Buried Talents

So, Kristi and I have been watching America's Got Talent. It's been pretty interesting, and for the most part we are happy with the way things are turning out so far. Watching the show has got me thinking, however, that while not all of us have crazy, unique talents, we all do have gifts, and more importantly, spiritual gifts. I don't know how many of you have ever taken a spiritual gift test, but it is a real interesting way to figure out where your strengths are, and I think it's really important to have an idea at what sort of spiritual gifts you have. But the most important thing is, once you discover your spiritual gifts...to use them. I'm going to tell a story now that, at first will seem irrelevant and as if it has no purpose here...but give it time and it will all make sense. Trust me.
When I was in High School, my friend Paul and I were driving close to Winnipeg to go to a concert. We were both excited for the concert, as he had seen the band before and assured me that they were great live. We were meeting the rest of the youth group at the concert. To save some time, we were taking a back road, in the middle of nowhere. All of a sudden, the front passenger tire blows. Paul, a great driver, manages to recover and pull the car over to the side of the road. We were frustrated, but had a spare tire so weren't too worried. We jack up the car, and begin taking the bolts off of the tire so we can change it. We get all of them off...but one. One of the bolts was rusted on and wouldn;t budge. Now, I'm a pretty big guy, with quite a bit of muscle...and I couldn't budge it at all...nor could Paul. This raised our frustration quite a bit. Foiled by a freakin' bolt! Paul continued to try to budge the bolt, while I flagged down a car to see if we could borrow a cell phone, as this was still the pre-"everyone in the world has a cell phone" age. Finally, I get a car pulled over and use his cell phone. I decide to call my sister, who would be at the concert, and let her know that we were going to be late so that they wouldn't worry about us. Unfortunately she didn't answer, so I had to leave a message. I handed the phone back to the driver, and watched him drive off. Hours later, frustration mounting, finally some people help us out and we get the bolt off and the tire changed. Unfortunately, we missed the concert.
Now...what the heck could that story have to do with spiritual gifts? Well, the funny thing is (at least to me..Paul didn't find it funny in the least), was that I had a CAA card in my wallet the whole time. With the cell phone, I could have called CAA, got a truck there quickly, and got us on our way in a few short moments...we would have made it in time for the concert. Instead, I hid it in my wallet, forgot about it, and it served no purpose. The point is...we all have a spiritual "CAA card" in our pockets. God has given us many gifts and talents, with the expectation that we will use them, and strengthen them. Spiritual gifts that are never used serve about the same purpose as a CAA card that stays in a wallet during car trouble, or a Stanley Cup parade map in downtown Toronto...it's pointless. (Note, I am a leaf fan...I am just joking and trying to relate to the majority of the readers who despise the Leafs). Jesus tells a parable about this, sort of, in Matthew 25:14-30. It's the parable of the Talents. To paraphrase the story, there is this man who has three employees. He is a rich man, and he is going away for a while. Instead of just leaving his money (talents) and not have it being invested and used, he decides to give it to the three employees of his. To the best employee, he gives 5, to the next best 2 and to the third he gives 1. He tells them to invest the money and use it wisely, and he goes away. The first 2 invest the money, and it doubles. The third one, scared that he will poorly use it, hides it away. When the man returns, he blesses the 2 who doubled their money, and curses the third one. In fact he takes away the one talent, and gives it to the first employee.
I realize that most people use this parable to talk about money, and wisely investing the money that we are given...but I think that it is no coincidence that the word for money used in the parable is "talent". As I said before, we all have talent. We all have gifts. Now, God gives some of us more talent, than others, but the purpose is the same. Use it. Use it well, bless others, and the talent will improve. It's too bad that so many people in the church have talent, have great spiritual gifts but never use them. Perhaps the church doesn't do well enough to encourage people to utilize their gifts. Maybe people just don't know what their gifts are. Perhaps people are just lazy and think that there's no harm in keeping their gift to themselves. But that's far from the truth. As the parable shows, the worker who hides the talent away, gets cursed and actually loses the talent. No, I'm not saying that God will take away our talents and gifts if we don't use them...but I do think that, like a skill that doesn't get used, the quality of the talent will decrease. for example, a singer who doesn't sing for a while will lose a bit of the ability to sing. I mean, it will probably sound ok, but it wouldn't sound as good as if they had sung constantly, practicing and perfecting their skill. We must use our gifts, our talents and our skills. God gave them to us for a reason. To bless others, further the kingdom and as a form of worship. Imagine getting a gift for someone, giving it to them for Christmas or their birthday...and after they open it, the set it aside and never use it. Or worse yet, they take the gift and never even open in. Never knowing what is inside. God has given us gifts...have you opened them yet? Do you know what is inside them?