What Are You Doing With What God Has Entrusted to You?

What is one hobby, skill, or talent you have that most people probably don't know about?

Most of us are busy building something. Careers, families, businesses, influence. But there is a question worth sitting with: Have you ever invited God into any of it? This is the heart of what it means to move from an undiscipled Christian to a fully devoted follower of Christ.

What Does It Mean to Be an Undiscipled Christian?

It is possible to belong to a church without really belonging. It is possible to know what the Bible says without truly following it. It is possible to ask Jesus to forgive your sins without ever asking Him to change your heart or be Lord over your life.

An undiscipled Christian has accepted Jesus as Savior but not as Lord. There is a difference. Savior means He died for your sins. Lord means He leads every area of your life. Many people have accepted the first part and quietly set the second part aside.

The Pathway: Belong, Believe, Become, Build

There is a clear pathway that describe what a life of discipleship looks like:

• Belong - Being genuinely connected to a community of faith, not just a name on a list

• Believe - Trusting Jesus enough to actually do something about it

• Become - Allowing Jesus to change your heart, not just your behavior

• Build - Using what God has placed in your hands for His purposes

The story of Matthew (formerly Levi, the tax collector) illustrates this perfectly. Jesus called Him while He was at His worst. Levi belonging at Jesus' table before He had His life together. He believed enough to walk away from his booth. He became one of the twelve disciples. And he built something lasting, using the only thing he carried from his old life: a pen. That pen produced the Gospel of Matthew.

Is There Really a Difference Between Sacred and Secular?

One of the most damaging lies many Christians have believed is that life is divided into two categories: the sacred (church, faith, God) and the secular (work, money, ambition, everyday life). The idea goes that God belongs in one corner and real life happens in the other.

But this is a theological lie. Back in Genesis, before sin ever entered the picture, God told Adam and Eve to work, to create, to build, to bring order. There was sacred work to be done before the fall. That means your work is not separate from your faith. It is part of it.

As it says in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." You were not just saved to go to heaven. You were not just saved to go to heaven. You were saved to build something here.

What Is Your "SHAPE" for Building God's Kingdom?

God has uniquely shaped every person for a purpose. That shape includes five elements:

• Spiritual Gifts - Gifts given by the Holy Spirit when you place your faith in Christ, such as encouragement, leadership, or teaching

• Heart - The passions and causes that make you come alive

• Abilities - Natural skills like organizing, creating, problem-solving, or listening

• Personality - Whether you are introverted or extroverted, a thinker or a feeler, God wants to work through all of it

• Experiences - Your story, your education, your pain. God never wastes an experience. He can redeem it and use it for good.

As 1 Peter 4:10 says, "Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms."

What Does the Parable of the Talents Teach Us About Building?

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story about a master who goes on a journey and entrusts his servants with His wealth. One receives five talents (each worth roughly 15 to 20 years of wages), one receives two, and one receives one. The first two invest and double what they were given. The third buries his out of fear.

When the master returns, he says the same thing to both the five-talent servant and the two-talent servant: "Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!" (Matthew 25:23)

The servant with one talent is not condemned because he had less. He is condemned because he buried what he had. And when he explains himself, he does not say he lacked ability. He says he was afraid.

Why Do So Many Christians Bury Their Gifts?

Fear is the real reason many people never step into what God has called them to do. Fear of failure. Fear of change. Fear that if they truly surrender an area of life to God, He might actually ask something of them.

So they postpone. They bury the gift, the opportunity, the calling, the relationship. They tell themselves "someday." But Jesus does not invite us to someday. He invites us to today.

What If You Only Have Two Talents?

The comparison trap is one of the enemy's most effective tools. If you look at someone with more resources, more influence, or more visible gifts and conclude that you have nothing to offer, you have fallen for it.

God gives some people five talents and some people two, not because He loves one more than the other, but because He plans to reach places that a five-talent person could never fit into. There are small spaces, quiet relationships, specific neighborhoods, and particular people who need exactly what you carry. You are the right size for that pond.

The master in the parable never asks the two-talent servant why he did not produce five. He simply asks what was done with what was given. That is the only question that matters.

Your Whole Life Belongs to God

Building is not just about volunteering at church. It is about recognizing that your entire life belongs to God. Your gifts, your time, your relationships, your workplace, your home, your resources, your opportunities. All of it has been entrusted to you by a Master who is watching to see what you will do with it.

As 2 Timothy 1:9 reminds us, God "saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time."

This is not a small thing. Being part of what God is building in the world is one of the most significant things a person can do with their life.

Life Application & Reflections

This week, take time to honestly answer a few of these questions. Write them down if it helps.

• Matt describes four steps in the discipleship pathway: belong, believe, become, and build. Which of these four steps do you find most natural, and which one do you find most challenging? Why?

• Life is divided into the "sacred" and the "secular." How has that false divide shown up in your own life, and what would it look like to tear it down?

• The SHAPE framework includes Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experiences. Which of these five areas do you feel most confident about, and which one do you feel most uncertain about when it comes to using it for God?

• In the Parable of the Talents, the man with one talent buried it because he was afraid. Can you relate to that fear? What specific fears have kept you from fully using what God has given you?

• Pastor Matt points out that the master did not condemn the servant for having only one talent. He condemned him for burying it. How does that distinction change the way you think about your own contribution to God's kingdom?

• God shapes some people with just two talents because He plans to reach small spaces that a five-talent person could never fit into. How does that idea encourage or challenge you personally?

• Your addess, your workplace, your relationships, and your circumstances are not accidents. They are your assignment. Who has God placed around you that you may have been overlooking as an opportunity to build into?

• What has God put in you? Where has God put you? Who has God put around you? Take a moment to reflect on each one. What answers come to mind, and what is one practical step you could take this week based on those answers?

A few key reminders to take with you this week:

• The full discipleship pathway is belong, believe, become, and build. Many Christians stop short of the "build" step, either out of busyness, comparison, or fear.

• The sacred-versus-secular divide is a lie. All of life, including your work, relationships, resources, and talents, belongs to God and is meant to be used for His kingdom purposes.

• God has uniquely shaped each person through their Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experiences (SHAPE) for a specific role in building His kingdom. No shape is too small or insignificant.

• In the Parable of the Talents, the servant was not judged by how many talents he had but by what he did with them. Faithfulness, not quantity, is what God rewards.

• The greatest barrier to building is not a lack of gifts but fear. Burying what God has given us out of fear is the real danger for an undiscipled believer.

Your challenge this week is simple but not easy. Identify your two talents, whatever God has placed in your hands, and take one concrete step to use them for someone else. It does not have to be grand. It just has to be faithful. Because the question God is asking is not how much you had. It is what you did with it.