"Whatever life holds in store for me, I will never forget these words: 'With great power comes great responsibility.' This is my gift, my curse." -Spiderman
I guess I should preface this by saying that I haven't seen Spiderman, but this quote came to mind as I was thinking about a conversation I had awhile back with a close friend of mine.
If I may digress for a moment, I am a firm believer that people have different gifts, different strengths and weaknesses. This much is evident because I have witnessed its effects, not unlike how an earth-bound person is a daily witness to the effects of gravity. Since "what goes up must come down" (as the saying goes), a person is bounded by the effects of gravity on a daily basis. Say Steve jumps into the air, gravity takes over and pulls him back to the ground before he can float away. Steve is in no position to deny the existence of gravity (or at least something that is holding him to the ground!). Likewise, I am in no position to deny that various people have different gifts.
Back to what I was originally talking about. Each person has gifts and it's up to them how they are used. There is a story from Matthew 25 that illustrates the proper use of gifts. I'll use some of my storytelling skills to tell it to you in a modern setting.
Does this seem fair? I think so. Why? People all have gifts and can use them for a number of purposes, whether selflessly helping others or selfishly helping themselves... or furthuring the cause of Good or aligning themselves with Evil. I've seen people with very strong gifts and those people have used them for a variety of purposes. If someone has a gift (whatever it may be), it is their responsibility to use that gift to help other people. The greater a person's gift, the more responsibility they have to exercise. This is especially true because some gifts and talents can be abused and can really hurt other people. Those are the kinds of people who must exercise the most self-control and discipline.
I think I have said enough on this subject for now. Let me know what you think~
I guess I should preface this by saying that I haven't seen Spiderman, but this quote came to mind as I was thinking about a conversation I had awhile back with a close friend of mine.
If I may digress for a moment, I am a firm believer that people have different gifts, different strengths and weaknesses. This much is evident because I have witnessed its effects, not unlike how an earth-bound person is a daily witness to the effects of gravity. Since "what goes up must come down" (as the saying goes), a person is bounded by the effects of gravity on a daily basis. Say Steve jumps into the air, gravity takes over and pulls him back to the ground before he can float away. Steve is in no position to deny the existence of gravity (or at least something that is holding him to the ground!). Likewise, I am in no position to deny that various people have different gifts.
Back to what I was originally talking about. Each person has gifts and it's up to them how they are used. There is a story from Matthew 25 that illustrates the proper use of gifts. I'll use some of my storytelling skills to tell it to you in a modern setting.
One day, Mr. White, the CEO of a major company decided to go on vacation for awhile and he needed someone who would be able to look after the company while he was gone. So, he decided to call three of his workers together. Being the clever CEO that he was, Mr. White decided to devise a little test. He gave $1000 to Peter, $500 to Daniel and $10 to Mark.Okay, this isn't exactly how the story in the Bible goes, but I think you get the point. These three guys were each given a gift by their boss and Mr. White trusted each to use their gifts to make more. Peter was entrusted with the most money, so Mr. White expected the most back from him.
Peter took the $1000 that Mr. White gave him and invested in the stock market. By the end of the week, he was able to bring $2000 back to Mr. White, who was very pleased. Daniel took the $500 and decided to purchase from a wholesale company, then sell the products he bought at retail price. He returned with $1000 for Mr. White. Again, Mr. White was pleased. However, Mark saw how little he had and decided to bury it in a hole.
Mr. White was not pleased. He immediately called Mark into his office and told him to dig the money back up and give it back to him. He then fired Mark.
Does this seem fair? I think so. Why? People all have gifts and can use them for a number of purposes, whether selflessly helping others or selfishly helping themselves... or furthuring the cause of Good or aligning themselves with Evil. I've seen people with very strong gifts and those people have used them for a variety of purposes. If someone has a gift (whatever it may be), it is their responsibility to use that gift to help other people. The greater a person's gift, the more responsibility they have to exercise. This is especially true because some gifts and talents can be abused and can really hurt other people. Those are the kinds of people who must exercise the most self-control and discipline.
I think I have said enough on this subject for now. Let me know what you think~
3 comments:
Very interesting! And a valuable lesson learned from an old parable. Great retelling of it ;) Are there personal applications in this particular post? You can email me those since I am going to assume you don't want them on the public forum :)
Yes, there are personal applications. As far as the parable is concerned, I'd like to re-tell it in a full-form, maybe like I retold "The Boy who Cried Wolf" to fit into Tolkien's world or something like that.
That would be cool to read..... I know you understand the meaning behind it very well and being able to put it into modern language and a fictional story helps others!
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