Thinking Big and the Story About Investment

The contents of Michael Port's book, The Thinking Big Manifesto, have been on my mind much of this week (see previous posts). Yesterday, I was pleasantly surprised to listen to the parable of talents while driving to meet up with Jenn at her parents' house.

In this parable, Jesus talks about thinking big. Jesus tells a story about a boss who went on a trip. Before leaving, the boss gave three of his employees some money. Upon his return, the boss learned that two of the employees had invested the money that he had given to them; in fact, they doubled the money. However, the third employee hid the money and returned it to the boss without even any interest from a simple savings account. The first two employees thought big. The third employee was scared and he thought small.

So I took some liberties in paraphrasing this passage, but Jesus is pretty clear:

The master was furious. 'That's a terrible way to live! It's criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.' (Matthew 25:26-27)

I tend to live pretty cautiously. However, this past week, I intentionally stepped out of my comfort zone on several occasions. In one situation, I had a very frank and open conversation with one of my superiors at the company. All of this required trust - trust that Jesus accepts me and loves me. I can't think of a better way to overcome the fears and doubts that sometimes seem so gripping.