Talent Is Not An Advantage

I have a confession to make.

I’m smart. I’m not just kind of smart; I’m actually smart.

I once took an IQ test and scored 4 points shy of genius. I have an almost frighteningly good memory, and my ability to understand new concepts and pick up new skills is above average. Getting good grades in school is not that difficult for me.

I don’t say this to brag; on the contrary, I find it embarrassing. It’s not uncommon for me to feel guilty when I get a good grade, because I know there are people whose grades are lower but who put far more effort into studying than I did. Sometimes I wish I were less smart and had to work harder.

Why am I telling you this? Because I’m tired of feeling guilty for something that 1) I didn’t choose to be and 2) isn’t an advantage anyway.

See, it really doesn’t matter if I get a score of 79 out of 80 on my timed midterm with twenty minutes left to spare. What matters is the effort I put in to get that grade. I greatly respect two of my friends who took that same midterm three times before passing, because I know how hard they worked for their passing grades.

Talent and intelligence have a big disadvantage: they make things require less effort while still giving a temporary appearance of effort having been made. It doesn’t matter how much talent a drummer has; if he or she will not take the time to do basic skills and perfectly master techniques, a less talented drummer who works their butt off to become skilled will be the better drummer and build a good work ethic to boot.

The important bit:

The point I want you to take away is this: talent is a tool, not an advantage. God grades not on our final destination, but on how hard we worked to get there. Don’t believe me? Check out this parable from the gospel of Matthew.

“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability... He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 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.’ 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.’ 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.’ 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.’ 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, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ 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? 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. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance.’”

– Matthew 25:14-29 (ESV)

Notice each servant has a different number of talents entrusted to them, and each of them added – or didn’t add, as the case may be – a different number of talents to what they were given. But the servant who added five talents and the servant who added two talents were told the same thing: “Well done, good and faithful servant.” The master didn’t look at the two talents the second servant had made and said, “Well, nice job, but Joe over here added five talents to what I gave him, so you could have done better.” No, not at all! He looked at the five talents and the two talents and saw that each servant had doubled what he had given them, and rewarded them equally.

Think of what that means for the one talent servant. If he had gotten just one more talent, he would have shared the same reward as his fellow servants! Even though his effort would not have produced as noticeable of results, equal work and dedication reaps equal rewards in the end.

This story could easily have been flipped. If the two talent and one talent servants had doubled their money, but the five talent servant had buried his, he would have been the one who’s talents were taken away and given to another.

Talent is not an advantage, it is a tool.

Character is the advantage.

Don’t focus on the talents you wish you had. Don’t feel guilty for the talents you’ve been given. Use the tools God gifted you with to build something that will delight Him. He can’t wait to show you what it was worth in the end.