1 Corinthians 3:23-4:4
Stewardship – It’s All About Ownership
Introduction
The book of Genesis tells us that in the garden before the fall, God gave Adam the responsibility of tending the earth. He was to fill it, subdue it and have dominion over it. Adam was going to be responsible to care for the earth, the birds, the fish and every other animal that lived on it. He was a steward of what belonged to God. You see, none of those things belonged to Adam. We can easily see the truth of that when it occurred so close to the Creation. God created, put man on His creation and told Him to tend to it, to manage it. It was God’s! But man was given the responsibility to manage it for the honor and glory of God – and what a great responsibility and privilege it was!
"Thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Rev. 4:11
Why did God make Adam a manager or a steward of His wonderful creation? He desired for Adam to bring Him glory and honor and power, to please Him through faithfulness in fulfilling his job. The degree to which Adam would be a good steward of Creation was the degree to which God would receive pleasure.
God is sovereign over all of His creation, yet in His own infinite wisdom He has allowed you and me the awesome privilege and responsibility of being stewards over what He places in our care. "To whom much is given much is required." When we think on this subject of stewardship, I suspect that money often comes to mind, but I hope today to impress upon your minds this great truth – that stewardship is not just about money – it is instead a way of life, and it is good, because just as in the case of Adam, the degree to which we fulfill our responsibilities as stewards today is the degree to which God receives glory and honor and power from our lives. The better stewards we are with that which has been entrusted to us, the more pleasure God receives from our lives, and isn’t that what its all supposed to be about anyway?
That’s why the apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6:20,
"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s."
Every child of God has been bought with a price, the precious blood of Christ. As a matter of fact, every soul on earth, lost or saved, has been bought with that same price, but many reject the payment. You see, God demanded payment for sin, for all the sins of the whole world, but also for your sins, and without that payment every one of us would be condemned to hell. But God who is rich in mercy sent His only begotten Son to die on the cruel cross of Calvary to shed His blood and die so that our sin debt might be paid. It is when we come to God in repentance and faith and admit to Him that we recognize our complete inability to make that payment ourselves and that we want to receive Christ’s payment that we can be saved. If you’ve never come to the place in your life where you’ve recognized your need for Christ, you can do that right now.
"You are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body." Every child of God has been bought with the same price. Jesus Christ bought us with His redeeming blood, and now we who once belonged to the god of this world belong to Him, so Paul says, "therefore, since you belong to Jesus, glorify Him in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."
In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul began to deal with a problem they were having in the Corinthian church. Clicks had begun to form as some would say, "I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos…" Paul said that they weren’t of either. They were saved as the result of God’s working through those men. He went on to say that God was doing a work in them and had given them a life that was to produce fruit, like a farmer would work a plot of ground and expect to yield a crop. Now I want you to glance at some verses with me because they lay the foundation for what we’re about to read. Notice that in verses 11-15 God speaks about a day when all believers are going to be judged, that is, their works are going to be put to the fire and God is going to see whether what we did with the lives He has given us produced anything worthwhile. Then He begins in verse 16 the idea that we are temples of God that the Holy Spirit lives in. You see what His point is? We’re stewards! Managers!
Let’s begin reading in 1 Corinthians 3:23.
"And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s. Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man’s judgment: yea, I judge not mine own self. For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord."
We belong to Christ! You are His! "Your life is not your own, you’ve been bought with a price!" Do you realize how liberating that is? Do you realize the great burden that is lifted off of you in that statement? You belong to Jesus and everything that you own and spend your days worrying about belongs to Him! Jesus said in Matthew 6 that we ought not worry about what we’ll eat or drink or how we’ll have our needs met. He taught us to keep our minds on eternity instead of all the temporal things here because they belong to Him and we belong to Him and since that is true we can quit our worrying and let Him take care of His property!
Many of you like me have lived in rental property. It is property that we use but belongs to someone else. When you live in rental property you are a steward, or a manager of someone else’s property. They allow you to live in it and expect you to take care of it. On the other hand, many of you own homes as I have in the past. There is a great difference in living in rental property and living in something that belongs to me. When I owned my home, during the winter I worried about pipes freezing and the central heat going out. In the summer I worried that the central air might quit. I was worried about sagging floors and wood rot and cracks in the walls and all sorts of other stuff. I worried about all kinds of things because they were my responsibility and they were mine to pay for. On the other hand, living in property that belongs to someone else is different. If the pipes froze because of bad insulation – so what? I didn’t have to pay for them. If the air or heat went out – so what? I didn’t have to replace it. I know the advantage of buying, that’s not the point of what I’m saying.
There is great freedom in living in something that doesn’t belong to you because there are a multitude of things you don’t have to worry yourselves with – but with that freedom comes responsibility. You see, although I am free from having to worry about the upkeep, I know that at any moment the owner can come along and hold me accountable for how I am caring for his property. The same is true in the spiritual realm. As children of God, we have great freedoms. We have been liberated from the devil and sin and worry and anxiety, but we are responsible to properly manage that which God gives us, and one day there will come a reckoning – a day when we too will stand and give and account as stewards, as managers of God.
Before I was saved I had reason to worry about my future, but now I have been set free from that sort of worry and anxiety because I know that my life is in the hands of the only one who knows my future! My life doesn’t belong to me, nor does anything else in my possession, so I’m not going to spend my days worrying about things beyond my control and beyond my ability to change. Certainly I will take care of those things, but they belong to God, so when something breaks in my life, I am able turn to the landlord!
Some of you today are occupying the Landlord’s property. He has died and set you free, but you’re trying to fix up the place yourself – today I want you to know you can be set free from all of that! How can you be set free? By transferring ownership! That’s what stewardship is all about – it is your acknowledging that you are not the owner – God is! That doesn’t just apply to money, it applies to several areas of our lives. What are some of them?
Our Bodies
I know this is a principle that most of you already know, but we forget it. Your body belongs to God. We’ve already seen that because we’ve been bought with a price we are to glorify God in our bodies. Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit! He lives in each of us! What does this really mean for us? Before I say what I’m about to say, I don’t want you listening and thinking about how they apply to me or anyone else. I want you to listen with your ears and eyes on yourself and you let every one else reckon with the Lord themselves.
· It means that if you’re smoking you ought to quit.
· It means that if you’re using alcohol you ought to quit.
· It means that if you’re diabetic you ought to stick to your diet.
· It means that when we say we can abuse our bodies by putting all sorts of holes in them and pictures on them we’re wrong.
· It means that we ought to go to bed on time and get some rest.
· It means that when we’re sick we ought to go to the doctor.
· It means that we ought to quit being gluttons and control our weight.
· It means that we ought to exercise and make these bodies last.
· It means that if you’re dishonoring God in a sexual relationship that is wrong you ought to quit.
· It means that if you’re a work-a-holic you need to slow down.
Do you realize that it is this point that makes something like suicide wrong? That body isn’t yours, it belongs to God. Listen, all of us abuse our bodies in ways that are wrong, and according to the clear Word of God we’ll give an account for it one day. If we’re doing any of those things or are doing something else that is abusive to the body God has entrusted to us, then we ought to repent of it right now and commit our bodies to the honor and glory of God and treat them in such a way that He will be pleased with what we are doing.
When you exercise, it can be an act of worship. When you push yourself away from the table, it can be an act of worship. When you go to bed at night, it can be an act of worship, because in all these things you can begin with this prayer, "Lord, thank you for the body you have given to me. Because I am thankful and because I want you to be glorified in my body, I will take care of it by resting or walking or whatever."
Our Time
I think perhaps when it comes to things that we recognize as belonging to God, time is one of the least remembered. To each of us God gives 60 seconds per minute. To each of us God gives 24-hour days, 168-hour weeks, 52 weeks per year, and so forth. "It is appointed unto man once to die…" We know that each of us has an appointment with death that is not ours to control, but God’s. We didn’t choose when we would enter this life, nor will we choose when we can leave it, but we can all choose how we will spend the days between those two points.
Do you manage God’s time well or do you abuse it? Do you use the time God gives you wisely or do you find yourself wasting the day away? We all ought to get up with an agenda. "This is the day that the Lord hath made…" How can I spend it for His honor and glory? What are the time wasters in your life? TV? Internet? Sleep? Telephone? Recreation? Overwork?
How much time are you giving to God each day? When He calls you into account, will you be able to say, "Lord, I have used your time well," or will you be ashamed at how the hours and days and years slipped by – hours and days and years that you kept promising to use for the Lord but never got around to it?
Our Possessions
Everything you possess, your home, your cars, your clothes, the things that make up your "stuff" are to be used for the honor and glory of God. He has entrusted them to you and asks that you manage them well. Use them in His service.
People have asked me over the years about things like my lawnmowers and weedeaters and my automobiles. I have literally worn them out in service for God. Does it bother me? Yes and no. As a child of God, a believer in Christ in the same position as you it doesn’t bother me to allow what God has given me to be used in His service. However, it does bother me that some members think that as a pastor I am expected to use my stuff for the Lord, because as a servant of God and as a so-called "employee" of this church, people can take advantage of me when they shouldn’t. Would you put 6,000 or 7,000 miles on your car for the company you work for and thank them for the opportunity to serve them? Would you do that for the company you work for and say, "Oh well, it’s all in a day’s work!"
It’s not just a pastor that this happens to. If there is a plumber in the church, we can be guilty of wanting to take advantage of his talent. If there is an electrician or attorney or anything else, we must be careful not to use their willingness to be good stewards for our personal gain.
A willingness to allow our belongings to be used for the Lord means that we are willing to be taken advantage of and not begrudge it. "God loves a cheerful giver." However, just because someone is willing doesn’t give any of us the right to take advantage of one another. It doesn’t bother me because I know that God blesses me with these things and I have an opportunity to use them in His service. If the grass needs mowed, I don’t mind my mower being used for that. If a church member needs to go to somewhere, I don’t mind putting miles on my car to get him there. In fact, I am glad to be able to do it. It too is an act of worship. So, no, my possessions belong to God and I don’t worry too much about all of that because remember, they belong to Him – I’ll let Him provide for me so I can use them to serve Him. Not only does being a good steward require a willingness on our part to allow what we own to be put into service for the Lord, it also requires good sense to take care of what God gives us so that it can be used for as long as possible.
How can you be a good steward of your possessions? First be willing to allow God to use what you have. Second take care of what you have. Change your oil. Change your filters. Keep your home clean. Don’t abuse your clothes. Oil your tools. The list goes on and on and on.
Our Families
The psalmist tells us that our families are precious gifts from God. Psalm 127:3 says that children are a gift from the Lord. Men, Proverbs 18:22 says, "whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing…" The Bible teaches plainly that a woman’s greatest ministry is her home. I know its not popular today to say this, but God in His wisdom has determined that a woman can and will find great satisfaction and joy in training up her children and providing a good home for her family. That doesn’t mean she can’t work outside the home. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a life away from home and husband, but that a woman’s primary responsibility is to see to the needs of her family. Ladies, you’ll give an account one day for the kind of wife and mother you have been. God has given them to you to manage.
Men, you’ll give an account one day for the way you’ve led your families. Your wife is a gift from God. Your children are gifts from God, and rather than complain about them and what they don’t do or what they aren’t, be thankful God has given them to you and lead them.
Our Money
Just as all the other things we’ve mentioned are to be used for God’s honor and glory and pleasure, so should our money be too. We’ve looked during the last couple of weeks at how our money is given to us by God. He provides the jobs, He provides the incomes, and no matter how much we make it all belongs to Him.
How should we use our money for God’s honor and glory? How can we be good managers over it and bring Him pleasure? Let me share with you some of our financial responsibilities as managers:
· Put God first in finance.
When I say put God first, I mean that when you get a check, you ought to prayerfully recognize God’s ownership of that money. There ought to be a prayer in the heart of the child of God that says, "God, thank you for this income. You have given this to me to manage and use for your honor and glory. Help me to use it in a way that will please you. Help me to use it like you would if you were in my shoes."
· Learn to live off the 90%.
· Learn to live within our means.
· Save all you can.
· Make wise investments.
· Take advantage of God-sent opportunities.
Conclusion
In the book of Luke, there are a couple of accounts that Jesus related about masters who left their servants in charge of their things while they went away. In both accounts, the masters returned and made the servants give accounts of how they managed the master’s things. In both accounts, the servants were ashamed because they had not been faithful in what they were left to do. In Matthew, there is still another account of a master who gave three stewards some talents. When the master returned, two were praised and rewarded for their diligent service, and the third was rebuked and punished because he failed to make use of what he had been given.
Listen, and I want you to get this – Jesus Christ is the Master. He owns us because He bought and paid for us on the Cross, and He has left us with a work to do. He has left us as stewards of His bodies, His time, His possessions, His families and His finances. He has given us grave responsibility to be good stewards of all these things we’ve discussed and much, much more, but we have a couple of problems that need to be addressed so that we too aren’t ashamed when Christ returns and calls on us to give an account how we’ve used our lives.
The Out of Sight Out of Mind Problem
All of us wrestle with this. When the Master’s away the people play! But He’s not really away – He’s right here in our presence. You see, we have this idea that Jesus is gone somewhere preparing a place for us, and while He’s off out there doing His job we can sluff off on ours.
Charles Spurgeon, during a Sunday morning offering, walked up and down the middle aisle, watching everyone putting money into the offering plates. Someone asked, "Why did you do that?" He answered very simply, "God watches you every week." Sometimes we think if we are out of God’s sight, we are ought of His mind. But God sees everything we do. (God Is Able, by Elmer Towns & John Maxwell)
Well sometimes we’re guilty of putting Him out of our minds too. We go places, we do things, we watch things, we hear things, and we say things that we wouldn’t if Jesus were in our presence. Sometimes we refuse to do and go and say because He’s not here too. Would any of us smoke in Jesus’ presence? Would us engage in immoral sex in Jesus presence? Would we withhold our tithes in Jesus’ presence? Would you verbally abuse your wife in Jesus’ presence? Would you sit on your backside and let her wear herself out at home if Jesus were watching? Would we keep our homes the way we sometimes do and the yards a mess if Jesus lived there with us?
It’s a problem we ought to address as good stewards of God. He’s going to call us into account one day, and in that day it will be too late to change, but today you can. Why? It’s all about remembering why – God has given to you all you enjoy so that you might use it to bring Him glory and honor and power – so that as we are good stewards He might receive pleasure from our lives. I want Jesus to be happy with how I spend this life, and I suspect you want the same.
The Procrastination Problem
Not only do we struggle with the out of sight out of mind problem, but we tend to put off decisions we need to make until it is too late. I won’t belabor this point, but I do want to remind you of what Jesus said in Luke 12:43,
"Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming [and become a poor steward]; the lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will [punish him]."
Listen, which do you want for your life? Do you want the blessings of God when He returns or do you want to be chastised when He comes again? The choice is yours. Will you be a good steward of what God has given you? Have you been a slacker in some area of your life? Have you been struggling with the self-discipline to bring something under your control? Have you been faithful to God in all these areas? Will you act on what the Holy Spirit has been speaking to you about right now or will you put it off and forget about it? The choice is yours today.
You’ve been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit…for the Lord is worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because He has created all things for His pleasure, and not only did He create you, He also shed His blood to purchase you.
