10 talent existence.

So I came to the reality that I am an American (I know that has many connotations but that’s another post for another day). So no matter how much I want to rail against the system, cry about corruption, capitol hill, Westernized Christianity and the distractions that our country brings, I am a born and raised American. Not only that but whatever I don’t like I still reap the comforts and rewards of the very nation I may have a problem with.

Why this post? It’s to shed light on a reality and call people, including myself to either move to another country or stop crying and leverage what you have for the kingdom. Some realities that many of us miss are, being born in America alone puts you in the top 13-20 percent of the world. Another reality, if you make more than 40,000 dollars a year you are in top 10 percent of the world. If you own a vehicle you are in the top 10 percent of the world. If you make more than 70 dollars a day you are in the top 10 percent of the world. If you can eat dinner on a table and not the floor you are in the top 30 percent of the world. The fact that you are born in America and can even complain publicly about things you don’t like puts you in the minority as well. My point? The very fact that I or any other person was born and raised here gives us a “10 talent existence”.

None of us told the Lord before the foundations of the earth that we wanted to be born in the most prosperous, distracted, influential and arguably powerful country of our time. But he did, we could have been born in any country but we were born and raised here into a “10 talent existence”. That means no matter how much we rail against this country we still benefit from the freedoms, comforts and resources it brings. Is it for the purpose of saying “I wish it was different?”

In the parable of the talents (Mathew 25:14-30) none of the slaves complained nor had a say in how much they received from the master great or small, the master gave and expected a return. We can complain about our “10 talent existence” and wish we were born into some other situation, make constant trips to third world countries, think we get it, no one else does and this some how removes us from all that is true, making us feel better at night. Or, we can embrace the reality that the master gave us a life, one that was birthed into a country of resources that despite our upbringing gives us a “10 talent existence”. All I hear from the master is him saying “stop complaining and make a return.” (this post was inspired by Mathew 25:14-30).