STEWARDSHIP
When
Joseph was sold by his unscrupulous brothers to a band of
Ishamaelites traveling to Egypt, he ended up being sold on the
auction block as a slave in that foreign land. In God's providence,
he was bought by a wealthy government official by the name of
Potiphar. "And his master saw that the Lord was with him and
that the Lord made all he did to prosper in his hand. So Joseph
found favor in his sight, and served him. Then he made him overseer
of his house, and all that he had he put under his authority. So it
was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all
that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's
sake; and the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had in the
house and in the field. Thus he left all that he had in Joseph's
hand, and he did not know what he had except for the bread which he
ate..." (Gen. 39:3-6)
Joseph
was faithful in the carrying out of his duties, and as a result he
glorified God, and God blessed both Joseph and Potiphar. By the very
definition of Joseph's responsibilities, he was a steward. In the
Greek, oikonomos
is translated "steward" and is a compound word; oikos,
meaning "a house" and nemo,
meaning "to arrange." Hence, "the manager of a
household or estate." (Vines) In the English, or Anglo-Saxon,
"steward" or stiweard,
has the same meaning;
sti,
meaning "an enclosure or hall" and weard,
meaning "a ward or keeper." Hence, "a person put in
charge of the affairs of a large household or estate, whose duties
include supervision of the kitchen and the servants, management of
household accounts, etc." (Webster)
Jesus
used the illustration of stewardship in His famous parable of the
talents. "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to
a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods
to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to
another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he
went on a journey....After a long time the lord of those servants
came and settled accounts with them." (Mt. 25:14-15, 19) In
this parable, Jesus taught the importance of being responsible for
that which the Lord has put in our charge and, that there is a
corresponding accountability to Him in view of the fact that what we
are responsible for
belongs
to Him.
Until
we come to realize that everything that we have belongs to God, we
will fail to understand the magnitude of our responsibility as His
stewards. As He said, "For every beast of the forest is Mine,
and the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the
mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are Mine. If I were
hungry, I would not tell you; for the world is Mine, and all its
fulness." (Psm. 50:10-12)
God
taught His people under the law of Moses this lesson of stewardship
when He gave them the law of tithing. They were to first learn that
God was to receive ten percent off
the top,
thus declaring Him to be worthy of preeminence. Also, they were to
learn that even what they tithed was never really their own, but
belonged to God all along.
Malachi
made these lessons clear when he asked, "Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, 'In what way have we robbed
You?' In tithes and offerings." (Mal. 3:8) It would not be
robbery unless it already belonged to Him. After all, everything
they had from which to make an offering to the Lord, had been given
to them by Him. And while we are not under the law of Moses and
subject to the law of tithing, we are
under the new covenant which is built on better promises and we are
each taught to "...give as he purposes in his heart, not
grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver." (2
Cor. 9:7)
There
are as many areas of stewardship as there are kinds of blessings. We
are stewards of our bodies, the world we live in, the money we earn,
the abilities He has blessed us with, the opportunities He puts in
our way, as well as the spiritual blessings that we enjoy in Christ
which we are to share with others, not to mention a knowledge of
God's word and its soul-saving message.
As
we consider the greatness of God's blessings, we should soberly
consider how seriously we accept responsibility for them.
Stewardship is not to be taken lightly as many do. Jesus contrasted
between those who are stewards and him who is the owner. He said, "I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the
sheep. But a hireling,
he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the
wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the
sheep and scatters them. The hireling
flees because he is
a hireling and does not care
about the sheep." (Jn. 10:11-13)
Can
it be said of any of us that we are "hirelings"
when it comes to how serious we are about our stewardship and our
responsibility to the Lord? Do we take it personally
when we hear people use God's name in vain, or when we hear people
make light of that which we hold sacred? Do we take it seriously and
accept it as a personal challenge when we see a need within the
church that depends on that which "every joint supplies,
according to the effective working by which every part does its
share?" (Eph. 4:16) Does our heart break when we see brethren
drifting away, or when the cause of Christ is taken lightly by
others? Do we have a passion for lost souls?
Peter
admonishes us to be faithful to the stewardship that has been given
to us. "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one
another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone
speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers,
let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all
things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the
glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen." (1 Pet.
4:10-11)
It
is a matter of honor that we have been called to service under Christ
in His kingdom, and that He has blessed us each with abilities to do
so. "Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is
given to us, let us use them:" This applies to "he who
teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives,
with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy,
with cheerfulness." (Rom. 12:6-8)
When
Jesus told the parable of the talents to His disciples on the Mount
of Olives (Mt. 24:3; 25:14-30), He was teaching what has come to be
known as the greatest lesson on stewardship that has ever been taught
in word. As He taught the importance of faithfulness in stewardship,
He also pointed out that there is a corresponding accountability that
accompanies such responsibility.
Those
early Christians in Jerusalem learned a valuable object lesson on
stewardship while many of them were selling lands and houses in order
to supply the needs of many others of their newly acquired brethren
(Acts 5:32-37). When Ananias and Sapphira his wife sold some of
their land, and lied about how much of the proceeds they were giving,
God put them to death. In their effort to appear to their brethren
that they were more generous in their giving than they really
were, they had actually lied to the Holy Spirit. This was an example
of poor stewardship, and as a result "...great fear came upon
all the church and upon all who heard these things." (vs. 11)
If God struck people dead today for the deceptiveness of their giving
as they held back more than they let on, there would surely be many
church buildings with much smaller numbers.
The
untimely demise of this couple was the result of a failure on their
part to understand the gravity of stewardship when it comes to money
and giving. After Peter questioned Ananias why they had lied about
the money from the sale of their land, he said, "While it
remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in
your own control? " (vs. 4) This shows us that Ananias and
Sapphira were responsible for the land and also for the money that
they obtained from its sale. The land had "belonged" to
them and the money from its sale was theirs to do with as they chose
because it was "in their control." In short, they were
stewards of what was in their possession and therefore accountable
for their giving to the Lord accordingly.
While
in Tennessee, I had several occasions to talk with members of the
church who held to the idea that "whatever the individual
could do in matters of money, the church
could
do also." Of course their thinking was in error, but it was
consistent with the practice of many of the churches in that area who
financially supported human institutions from the church treasuries.
But if we consider what Peter said to Ananias, we can surely
understand that after the land had been sold, it was in his
control.
Once he had given the money into the treasury, it was no longer his
and no longer in his control. There is
a difference in the money in our pocket and the money in the church
treasury.
This
is understood no more clearly than in the teachings of Paul in regard
to widows and the responsibility that children and grandchildren have
to support their needs. In 1 Tim. 5:1-16, Paul dealt with this
issue, rebuking those family members who failed to act responsibly in
caring for their own widows; "But if anyone does not provide for
his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the
faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (vs. 8) But then notice
how Paul concluded this subject; "If any believing man or woman
has widows, let them relieve them, and do not let the church be
burdened, that it may relieve those who are really widows." (vs.
16) Carefully notice that the church is not to be responsible for
those widows who have believing family members that are to be
responsible for their care. This shows that there is
a difference in what the church
is
authorized to do and that which individuals
are responsible to do.
Because many churches have failed to understand this, we find it
common for them to build and maintain orphan homes, homes for the
elderly, homes for unwed mothers, hospitals, colleges, private
schools, etc.. This is a failure on the part of churches to use the
money in their treasuries within the boundaries of scriptural
authority. Paul said that "...the church is subject to Christ"
(Eph. 5:24) Therefore, the church is answerable to Him as her head.
This is so because, when Christ died on the cross, the Father
"...raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in
the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might
and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but
also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet,
and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His
body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." (Eph. 1:20-23)
In short, the church is to exercise faithful stewardship under the
authority of Christ.
All
who are in the body of Christ are instructed that "...whatever
you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving
thanks to God the Father through Him." (Col. 3:17) We are not
at liberty to legislate in matters of faith where the Lord has
instructed us according to His word. Nor is the church free to
become involved in that which is outside the scope of her
responsibility that He has given her.
Churches
are accountable before the Lord in their faithfulness to His will. A
look at the letters to the seven churches of Asia that are recorded
in Revelation 2 and 3 gives testimony to this. John saw in his
heavenly vision, "...seven golden lampstands, and in the midst
of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man..." and "He
had in His right hand seven stars." (Rev. 1:12-13, 16) Jesus
revealed to John the meaning of what he saw by explaining that "The
seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven
lampstands which you saw are the seven churches." (vs. 20)
What John saw was the power, the authority and the glory of Christ as
He stands in the midst of His people as represented by the seven
churches. In the letters to those seven churches, we find them
instructed to "repent" or to "hold fast" or to
"be faithful." His warnings to them were sharp and with
authority as characterized by that which He warned the church at
Ephesus; "Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent
and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove
your lampstand from its place - unless you repent." (Rev. 2:5)
If churches are removed from His presence, it will be because they
have failed to honor His will in their grave responsibility of
stewardship.
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Gary V. Womack - September 2004