The Parables of Jesus, Part 1: It's Okay to Let Your Light Shine

I wish I could tell you what exactly prompted me to write a series like this, but I don’t know. I guess you could say I’m just trying to listen to what I feel like I’m being called to do. I’m by no means a biblical expert so, I’m not quite qualified to tell anyone how to interpret scripture, but I do think it’s important to talk about the teachings of Jesus openly, so here goes.

To start this series, I want to talk about a couple of lessons Jesus taught that struck a chord in my heart. Here is the parable of the lamp on the stand quoted in all three of the synoptic gospels (ESV):

• Matthew 5:14-15: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.”

• Mark 4:21-22: “And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand? For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.”

• Luke 8:16, 11:33: “No one after lighting a lamp covers it with a jar or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.” “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.”

And here is the parable of the talents in the book of Matthew (ESV):

• Matthew 25:14-29: "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."

Now, there are several ways to interpret different parts of each of these parables. What I am going focus on here is not at all the entirety of the depth of each parable, but just one small part that I think is really important to understand as believers and, well, human beings in general.

There's a popular teaching from Jesus, earlier in the book of Matthew, that basically implies that you shouldn't brag about your good deeds. "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you." There are a lot of social media influencers these days that make a living (quite literally!) by filming themselves doing something good for those in need and then posting it on their social media channels.

One specific example I'll give is a guy named "Mr. Beast" who made a lengthy video in which he paid for 1,000 people to have corrective eye surgery to treat "curable blindness." I watched hundreds (if not thousands) of people criticize Mr. Beast (whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson) for filming his good deeds and posting it to his YouTube channel. I even saw the Bible verse quoted above in the comments of the video several times.

While I do believe there is some merit to those conversations, here's the thing...YouTubers like Mr. Beast are PAID to get people to watch their videos. And they are paid handsomely, like, handsomely enough to pay for 1,000 people to cure corrective blindness. While I understand people being a bit jaded by the idea that he is somehow "bragging" about his good deeds, what else do we want the guy to do, NOT pay for people to regain their sight...?

This is where I believe Jesus is incomparable as a teacher. He didn't leave much of anything open-ended. There are so many examples of how he taught us to be proactive leaders, and humble servants. Dogmatic warriors, and loving neighbors. This example of doing good works without making it about yourself is a great example.

Let's start with the parable of the lamp stand because it is quite short and to the point. All three biblical authors reference in some capacity the ability to see the light. While I think there are some additional things we can take away from this parable (especially Mark's version), the common theme in all three seems to read something like, "What is the point of having a useful tool if you're not going to use it?" I think we can draw a pretty easy parallel to the example of Mr. Beast paying for corrective eye surgery for 1,000 people. When you have a skill, or a message, or a gift, or whatever...it is expected that you will use it for the betterment of your community.

The parable of the talents is a bit more direct in that regard. Again, there is a lot you could pull from this parable, but I want to focus on the theme of letting your light shine. In this particular case, a man left a certain number of "talents" with three of his servants. I think it is beautifully ironic that the translated term is "talent" in this story because back then a talent was a sum of money, but it makes it really easy to compare to the "talents" that we all possess today as well.

Here's where the intersection between the teaching of "don't let your left hand..." and "to everyone who has more will be given..." becomes rather tricky. Christ is pretty clear early in Matthew that when you begin to do good works for your own benefit, or for your own glory, or social media clout, that you have lost the purpose for doing them in the first place. There's a really fine line between what Mr. Beast does, promoting good works so that he can do more good works, and posting your good works so that people will pat you on the back and think highly of you.

This, to me, is why it's important to remember the parable of the talents. Because while it is important that we don't lose ourselves in our good works, I also think it's important to keep doing good works while promoting them in a way that encourages other people to do the same. There's a famous poem from Marianne Williamson's book A Return to Love that reads:

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 most frightens us.

We ask ourselves

Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small

Does not serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking

So that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine,

As children do.

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 everyone.

And as we let our own light shine,

We unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we're liberated from our own fear,

Our presence automatically liberates others.

I love that poem so much. I believe it perfectly encapsulates the theme we have been discussing as it reads in the parable of the talents. God did not give us "talents" for the sake of being talented. He also did not give us talents for our own glory. He gave us talents, skills, gifts, to serve our communities and reveal the glory and the love of God by establishing His Kingdom here on earth. It's okay to be great at something. It's okay to use your gifts in a way that people will notice. It's encouraged! It's just also important to keep on your heart the reason for why you're doing it. We can all let comfortably let our own lights shine when we’re doing it for the purpose of revealing the greatness of God.

I hope this has made some sense to someone out there. It dawned on me a few years ago that I knew a ton of Bible stories but I couldn't really tell you for sure exactly what Jesus said. I made it a point over the last few years to get familiar with the teachings of Jesus and at some point felt like the next step was to help share them with others. If you're interested, I made a Google Doc that contains every parable Jesus taught that you can look at with this link.

I'm not sure which direction I'll go yet with part two of this series, but I felt it was important to start here. So important, in fact, that I decided to file for a 501(c)(3) recently with the goal of feeding those in need in our community. You can follow the beginnings of that journey on Facebook on our page titled "Many Parts, One Body" and on our website. I honestly don't know what I expect to happen with it, but my goal will always be the same: find a way to help those who need it with the gifts that I've been given. I hope this has, somehow, inspired you to do the same.