Looking at Stewardship
Pastor Eric J. Hanson
October 1, 2006
What is Stewardship Which Honors God?
Let’s define some terms and frame an understanding now.
Steward: one who manages property belonging to another
Stewardship: the office (that is to say “function”) of performing management
“Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.” -I Corinthians 4:1-2
The overriding requirement and qualification for correct stewardship is trustworthiness.
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the Earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the Earth.” And God created man in His own image. In the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. –Genesis 1:26-27
Read the parable of the Talents using dollars. (Matthew 25:14-30)
Note: Each talent of silver is worth about $10,000 dollars today.
Romans 14:10b –13: We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, “As I live says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then, each one shall give account of himself to God.
The whole concept of Stewardship goes all the way back to the plan God laid out for mankind in Genesis Chapter one. We human beings are called, under God, to govern this planet. Because of sin, we have usually done so very poorly across the millennia, relying mostly on our own motives and opinions to guide us, as nations, as families, and as individuals.
This limited message can not deal with the largest issues of caring for the entire planet and everyone and everything on it. Instead it will focus in on how proper stewardship which honors God, relates to the local church congregation, and to the families and homes which make up any congregation.
Major Elements of Christian Stewardship
The Bible has a lot to say about the responsibilities of Godly people in regard to the three areas that we have stewardship choices in. To make these easy to remember, I’m borrowing a series of terms that others have used, which sums the matter up nicely. Here are the three:
TIME
TALENT (abilities)
& TREASURE
These are what God puts into our hands. He calls us to make wise choices about how we invest each of these. The overriding question for each Christian, when thinking about the future account that he or she will give before God, is this: How shall I best use the time God has given to me? How shall I best develop and use the talents that God has built into me? How shall I wisely and properly spend, invest, and give of the financial treasure that passes through my hands in this lifetime?
Every man, woman, and child needs to consider these huge, life directing questions. Each of us needs to bear in mind the fact that our time, our talent, and our treasure, are sacred trusts from God.
Every believer is called to consider these matters in light of eternity. We will give an account of our life to God. As one of our opening scriptures states, “We shall all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ.”
Every member of the family of God; that is to say, every person who has been born into the Kingdom of God through saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, should weigh this great and overriding matter whenever they make personal plans and choices.
The materials we use to build our life story will be tested on a future day at the Judgment seat of Christ. These building materials will undergo some fiery testing. Listen to this Bible passage now and put yourself into the scene it creates. (Read I Corinthians 3:11-15) Ask yourself this question: How will your choices concerning the use of your time, the development and use of your abilities, and your financial prioritizing, stack up on that day?
Remember this: There is a reason that these choices are so important to God. That reason goes all the way back to Genesis Chapter one and God’s overall plan and purposes for the human race to rule over this planet as wise stewards who honor God and who carry out his will in the Earth.
Looking Briefly at Each Major Element of Stewardship
“You have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
-I Corinthians 6:20
“You were bought with a price; do not become the slaves of men.”
-I Corinthians 7:23
As we consider today, the importance of our stewardship choices; we would do well to bear in mind the Bible passages we have just read. We are never independent of God. Each of is, in fact, a part of the Body of Christ here on Earth. We are all vitally connected to Jesus himself, who is the head of His body. We are also all vitally connected to each other as fellow parts; fellow living cells in the Body of Christ. Therefore, every choice we make impacts the work of the Lord, and impacts the lives of our fellow believers. Even our passive choices to let things slide rather than to actively pursue excellence in our choices and in our church life involvement, impacts the Lord’s Church and his work in the Earth.
Time
Each of us has the same 24 hours given to us by God each day. He plays no favorites here. The allotment is identical for every person. Time is, in God’s economy, actually a commodity to be invested in things which will increase the impact of the Kingdom of Heaven on others, and on the World, because we have lived. Time isn’t simply a neutral medium that we are to passively drift through like so many rafts on a river.
God calls each of us to understand the times of our lives and to divide our hours with His wisdom. We need to bear this in mind as we deal with work, with caring for and investing time in other people, with proper rest, recreation, and bodily exercise, with Church Body life, and even with personal development issues, ranging from schooling to professional development. God has a perfect balanced road map for the use of time for each of us.
When left to human wisdom alone in time matters. We tend to become imbalanced. Recreation squeezes out church life, or we become a workaholic, unable to just chill out and enjoy family. Perhaps we can’t be faithful about keeping commitments to show up on time and ready to do our best at work every day. Possibly we make promises to God to be part of our Home Fellowship or Youth Group faithfully, but then we simply don’t follow through, sitting and playing computer games or music videos instead of investing those hours in people and the Kingdom of God.
We all need God’s guidance and the Lordship of Jesus Christ to be powerfully active as we choose what to do with the 24 hours God grants us stewardship over every day.
Talent
In some ways this is strongly related to the time part we have just considered. I believe that many people get through their entire life, with much of their God given potential undeveloped and unused. I observe that the majority of people do not reach their potential in becoming all that God has called them and built them to be. The reasons for this are many. They range from TV and sports addictions, to misbeliefs about the nature of life, to a victim mentality, to internalizing negative messages, to plain old laziness, and wanting something for nothing.
The Bible is full of examples of people who persevered and became all that they were called to be in spite of terrible circumstances. Joseph the patriarch and Daniel the prophet are two strong examples of this. God’s word also shows us people who squandered their God given abilities and lost their potential greatness. King Saul and the judge Samson spring to mind. The unvarnished record of God’s book also show us people who were somewhere in the middle; often starting well, but getting sidetracked by stubbornness or other sin somewhere along the way, with tragic results. King David and King Solomon both come to my mind quickly. Finally, there are those who started off in self sufficiency, but who ended up walking closely with God, thus investing their God given abilities wisely in the end. The apostles Paul and Peter both come to mind.
How about you? Are you becoming everything the Lord has called you to be? Are you wisely developing your mind and your skill set in cooperation with God’s guidance for your life? Are you thinking with an eternal perspective concerning such matters?
Treasure
If we squander our time and our talents, our treasure is sure to be much less than God intended. If we do not follow God’s wise directives concerning the development of our abilities, the performing of excellent and valuable work, giving generously and wisely, wise planning of spending choices, and the avoiding of indebtedness, we will narrow our choices dramatically concerning the investment of financial and material treasure.
However, if we approach and do all of these things God’s way, we have many more options open before us. We also open the door for God’s miraculous provision to be seen in our lives.
Frankly, the culture here in America and in most of the World today is geared toward making us slaves to the interest curve in exchange for quick material lifestyle gratifications. Anything that’s beyond our current means, from tickets to the World Series to vacations in the South Seas, to the latest fashions can be charged now. College graduates today are tending to come out of school with lots of stuff from easily obtained credit cards. They are also coming out of school farther in debt than any previous generation ever.
Man’s plan for your money; how you get it, and how you use it, is vastly different from God’s plan. Man’s plan leads to that which I Corinthians 7:23 warned against: slavery to men. God’s plan leads to peace and the advancement of the Kingdom of Heaven here on the Lord’s Earth, where we are stewards.
Conclusion
Time, Talent, and Treasure: These are sacred trusts, put into your hands by God. Let’s make the most of the opportunity to learn, to grow, and to be adjusted in positive and life giving ways as we lay each of these before the Lord for his scrutiny and direction.
Now let’s pray.
