my camera gear & the message 2
My new lens came in today!! I have some big events coming up and had to replace it pretty quickly. It’s a sexy piece of gear…I’ll have to post a picture of it for you. While we are on that topic…I get lots of emails about photography. Specifically, many people ask what equipment I use. So, here is the list:
Pentax k10D (Semi-Pro Digital SLR)
Pentax 16-50mm f/2.8 (what I just got to replace the Sigma I dropped in Maine)
Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8
Sigma 10-20mm f/4.5-5.6 (the super wide angle lens I posted pictures with a few weeks back)
Pentax FA50 50mm f/1.4
Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Macro (one of the sharpest lenses in production from any manufacturer)
Flashpoint Carbon Fiber tripod, with Giottos ball head
Pentax FG540 Flash (2x)
Alienbees Studio Lighting
I have been thinking that taking pictures is kinda universal. We all do it. So I am hoping to do a series of little posts on how to take better pictures without buying all the junk I just listed (the gear doesn’t really make your pictures any better anyway unless you are willing to learn). I think it will be fun. Anyway, as you can see, I shoot Pentax. It is by far the best value for me. I’ll explain later, but if you are looking for a DSLR, take a peek at their stuff.
Ok, so…we all know I LOVE to have comments, especially from people that disagree with me. Like I said the other day, I’m pretty obsessed with being better in every area and I love to learn. When we challenge each other, we make each other better. For those of you who may be interested in a little more in depth Bible discussion, I’m going to dig a bit more into the text I posted yesterday. The following comment made me go back and double check myself…and I learned a good bit in the process. Here is the comment I got:
I think you are determining the verse in your mindset. This verse is all about risk, bro. Otherwise the guy would of done it? If God gives you more and you use it you are risking it. On one hand you can use what He gave you and use it with carnal heart and hands and destroy it, therefore losing a lot. But it is in the trusting of God in what he has entrusted and living by faith in some risk, because you do have something to loose. It is the whole balance of faith. If you have nothing to risk, what is the point. If risk is not present then there is no tension or struggle to do something. The message does have to be read by someone who has read the bible and will compare back to the bible, I agree. But verse 28 is true and holds truth in most practical and biblical thought patterns.
So, I went back and read the text in a couple different translations (I’m not cool enough to be able to read the original language…that would be Greek to me!). Here is what I’m observing. The NIV says:
14“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. 15To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16The man who had received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more. 17So also, the one with the two talents gained two more. 18But the man who had received the one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.
The act we see here is the servant putting the money to work. This does not imply risk to me…just work. Then after the servant tells the master he buried the money, we see:
26“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant!
The Master addresses him as wicked and lazy. If this parable were about risk, I suspect that the master would have called him cautious or cowardly. John MacCarthur supports this by calling the man “slothful”, implying this is an issue of laziness.
Perhaps the ringer for me though is Matthew Henry’s Commentary:
Burying money (v. 18) kept the capital safe, but the money would have been no less safe with bankers (m. Baba Mesi`a3:11; Gundry 1982:509). (full text)
If putting the money with the bankers (as instructed by the master) was no less safe than burying it, then there is no more risk involved with investing over burying it. This is not captured in the Message which has lines like: “It’s criminal to live cautiously like that!” or “Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most.” and my personal favorite, “And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb.”
The first time I heard these eloquent exhortations, I was ready to preach a sermon on risk. Then I did my homework and was disappointed. Oh well.
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I think I agree that it’s not so much about risk as it is being lazy with what the Master has given him to use. Same with us- God’s given us so much talent, ability, etc, so we can do work for Him. If we ignore those abilities, it’s the same as burying them in the sand, and I feel there is absolutely consequence both here and when the Master returns, for what we do with those talents and abilities. I find it interesting that ‘talent’ is the word used for money, and this parable is a metaphor for the ‘talents’(abilities, possessions, etc) God has given to us to build His Kingdom. Interesting thoughts. :o)
I am not at all a fan of The Message Bible. I don’t even think it is particularly good writing even for a paraphrase. I have many very critical differences not only in translation, but in concept with this one.
OK. I had to get in on this discussion too — I love these kinds of discussions!
So, here’s what I got.
There is no risk involved in God’s ministry (which is what this is a parable for). God says if do works for His kingdom we WILL be rewarded — not MAY (2 Chronicles 15:7)
With this noted, this passage is not about risk. The master — or God — does not care for, or need our risk. Just as the wicked servant says that his master deposits and reaps where he did not sow (Luke 19:21) and that he is a tough man. The same is true with God, in the sense that he collects everywhere — not that he doesn’t sow everywhere.
What is this passage about then?
Well, Darren, you were pretty much right on. This passage is about works — discipleship. It’s directed toward Christians. The talents can represent anything pertaining to our discipleship — talents, money, skills, etc.– that God gives us to use to further His kingdom and make disciples.
The master coming back represents “judgment day” — when God will come and see how your true discipleship shows. Those who attend church without being saved and those who do not use their discipleship to bring more disciples to God are like the lazy and wicked servant. They do nothing but stand on their talents, just as he did no work. The servant blames fear, but it is really because he is lazy and “evil”. (Luke 19:22)
These parables were much easier for me to understand when I had a good translation of the Bible, and an understanding that parables are an Eastern tradition. Parables were the way Easterners explained philosophical answers. Chuang Tzu explains the way of the Tao strictly through parables much like Jesus explains God’s kingdom through them.
That’s just my two cents.
Greek to me… haha… oh, Darren, you make me laugh.
Colleen,
Thanks for the validation. I’m always self conscious about my choices for humor :)
Hi Darren,
I have never commented on your site before, but I love this passage. I have studied it several times, and this is what I have learned the passage to be talking about.
It has nothing to do with taking risks. While that is what the surface meaning could be, when you look deaper, you see how the Lord is talking about using your actual talents. The men who are given 5 and 10 talents and come back with double are examples of people who use the talents that God has given them, and develop more talents. The man who buries his talent is an example of someone who doesn’t further his talents nor develops new ones. So in essence, what is being taught is that we need to use our talents to benefit not only ourselves, but others. If we keep our talents to ourselves, we are not using what God has given us.
Just thought I’d add in my two cents.
And also, I love your photography. It is a talent that you have, that you have developed marvelously and I am glad that you share it with everyone else =]
-Andrea
I have trouble getting down with the message. I mean, I get it…it’s easier to understand, but it definitely seems to take too many liberties.
One of the things that bothered me about the passage, aside from what you have already discussed is the word “partner”. I am kind of torn about it…I do believe that God partners with His people, but don’t believe that was the intention for this scripture. What about, “Well done, good and faithful servant”? If we are faithful to God in few things, He will trust us with many things. The servants in the scripture don’t become partners with the master, they are just given more responsibility. They are still his servants, just as we are all servants of God.
I have always taken this parable to be about so much more than money. God has given us all talents and we should use them for Him or we may lose them. He has blessed me with dramatic gifts and so I must use them for Him. Over the years, what God has trusted me with in this area has grown because I have used it for Him. If we work for His kingdom He will bless us with many more gifts and opportunities to use those gifts.
I know other people have commented on this same thing, but I wanted to also bring up the point about the word “partner”.
Whether this is the original intent of the parable or not, there is both risk AND hard work involved when we invest in ushering in God’s Kingdom here on earth.
We’re programmed to associate risk to decision making.
But, there is no risk in choosing to usher in the Kingdom of God.
There is only the possibility that we are not doing God’s will or that there is no God to back the “no risk” guarantee. But, if we believe that there is a God AND that we are doing His will then there is NO risk — although it may feel risky to us because it isn’t the “norm”.
Hard work is also guaranteed.