, as a CEO, pastor, or anyone else with authority over others, we ‘bury’ someone else’s ‘talents’? How do we do this? By ignoring or failing to appreciate and to utilise anyone else’s potential contribution to the Kingdom, where it in realty could be beneficial. This can be intentional, e.g. by saying, ‘Sorry, I am not interested in your advice, opinions or recommendations or anything you think you can contribute to my organisation.’ Or, ‘We don’t need your help or gifts. Our organisation has always done it this way and I don’t see any reason to change it or to add anything,’ i.e. to include your contribution to it. Or the rejection can be unintentional, perhaps due to a failure to wait on God and to ask the Lord how He wants you to run your business or church etc. and who to involve. The motive for the decision to reject anyone else’s involvement or contribution may lie simply in the common human failing of resistance to change. It is less stressful to reason that one has always done something a particular way, and maybe to also reason that others in your profession also do the same, than to consider a new approach or way of doing things. Or one may not clearly understand the gift, such as the prophetic, and therefore find it easier to simply exclude it. Or the reason may have a deeper root, such as an unresolved insecurity issue resulting in one not wanting anyone else to upstage one. Or the reason may lie in a selfish ambition, typically where the true motive, whether consciously acknowledged or not, is to build one’s own kingdom rather than the Lord’s Kingdom, and hence to not want anyone else to be involved and to share one’s glory.
We all need to acknowledge and to accept that everyone has their own unique talents, skills and spiritual gifts and that only when all of these are recognised, considered and utilised in any particular organisation or church etc., as may be applicable, can that entity really thrive. See 1 Corinthians 14:31 and 1 Peter, 4:10 and Ephesians 4:16. We also all need to acknowledge that the Lord’s work and plan is far greater than us alone: we are not called to do everything ourselves or by ourselves, and that it is our duty to pass on whatever we have learnt to others, who in turn will pass it on to yet others. See 2 Timothy 2:2 You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.’
The five-fold ministry of Ephesians 4:11-12, consisting of the five particular functions of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, which Paul states are gifts given to the church by Jesus, are specifically; ‘to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ’, i.e. to equip everyone in the church to be better able to each fulfil their own unique callings, in their own capacities, which this group of gifted people is mandated to help identify, develop and exercise. The elders of a church, for instance, therefore have a mandate to recognise and to authorise each of these functions to operate in their local congregations. We can see this already starting to be implemented in Acts 13:1 in the early church of Antioch where we are told that in this church there were both prophets and teachers, who were identified and their names recorded.
Dr Brian Drury