Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”
The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

Looking at life from the age of 50 and remembering back to some of the ways I thought when I was younger, I find myself chuckling sometimes. It seems like I used to view this passage based on the skills I had like singing or sales or math. And I would look around and see some people who seemed to have a lot of skills and others not as many. So I figured Jesus was saying those with a lot of skills are required to do more.

Now I look at this passage a bit differently. I tend to see these gifts in the context of the spiritual gifts God has given us, along with our life abilities.

‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭7‬-‭11‬ says this: “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.”

So I find this means we are to value each other and our relative gifts equally. And maybe it’s not about whoever has the most skills. Instead, we might look at this in regard to who has connected with God’s Spirit in stronger ways, who has developed into maturity the spiritual gifts they have been given.

And of those God’s Spirit is strong in, he will lead them into more responsibility. They are held accountable to have a bigger impact in the words, actions, and attitudes as they use their spiritual gifts to the glory of God.

It is also true that our skills are applied to the analogy, but we cannot stop there. The Spirit of God calls each of us into a relationship, fills each of us with every good thing, and empowers us to shine in how we use the gifts he gives us. Am I up for the challenge?

Lord, take my weak mind and feeble knees and strengthen the manner in which I serve you. As I leave fairness and my rights behind, help me to focus on engaging your Spirit and shining your light in each and every situation!