The story of the talents is often misunderstood. In our modern times we refer to talents as abilities in music, arts, sports, etc. But the ancient use of the word talent was a unit of measure, specifically for weight. Thus, when that master gave “talents” to his servants, he was giving gold, silver, or other costly metals. Those metals were the currency of that time.

So the master entrusted his servants with his wealth and expected them to use it in various businesses to gain more wealth. From the story we see that the servants who received five and two talents doubled the master’s wealth. We can assume that this was the master’s expectation, that his wealth should be doubled by their efforts.

The man with only one talent obviously had less than others, but his mind was trapped with a misunderstanding regarding his master. He felt his master was a thief because of the great wealth that he amassed. This servant could not imagine earning that much money with less effort. He obviously misunderstood wealth because he could not look beyond his own circumstances. It is possible that his master had attempted to educate and train him in business to become successful like his coworkers. But he just could not overcome his obstacles. 

But this man had the option of building with the little given to him, thus earning a greater responsibility or “talents” of wealth.
But he couldn’t get past his obstacles. The obstacle of having less than others possibly caused him to think that the master did not trust him. As his master may have tried to teach and train him, he would have understood that this servant just could not grasp the concept of business and wealth building. This may be the reason for the master giving less to him compared to his colleagues. This might have been an act of mercy just to give him the benefit of the doubt.

The second obstacle was that he misunderstood wealth. He saw his master’s task as improper and dishonest. If he did not have these obstacles limiting his mindset, he would have been able to take the one talent and make it two. Thus prompting the master to entrust him with more.

I remember speaking with a young man about wealth building concepts. His first response was “one man’s gain is another man’s loss.” This mindset trapped him, and blocked him from future possibilities of wealth building. The servant with one talent had his own mental limitations.

The master may have given him more opportunities, but who knows? The man’s rash response and comments regarding the master possibly caused him to call the man “worthless servant” and cast him out of his presence.

The less talented and those who have less also have an opportunity. They surely need to get over the mental obstacles.
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