What does God expect us to do for other cultures and faiths?
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that frightens us most. We ask ourselves. 'Who am I to be brilliant gorgeous, talented, and famous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in all of us. And when we let our own light shine, we consciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
- Maryanne Williamson
I first heard this quote while watching one of my favorite movies, Coach Carter. This movie has inspired me to tackle the impossible while persevering through adversities and trials. The reason why I chose this quote was because this quote reveals the answer to the question: What does God expect us to do for other cultures and faiths?
All people, whatever what age we are at, are capable of doing great things in our lives, but it is whether we choose to act or not. It is not that we are incapable of exhibiting our strengths and talents to the world. We are all adequate and have the capability to accomplish remarkable things through the talents and gifts that God gave us. It is our duty, thus, we are obligated to manifest the gifts that were bestowed upon us to the entire world. Playing small and not using our gifts to our full potential will not facilitate us or the world in anyway. Rather shining the light that was given to us will benefit us and ignite the spark in other people's hearts to do the same. In other words, we should not hide or shrink when the chance comes to help other cultures or faiths. Instead, we should shine and flaunt our talents in helping those in need.
From doing this blog post, I remembered a parable in the Bible; the parable of the talents. A master bestows different amounts of talents (money) to three servants, according to their abilities. The first servant got five talents, the second servant got two talents, and the third got one. The first two servants used their talents and multiplied their share while the third servant dug his talent in the ground because of his laziness. When the master came back on his journey, the first two servants were commended for their diligence while the third servant was reprimanded for his laziness. The master resembles God and the servants resemble us. God gave all of us talents and gifts to use in our lives and we should diligently use our talents to benefit ourselves and others.
Parable of the Talents
14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag,[a] each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’
26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest.
28 “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25: 14-30
This was a great post Hansol.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was first reading this post, It was hard for me to grasp your answer to the original question, but from my understanding, it seems to be the fact that we need to use our gifts for those in need. However, from this answer several questions arise. One, what about gifts that cultures cannot really benefit from, such as playing the piano? Another question that arises from this perspective is, how do we truly know what God wants us to do? This was a great perspective on the question that i did not think of. Overall, this is really great!
Ryan Park
Hansol, this is a profound perspective, which reveals a deep sense of your individuality.
ReplyDeleteRyan brought up a great point and essentially our talents are to be used for God's glory. So if we use what we have - He will reveal His will for us in time. Obedience is key.