Biblical Stewardship: Beware of Imitations
After last Sunday’s sermon on the people’s generous response to Moses’ appeal for materials for the Tabernacle (Exodus 35), two people came up to me after the service. One woman is new to PPC and wondered how to give online. I showed her the app, and she sat down on the couch to download it right away.
Another encounter was with an old friend who trotted out the familiar idea of stewardship of our “time, talent, and treasure.” But he added another “T,” the stewardship of the temple of our body. He made a shrewd observation: When we don’t steward our temple well, we end up spending a lot of time, talent, and treasure.
Good point. I was on the treadmill this morning.
My friend is right: most people think of stewardship in strictly financial terms, as if stewardship is just a money-management technique. For many people, stewardship looks like this: carefully managing my money so that I can give God His 10% share so that I still have enough to meet all my present and future wants and needs.
There are all kinds of problems with that way of looking at stewardship, not the least that it is so self-absorbed (count the first-person pronouns).
A better definition of biblical stewardship:
CREATIVELY INVESTING THE RESOURCES GOD HAS ENTRUSTED TO ME WITH KINGDOM PRIORITIES IN VIEW
This way of thinking about stewardship is sounder and more holistic.
Let me explain.
Why “creatively investing”?
Remember Jesus’ parable of the three stewards, three men who were entrusted with vast sums of money to manage while the boss was away, each according to his ability (Matt 25). Two of them were rewarded for their creativity: they found ways to grow the funds entrusted to them.
The third was condemned not because he was dishonest (he was, in fact, conscientious) but because he was “wicked and lazy.” His offense? Returning precisely what was entrusted to him, not a penny more, not a penny less. The man had no imagination, and he was roundly condemned for it.
Stewardship isn’t just a maintenance equation: the steward looks for ways to give the Owner a good return on His investment. And the greater the investment, the greater the expectation of return.
I remember when I had an epiphany about this parable. The focus of the story is the failure of the unimaginative manager. But as I thought about the story one day, I realized who I was in the parable: I’m the guy who has been given a great deal. I was raised in a stable Christian home, I got a good education, I have been given healthy in mind and body all my life. I am nothing if not well-positioned and well-resourced.
Some people spend their whole lives fighting their way uphill through the thorns during a thunderstorm. It is all they can do to keep moving and not give up. Others (like me), who have a much easier time of it, are rightly expected to carry a much heavier load. I am the man in the story who has been entrusted with much, so God has the right to expect a good return on His investment.
What “resources”?
A narrow focus on finances is a distorted view of stewardship. Yes, I will give an account for how I’ve used my financial resources (which, by global standards, are enormous). But I will also give an account for how I use so many other resources:
· my time (Psa 90:12)
· my gifting (1 Pet 4:10-11)
· my interactions with those outside the faith (Col 4:5-6)
· the Gospel itself (1 Cor 4:1-3)
· my social advantages (education, socioeconomic status)
· the body God has given me (1 Cor 6:19-20)
None of these valuable resources are mine to use only as I please. God has entrusted all this to me to manage on His behalf.
What are the “Kingdom priorities” I want to keep in view?
If I read my Bible, it’s not difficult to discern the things that matter to God:
1. It is important that people come to faith and learn how to follow Him. Jesus said that making disciples is Job One for His Church.
2. It is also important to the God of the Bible that justice be done and that mercy be shown to the suffering.
These priorities – disciple-making, justice for the oppressed, mercy for the suffering – all matter tremendously to God, and the way I employ the resources at my disposal should reflect His priorities.
But in the end, this isn’t just about accountability and avoiding disapproval.
Stewardship is about recognizing that nothing in this life is worth as much as two words in the next life. Stewardship is about arranging my priorities so that I will someday hear from the lips of my Master, “Well done.”
Persevere, Paul Pyle Pastor of Discipleship