Potent Potential

I have been reading the book Uprising, a Revolution of the Soul by Erwin Raphael McManus recently, and I was challenged when I read the chapter on potential. McManus talks about how so often we focus on sin being the stuff we did that we shouldn't have, and continues on to say that sin should also include the stuff we should have done that we didn't do.

To this end McManus talks about how God has gifted each of us differently and how we all have a unique potential inside of us that is completely different to anyone else.

In demonstrating this McManus points to Jesus' telling of the Parable of the talents in Matthew 25:
"It's also like a man going off on an extended trip. He called his servants together and delegated responsibilities. To one he gave five thousand dollars, to another two thousand, to a third one thousand, depending on their abilities. Then he left. Right off, the first servant went to work and doubled his master's investment. The second did the same. But the man with the single thousand dug a hole and carefully buried his master's money.

"After a long absence, the master of those three servants came back and settled up with them. The one given five thousand dollars showed him how he had doubled his investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'

"The servant with the two thousand showed how he also had doubled his master's investment. His master commended him: 'Good work! You did your job well. From now on be my partner.'

"The servant given one thousand said, 'Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.'

"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. Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this "play-it-safe" who won't go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.'

McManus then goes on to say in the book:
There's so much talk about potential in our culture, as if it's the end-all of success. Has anyone ever said about you, "He has so much potential"? If you're under twenty - let's give you twenty-five - consider it a compliment. Potential your untapped or unlocked capacity. Potential- the hint of greatness not yet developed. "He has so much potential" - a statement of praise and maybe even adoration. And then you're thirty and still have all this potential. Pressing forty, and you're still full of potential. If you're forty five and someone looks at you and says, "You have so much potential," pause, excuse yourself, step into a closet, and have a good cry.
What once was a statement of praise is now an assessment of lost opportunity. There is a point where you're not supposed to be full of potential; you're supposed to be full of talent, capacity, product. Potential is a glimpse of what could be, yet there must be a shift from where we have potential to where we are potent
You're not supposed to die with your potential. A life well lived squeezes all the potential places within and does something with it. When potential is harnessed, we become potent. Potential, when it becomes potent, always produces results. We are born with potential, but we are called to live productive lives. The fool squanders his potential. He is not faithful with what has been given him. (p187)

So I guess that my prayer for you today is that you will see your potential fulfilled and I leave you with the question: "What are you going to do with the potential that is with in you, and when will you become potent?"