Articles
Classifications
The Paralympics have started, showcasing the amazing abilities of athletes with various disabilities from around the world. However, not all disabilities are alike and as a result, there was a need to create different classifications. After all, a one-limb amputee swimmer would have an advantage over a three-limb amputee swimmer. So one might be ranked S1 (highly impacted by their disability) and the other S10 (highly functional). Then they can compete in their own categories.
Someone has to quantify exactly how disabled a person is. I’ve wondered how the athletes feel about being judged and ranked in this way. Does it give them comfort and satisfaction knowing that the competition will be as fair as possible or are they bothered by being told exactly how disabled they are and how much worse off or better off they are than someone else. I know the classifications aren’t supposed to be viewed as comparing quality of life or ability, but it would be easy to feel like that was their purpose.
It occurs to me that something similar to classifications happens in Jesus’ parables. There is the parable of the talents (Mt. 25:14-30), where three servants are given differing amounts of money to be responsible for, “each according to his own ability” (Mt. 25:15). The one who received the most was expected to produce more than the ones who received less. The second servant didn’t have as much expectation but he still was productive. Sure, he made less than half as much as the first servant, but he still made something. Isn’t it comforting to know that we don’t need to compare ourselves to others? We each have our own abilities and opportunities and we are only expected to accomplish what we can rather than to match what everyone else has done.
In the same way, there is some apparent classification in the parable of the sower and the seed (Mt. 13:18-23). While there are four soils and only one of them is good, there seems to be different types of good soil. “And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty” (Mt. 13:23). That is three different results, but all acceptable results. Some will produce less than others and still be praised as being good soil.
Jesus doesn’t explain what the spiritual difference is between our abilities. Why does one person receive five talents and another receive only two? We can only speculate. But my experiences have led me to a few observations.
People have differing levels of reading comprehension. Some can read God’s word and immediately understand what it means and see the building argument and even the nuance to the sentence structure. Others, with effort, can simply pronounce the words. Most people fall somewhere in between. They can all be productive but we would have different expectations in regard to knowledge.
People have differing levels of communication abilities. Some can strike up a conversation with absolutely anyone anywhere and they can make powerfully persuasive arguments. Others struggle to maintain even surface level conversations and while they know what they believe, they aren’t adept at communicating why. They can all be productive, but we would naturally have different expectations regarding evangelism.
People also have differing opportunities. Some live in a place where people are eager to hear about the Gospel. Others are surrounded by hostility and still others aren’t surrounded at all, but life has led them to relative isolation. In these cases, it isn’t so much the person’s abilities that are different but their circumstances.
There are probably many other areas where we differ from one another. The point is, don’t beat yourself up about the things you cannot control. Don’t compare yourself to others either. God does not expect you to be as amazing as Peter, Paul, or Apollos. Just do the absolute best you can with what you have. That’s good enough to hear the Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Mt. 25:23).
