Talents

Normally we use the word talent to describe an inborn ability such as an ear for music, organizational ability or effectiveness in public speaking. Talents are capacities for serving others given to us by God. But the term is forever associated with a famous parable of Jesus (Matthew 25:14-30). One person was given five talents; another, two talents; and a third, one talent, “each according to his ability” (Matthew 25:15). In the parable talent refers not to innate abilities but monetary currency like dollars or pounds. Strictly speaking, the parable is about how people invest money differently (see Investment). But few interpret this parable in terms of the stewardship of money, and for good reason. What we do with money and assets is a metaphor for what we do with ourselves.

The parable of the talents raises a whole range of spiritual and theological questions. Are talents inborn abilities demanding fulfillment or God-given duties requiring faithful stewardship? Are we accountable not only to be true to ourselves but beyond ourselves to a significant Other? Why are some endowed with multiple talents and others with only one talent? Is our stewardship of talents (material or immaterial) directly related to our concept of God (Matthew 25:24-25)?

The History of Talents

The idea of talents has a long history starting with the Greek philosophers, then proceeding to the humanists like Erasmus and finally to the modern (and postmodern) human-potential movement. The ancient Stoic philosophers spoke of inherent aptitude and disposition, something expounded by Petrarch and others. Cicero, a contemporary of Jesus, urged each person to “cultivate that which is proper to himself” resolutely holding fast “to his own particular gifts,” following “the bent of [his] own peculiar nature” (De officiis). By the time of the Reformation, the humanist theologian Erasmus and others were urging that people choose a lifestyle in harmony with their own nature. This stands in stark contrast to what Luther and Calvin taught.

Erasmus spoke of a deliberate human choice of a way of life; Calvin described a calling from God. Erasmus argued from the irreversibility of each person’s unique character, Calvin from the irresistibility of God’s command. Erasmus became a scholar, renouncing his monastic vows, for which he felt unsuited, to follow his own nature. Calvin, on the other hand, denied himself the career he judged most natural and obeyed God’s call “in spite of my natural inclination” (Douglas, pp. 262-63). While for Erasmus (and his modern counterparts in the human-potential movement) the one-talent man should be condemned for failing to maximize his life, for Calvin the one-talent man would be judged because he did not do what the master required. As we will see, a biblical spirituality of talents includes and transcends these two streams. Talents are in us, but they are also given to us for God’s pleasure and the neighbor’s good.

Talents as Subject of Contemplation

Calvin’s contribution to the idea of talents is, not so much his repudiation of human choice (choice is bounded not eliminated by Calvin), but his emphasis on talents as pointing to the greatness of God: “The talents which we possess are not from ourselves . . . and our very existence is nothing but a subsistence in God alone” (Institutes 1.1.1). For Calvin, knowing God and knowing ourselves are completely intertwined, each leading to the other. Thus considering our talents and, at the same time, having “consciousness of our own infelicity” and “deformity” incite us to seek after God.

At the same time, only through knowing God can we know ourselves properly—viewing rightly our spiritual endowments, not attempting more than is compatible with our calling and not deeming any ordinary use of our talents in our calling as unimportant or lowly (Institutes 1.1.6). Luther also emphasized that what is important is not our natural endowment and self-chosen path of life but our being summoned by God from outside ourselves to serve God in both our spiritual and temporal vocation. The intersection of natural longing and aptitude and the call of God is a summons to live by faith. So both Calvin and Luther view talents as endowments from God to be used in service for the common good and for God’s glory. In other words, we do not choose our vocation on the basis of our talents but rather dedicate our talents to the service of God in obedience to our calling.

But it was not long, a matter of decades, before Luther’s and Calvin’s emphasis on calling was moderated, largely by the English Puritans, into something chosen in the light of God’s call and also in the light of one’s own abilities (Douglas, p. 296). In this way the Puritans were the bridge between the Reformation and the modern world because they reflected theologically on calling and talent in the context of a society in which choice was increasingly possible.

The Importance of Talents

The idea of talents has been significant for remaking the Western world from the eighteenth century to the present, reconstructing society not on the basis of wealth, privilege and lineage but affirming a natural equality based on the universal, though highly varied, talents of citizens (La Vopa, p. 172). Education and parenting have also been profoundly influenced by this outlook. Good teaching seeks to draw out what is innate to the student, reading his or her nature and transforming raw talent into ability. A crucial role of parents is to identify the particular life direction of each child, independent of lineage and social status. What the child should pursue is not the path that will bring honor to the parents but that for which the child is actually suited.

Supremely, the idea of talents is fundamental to the process of vocational guidance. While Calvin felt summoned to a profession for which he felt unsuited and disinclined, this seems more the exception than the norm, though an exception to which we must remain reverently open. Normally God writes his will into our motivation, talents and spiritual gifts. In fact there is no perfect “fit” in the occupational world, just as there is none in the church and home. So even when we choose an appropriate calling, we must still make God our portion and deepest joy. One crucial contribution of the Reformers on this matter is that our talents are given for the common good (commonweal), not merely for our personal joy. The Puritan William Perkins defined calling as a “certain kind of life, ordained and imposed on man by God, for the common good (Perkins, p. 750, emphasis mine).

Gifts and Talents

One final importance of talents relates to the matter of spiritual gifts. Talents and spiritual gifts both overlap, but they also can be distinguished. They overlap in that both talents and gifts are abilities given to us to serve God in specific ways: listening, helping, communicating, organizing, edifying, entertaining. They can be distinguished in this way: talents are creational, that is, built into us by the sovereign work of God in our conception, whereas spiritual gifts are inspirational, that is, workings and motivations by the direct action of the Spirit in us. Often spiritual gifts are not permanent but rather are temporary endowments of the Spirit for building others up. (Yet even this distinction may be overdrawn, as the parable of the talents suggests that if you don’t use it you will lose it!)

Sometimes spiritual gifts seem to be a Spirit-anointing of a creational or providential talent, as is suggested by Romans 12:6-8. Giving is something many have the capacity or assets to do, but giving with generosity is an anointed “extra” of the Spirit. Often the preaching gift is given to someone talented in public speaking—but not always!

It is often noted that Luther “secularized” spiritual gifts into talents used in all the roles and “callings” that make society work (magistrate, cobbler, husband and wife, teacher), removing them from the exclusivity of in-church ministry. The layperson’s ministry through talents is mainly in everyday life. In contrast, the modern Western church has largely spiritualized gifts as special supernatural endowments given exclusively for “ministry” in the gathered church (prophecy, healing, tongues, teaching, helps). The net result has been to downplay talents as though they were not “from God” and “for ministry,” thus neglecting civil vocation, the neighborhood and home as arenas for ministry. If Luther’s approach dissolved gifts into talents, the modern evangelical separates gifts and talents, relegating talents to lesser vocational service in the world while placing greater worth on gift ministry in the church. In the latter we are not much better than the Corinthians who so prized certain gifts that they were neglecting their ministries in daily life (1 Cor. 7:17, 20). A better approach is to see talents and gifts as overlapping—all from God, all for service in the church and the world, all for God’s glory. Talents are needed in the church; gifts are needed in the world.

In conclusion we return to the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). Our talents are endowments but not possessions; they are trusted to us on loan from God. We are evaluated not on the number of such talents we have but on what we do with what we have. It matters not whether we have one or ten talents. God intends us to be fruitful with our talents and not merely to preserve them. Probably our abilities will grow and multiply if we use faithfully what we have. What we actually do with our talents is related to our conception of God. If we have a restricted and negative view of a judging God, we, like the one-talent man, will likely have a pinched view of life, protecting ourselves from failure and loss. If we view God correctly as generous and forgiving, we will take risks and flourish for the common good. In the end we are accountable to God for the use of our talents. According to Jesus the judgment day is not just about how we have loved our neighbor (Matthew 25:31-46); it is also about what we have done with our talents (Matthew 25:14-30). The reason is sublimely simple. Talents are not “natural” but creational, deriving from the creative activity of God, who invites us through their use to be cocreators with God to make God’s world work and to build up the body of Christ.

» See also: Calling

» See also: Creation

» See also: Ministry

» See also: Spiritual Gifts

» See also: Vocational Guidance

References and Resources

J. Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. J. T. McNeill, trans. F. L. Battles, 2 vols. (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960); R. M. Douglas, “Talent and Vocation in Humanist and Protestant Thought,” in Action and Conviction in Early Modern Europe, ed. T. Rabb and J. Seigel (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1969) 261-98; A. J. La Vopa, Grace, Talent and Merit: Poor Students, Clerical Careers and Professional Ideology in Eighteenth-Century Germany (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988); W. Perkins, “A Treatise of the Vocations or Callings of Men,” in The Works of That Famous and Worthy Minister of Christ in the University of Cambridge (London: John Legatt, 1626) 748-79; M. Volf, Work in the Spirit (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991).

—R. Paul Stevens