Counterfeit Giftedness
In the year 1880, there was a painter in America named Emmanuel Ningger.
One day, Ningger went to a wholesale store to buy all the basic necessities for his family. Ningger brought lunch from home and $20.
All the items were already in Ningger's shopping basket, and then he approached the cashier to pay. The cashier accepted the $20 and gave change to Ningger.
What happened next was that the cashier's hands became sweaty. Then he noticed streaks and lines on his hands when he held the $20 given by Ningger.
He reported it to his manager, and the manager called a police officer who identified that the $20 bill was undoubtedly counterfeit. The police immediately went to Ningger's house and arrested the counterfeiter.
What's astonishing is that during the police investigation, they found that Ningger had forged the $20 bill by painting it with his own hands! The result was extraordinary, exactly the same!
Had it not been for the "bleeding" paint, he might never have been caught.
Interestingly, while searching his property, the police discovered three paintings in Ningger's workshop that, if sold, would have been worth no less than $5000!
*Actual image of a Ningger $100 note.
Isn't it ironic? Ningger needed only to invest the same amount of time and talent to paint his counterfeit $20 bills as to create paintings worth $5000 or more. Same investment but very different values and outcomes.
He was a $5000 calibre painter, but, unfortunately, he was unable to see or tap into the value of his own talent and potential.
Scripture is clear:
"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights ... " (James 1:17, NIV).
And as God has distributed His gifts to us, He expects us to use them for both the good of others, and for His glory.
"As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace ..." (1 Peter 4:10, ESV).
"Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness" (Romans 12:6-8, ESV).
"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. ... Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving" (Colossians 3:17, 23-24, NIV).
Yet all too often, either by virtue of our own spiritual blindness (or even spiritual laziness) we fail to recognize the giftedness the Lord implanted within us. In shortsightedness, we squandor His blessings.
We are inherently valuable, yet we'd rather settle for a petty counterfeit version of our giftedness than tap into the true talent (both spiritual and otherwise) that God has lavished upon us.
Why be a Ningger when you can be a Michaelangelo?!
You Haven't Yet Done Your Best
From a speech delivered to GED graduates from the Plymouth County Correctional Facility, Plymouth, MA, 8/8/04, speaking of their great accomplishment:
It's true--you have done well, but you have yet to do your best. You have worked hard, but you have yet to work your hardest. That's right. You have yet to do your best or work your hardest--anywhere! ...
How do I know that you have never done your best or worked your hardest?
I was recently given a article from a medical journal about the brain. It said that the average human brain has the capacity to learn over fifty languages, think faster than the world's fastest computer, and memorize every word in every book on every shelf in any college library.
So tell me, how many languages have you learned lately? If it's less than 50, you have yet to do your best. And how many library books have you memorized? If it's less than them all, you've yet to do your best.
We will spend a lifetime and never completely fulfill our God-given potential. At issue is our drive to make the most of the time, talent, and gifts we've been given. Time is ticking ...better get started!
“For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents. For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth'" (Matthew 25:14-30).
Illustration Exchange
Nehemiah and the Tall Poppy Syndrome
Tall Poppy Syndrome is a term coined to explain the mindset of people who attack successful people. It's name gives the idea that the flower that grows the tallest is cut off because it sticks out. This has also been called the Crabs in a Barrel mindset where a person's success set them up as a target for attack, largely out of jealousy and envy of their fellow employees. This takes the drive out of someone's ambition at work or in life.
Nehemiah and the Jews had focused on rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem. It didn't take long for their neighbors to notice. They began to resist the Jews' efforts through threats, taunting, confusion, and demoralization. Yet the Jews persisted in their efforts.
Whenever someone does something bold for God, be it starting a church, taking up missions, bringing change in the community, they will inevitably face the resistance of those seeking to stop them or slow them down.
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others" (Philippians 2:3-4, NIV).