1Behold, thus saith the Lord unto the elders of his church, who are to return speedily to the land from whence they came: Behold, it pleaseth me, that you have come up hither;
2But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open theiramouths, but they hide the btalent which I have given unto them, because of the cfear of man. Wo unto such, for mine danger isekindled against them.
3And it shall come to pass, if they are not more faithful unto me, it shall be ataken away, even that which they have.
14¶For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
15And unto one he agave five btalents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
16Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.
17And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.
18But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.
19After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, andareckoneth with them.
20And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou adeliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.
21His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithfulaservant: thou hast been bfaithful over a few things, I will make thee cruler over many things: enter thou into the djoy of thy lord.
22He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
23His lord said unto him, Well done, good and afaithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
24Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an ahard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:
25And I was aafraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo,there thou hast that is thine.
26His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and aslothfulservant, thou knewest that I breap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:
27Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with ausury.
28Take therefore the atalent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.
29For unto every one that hath shall be agiven, and he shall havebabundance: but from him that hath not shall be ctaken away even that which he hath.
30And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
4 comments:
Great post. I read Section 60 the other day and when I came across the verses you shared, I remember talking to you about them and honestly thought this is where you had received the idea from.
Regarding your other comments. I think you're right and wrong, at the same time. I think you're right that the talent to share the Gospel is one the Lord cares a deep amount about (as evidenced by the scriptures in D&C). But I also think he cares about the other talents. To what extent, I'm not sure. I should maybe think about it more before I make a comment about it, but I think it traces back to the "As if for years..." post. You spent a lot of time in your youth developing a talent for which now you have close to zero use. Chances may be that you'll never be called upon to use that talent again. But there is a chance that you move to Philadelphia or Boston for school where the priesthood is not as strong or church membership in general and they may need someone to play to help invite the Spirit during an opening song. You no longer have that talent because you haven't nurtured it. Maybe not a great example. I think people refer to this one often because it is one many can relate to and it's one that is easy to use. They mean well by it and are striving to be their best self while using it as an example.
I spent a great deal of time learning Spanish on my mission and have since lost the ability to speak clearly (I can still read and understand fairly well). I am disappointed in myself for not keeping it up. Will I ever need to use that talent again in my life? Maybe, but I could probably get by without ever having to use it again. Do I think the Lord cares? Frankly I am not sure, but he blessed me with abilities to learn and the patience to keep at it and now I have wasted those blessings away. I can't imagine he is pleased with me. And that is what I strive for in this life.
Sorry to make this personal. Hopefully it doesn't come across harsh; I didn't mean it that way. If you feel I did either, please delete it. I wouldn't be hurt. I think you made a great Gospel point. I really do.
Concerning the "so much time" on a talent I don't use anymore.... You forgot about how I cheated on my piano time so much and had to confess it to my grandma while you were in the room (because I didn't want a homicide; I knew she wouldn't kill me if you were around.)
:)
The only comment I'm upset about is you're not going to name your kid "LaDon III". :)
It's fair that perhaps I'm being a little extreme, but which talents do we bury the most? A talent should be thought of as an investment (because it's literally money). What investment has the Lord made in us? Many of the talents you mention are investments we make in ourselves (and he may have something to do with it). However, the gospel is clearly an investment he's made in us. He went to incredible lengths to prepare the earth for the gospel, and established the church, etc. He also has gone to great lengths to help me come to know the church was true. For instance, I'm sure my dad was inspired to tell me to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it when I was 7. And, many Bishops have been inspired when talking to me. This is an investment God makes (1, 2, 5 talents depending on the person), and he expects us to take that investment and double it (helping others have the experiences we have had that he invested in us). This is similar to the concept of "some gave 30 fold, some 60, and some 100 fold" from the parable of the four soils (or the sower).
I think the key is thinking of this as an investment, not thinking of it as a "talent". That play on words is confusing in English. If this simply said, coins, not talents, people would think about this verse differently. They would say, what investment does this represent, or what does the money represent?
There is something to what you're saying, but I think it's clear from the scripture that God considers the gospel the talent that he wants the elders to share here. I think that's the talent he always wants us to share, and the others aren't that important to him in comparison. Every time someone mentions music in conjunction with this verse, it's simply an opportunity lost to discuss the greater message behind it. Notice this time I didn't say the only message behind the parable, but the greater message behind the parable.
As always, thanks for the comment. I appreciate the pushback very much. Seriously.
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