Talent is God's work, the rest is ours

I wrote these points to prepare for a discussion I was invited to facilitate at NPC Karen on Saturday, 19th July 2014 on "talent development." I wasn't sure if I should post them until this morning when I heard the sermon at Mavuno by Pastor Carol Wanjau on bold parenting, which I will link here as soon as it's up. In this age when the buzzwords for dealing with youth unemployment are “developing talent,” the Parable of the talents in Matthew 25 provides interesting lessons about what talent actually is, and what it should do. Three of those lessons are that *.just like in the parable where the talents were given by the master, talent comes from God *.to make the talent bear fruit and multiply, one needs to work. What distinguished the first two workers from the one who buried his talent was not what they received, but the work they put in *.talent is for the benefit of people other than one’s self – in this case it was for the master, and in a socially conscious society, talent is for the service of others. Remember King David, for example, whose musical skills were for soothing King Saul, or Dorcas who had made garments for people in the community. If we serve the people, we serve God as well. Remember what Jesus said – those who will enter the kingdom are those who feed the hungry, heal the sick and visit those in prison. So from the parable, one can say that there’s no such thing as “talent development.” One has either received a particular talent from God, or hasn’t. The idea of “talent development” came from politicians who want to promise prosperity in the midst of rising unemployment, in order to get our vote. And as typical politicians, they are taking credit for what they have not done, because no human being can “develop” talent. Talent is God-given. What human beings can develop is skills and a work ethic. Without skills, and without a work ethic, one basically buries their talent in the sand, like the worker in the parable. The relationship between talent and skills is the same as that between fuel and a car. Without fuel, the car cannot move. But fuel without a car is just petrol in a jerrican. It won’t take you from point A to point B. But also, the vehicle cannot move without someone to drive the car. And that driver is called work. I have indicated below my thoughts on what young people and parents should consider when it comes to education, arts and talent. They are based on what I’ve seen of parents and their children who consult with us when making decisions about pursuing a career in the arts. I hope these thoughts are useful. For the youth These days it is very flattering to hold a music instrument and produce a tune that everyone likes, or design a dress that everyone wants to wear, or play football in AC Milan or the English Premier league. And for most of you, your parents want to encourage you in your talent. They boast about you when you do well. And also, you’re probably getting a lot of praise from your friends, and a number of offers from companies for their events. You need to be aware that all this celebration can get to your head, and that it is temporary, and so you need a long term plan of how you want to continuing using your talent. That’s what two workers did in the parable. They planned what to do with the talents they were given. Planning is necessary because while you’re 18 or 19, companies will be dying to sponsor you to perform at their gigs, partly because you are part of the youth to whom they are marketing their products. But 6 years later, you will be old news (yet you’ll be only 24) and the next fresh 18-year old will be capturing everyone’s attention. And so you must learn to shut out the noise and deliberately do the not-so-exciting work behind talent, which includes the following • Branding yourself: deciding what you want to be known for, and be consistent. If you’re a singer, for example, you should be planning on zeroing in on a particular style of music that you do best. • Getting to know the big names and artists in the field you have chosen: you do this as a way of surrounding yourself with the art that will inspire your own art, but also so that you can know your way around how to market yourself, who are your core audience and which sponsors are interested in the stuff you do. • Read widely: take advantage of the internet (and Wikipedia) and read up on the international shakers in the area you’re interested in, so that you know the challenges, journeys and strategies in their career towards becoming recognized. If you’re a jazz artist and you know, for example, that one of Aaron Rimbui’s first concerts was to an audience of nine, and mainly of his family, you will feel more confident to ignore the discouragement in the first days of your career. Another reason for knowing the greats of your particular field (be it fiction writing, play writing,ahref=<"http://www.wandianjoya.com">READ MORE