Jesus only ever called one person useless.
In the parable of the talents, Jesus calls the third servant useless. The first two servants were given 5 and 2 talents respectively, and they both used their talents to make more money. The third servant was given 1 talent, and he buried it in the ground.
It’s incredibly easy to be useless. When you choose to do nothing, you make the problem worse. It’s easy to bury your head in the sand and ignore people’s problems. Having worked at a foreign-owned bank in the past, I can say with authority that it is very easy to be a useless person. Some of the managers and product owners I’ve had the misfortune to meet can even be classified as professional useless people.
Being professionally useless is a challenge and takes real talent. It’s not just about being able to do nothing, it’s about being able to do nothing well. It’s about being able to do the exact opposite of what is needed at the exact right time. But being useless is easy. Some days it is hard to get out of of bed.
But that is not what we are called to do. As Christians, Christ gave us a very specific command, to be salt and light. We are not called to just be passive in this world, if we were, He wouldn’t have given us the command, much less this opportunity at life.
Our obligation, not just opportunity, is to do everything we can to fight for what is good and true and beautiful.
Being passive is easy. Buring the talent in the ground is easy. But that is not what we are called to do.
Just something to think about.