Just play your part

If you study famous musicians, you’ll often find that they learned their craft by playing in a band or orchestra. That’s because certain skills – learning to blend with other instruments, keeping tempo, learning to play louder or softer, following the conductor’s lead – can only be learned by playing with others. And what’s true of a band or orchestra is even truer of a community of believers. Jesus illustrated this in His famous parable of the talents (see Matthew 25:14-30). One man was given five talents and ended up with ten. Another man was given two talents and ended up with four. A third man was given one talent, and he buried it. In a sense, Jesus was talking about people playing their parts and how important that is to God’s kingdom. Not everyone plays the same instrument, and not everyone has the same part. Some instruments are louder than others, and some parts are bigger than others. It’s not how much you have that matters to Jesus; it’s what you do with what you have that matters to Him. There are no insignificant talents in God’s kingdom. Our talents may differ in amount, but they all come from the same source. All Christ wants you to do is play your part. He does not expect the same results, but He does expect the same effort. He never compares you with anyone else. He compares you only with you. He doesn’t look at what you have; He looks at what you do with what you have. So just play your part.