Stewardship Component 1 – Ownership

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Welcome back to our series exploring the 5 components of Biblical stewardship. The first stewardship component we will consider together is ‘Ownership.’ We must start here because without fully grasping ownership’s significance, we will struggle in anything we attempt to steward.

Ownership is at the centre of stewardship.

I have mentioned in other posts on this site that while we often do not use ‘stewardship’ as a label today, the activity still occurs frequently. In its simplest form it is caring for, or managing something that belongs to another. If we look carefully we see stewardship played out around us in many diverse situations and vocations.

An individual who cares for your family’s pets while you are on vacation stewards your precious canines or felines. The GM of a sports team has a stewardship of that team on behalf of the owners. The manager of a fast food location running that restaurant for the franchise owner is that owner’s steward.

For a person to be a steward, there must necessarily be an owner of property for them to care for and use. When we consider Biblical Stewardship, the definition we use at Legacy Ministries Canada is:

 

“Stewardship is the care, management, and use
of God’s property, gifts and resources
by His people, for His glory.”

 

God owns everything.

I want to highlight the central words of our definition: “…God’s property, gifts, and resources…”.

The Bible presents God as the true and rightful owner of everything. We must start here. Biblical stewardship begins and ends with the recognition that God is the owner of everything. Not only must we recognize this, but we must also develop our understanding of stewardship around it.

In the parables in Luke 19 and Matthew 25, the property owners are clear. In Matthew 25 it is the “man” introduced in v14 and Luke depicts “a nobleman” in v12 of his account. Their property? Money. Or minas as Luke records.

These men take their money, and deliberately and intentionally entrust it to their servants, with a specific instruction of what they expect them to do with it. They could only do this if they were the owners of that property. Their ownership of the property gave them the right to do with it what they wanted.

Just as in these parables present a clear and uncontested owner of property, the Bible presents God as the rightful owner of everything . I would like you to consider these verses from Psalm 24:

 

Psalm 24:1–2

1 The earth is the LORD’S, and all it contains,
The world, and those who live in it.

 2 For He has founded it upon the seas
And established it upon the rivers.”

 

David squarely hits the core of stewardship in these verses: everything belongs to God. It is not just the earth that is His, but everything inside of it. It goes beyond this though and reaches to all those who live in it as well.

On what basis does he own everything?

How is this possible? Why is it this way? It is because God created it all. The word “for” at the start of verse two is one of the key words in these two verses. It establishes that this is the reality we live with because of what God did in creation.

What David strikes at here is that God’s claim to ownership is not arbitrary. He is not claiming it over another, or seeking to take what rightfully belongs to someone else. No, he is the owner of all things because he directly created them or caused them to come into being.

As a Christian, that includes me!

Scripture goes further, consider these verses in 1 Corinthians 6:

 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

19 …do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

20 For you have been bought for a price: therefore glorify God in your body.

 

Understanding God owns everything you consider yours is one thing. To realize he also owns you and me, takes it to a whole other level. As a believer in Jesus, and as Christ-followers, we belong to God.

I am going to speak here in terms of a servant/master relationship because that is the way it is presented in scripture. The metaphor aids the point being made. We may not think about it frequently but every single person serves one or multiple masters. These may be masters of work, status, looks, money, ability, fame. But the scariest master of all is sin.

Sin holds us in its grip and does not want to let us go. However, when we trusted Jesus to save us from sin, our service to sin as a master ended. (Romans 6:20) As a Christ-follower we gained a new master, the Lord God! Paul presents it this way in Romans 6:22, “…having been freed from sin and [are] enslaved to God…”

We traded one master for another. God paid full price for us. When Christ Jesus died for our sin, he purchased our salvation from God. When we believed in Him, confessed our sins, and were forgiven, we became God’s.

How does this tie into stewardship?

If God has ownership of you, he has the ultimate right to determine what you do and don’t do with your life, body, time, talents, possessions. Your everything.

This is hard to grasp, let alone live out. Especially because we live in a world where we hear over and over that we have complete control over our lives. But this is not true for the believer in Jesus. With God having ownership over you, you can confidently surrender yourself to His will without fear and apprehension because of His proven character, and allow him to direct your life.

With this reality influencing all of Biblical stewardship, it is essential that we consider the relationship that exists between the property owner and steward.

 

Up Next:

Component 2 – Relationship

Explore Ownership more:

The Danger of “Mine”

“My responsibility in light of Ownership” **Coming soon**

Stewardship Components: Introduction

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Welcome to this brief series of articles examining stewardship components. Over the next five posts I examine five distinct components that form Biblical stewardship. Each post looks at what the component is, and what it means in the context of stewardship.

There are additional articles on the way that look at the Dangers and Responsibilities associated with each component.

Laying a foundation

To some, Biblical stewardship may be a nebula concept. Many are guided by assumptions about what it is, or is not. Some focus solely on its activity, neglecting its foundational truths. Or, perhaps this is your first time investigating what stewardship is all about for a Christ-follower. Whatever position you find yourself in, this series of articles is for you.

I separate stewardship into these five components to lay a Biblically accurate foundation which our stewardship activities can build on. It also develops our understanding of each component, and highlights if there are action areas for us to be faithful stewards.

What are the five components?

The image at the top of this post provides some cryptic clues as to the answer of this question. For thoroughness, and also to provide links to the posts as they are published, the components we believe make up Biblical stewardship are:

  1. Ownership
  2. Relationship
  3. Expectations
  4. Activity
  5. Assessment

As each is addressed it is also illustrated using two parables Jesus told. These parables, found in Matthew’s and Luke’s gospels, use the activity of stewarding to illustrate Jesus’ teaching. As such they provide helpful references to illustrate each component. While references to each parable are in the coming posts, you can familiarize yourself with the entire narratives here:

What’s the goal?

The purpose of these articles is to develop your understanding of the underlying elements of stewardship. There may be new things to learn or familiar things to be refreshed with. Whatever the case, I trust they will be a blessing to you.

Ultimately, my prayer is that consideration of these components would bring about life change. This will not happen through my ability as a writer and presenter. It will come through the Word of God being used by the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to prayerfully seek Him and His will as you read these posts.

Remember too, the goal of every steward must be faithfulness to the one who has entrusted them with a stewardship. (1 Corinthians 4:2) Strive to attain this goal. The church needs more faithful stewards.

 

Up next:

Component 1 – Ownership

So what is Biblical stewardship?

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It is essential to define Biblical stewardship. It is important that we understand it, as our understanding will directly impact our activity as stewards.

A quick recap

I have mentioned in previous articles that while we often do not use ‘stewardship’ as a label today, the activity still occurs frequently. In its simplest form it is caring for, or managing something that belongs to another. If we look carefully we see stewardship played out around us in many diverse situations and vocations.

The person who cares for your family’s pets while you are on vacation stewards your precious canines or felines. The GM of a sports team has a stewardship of that team on behalf of the owners. The manager of a fast food location running that restaurant for the franchise owner is that owner’s steward.

So how about a definition?

At Legacy Ministries Canada we define Biblical stewardship as follows:

 

“Stewardship is the care, management, and use
of God’s property, gifts and resources
by His people, for His glory.”

 

While this is fairly nice, compact definition, let’s break out its four important parts…

  1. Its foundation is that God owns everything.
    The centre of this definition highlights what a Christian stewards but recognizes that each thing originates from God. Grasping ownership is crucial to the success of any stewardship activity. Embracing the fact that God is the true owner of everything we have – Psalm 24:1-2 –  ensures our stewardship is built from a strong foundation.
  2. Its expectation is activity.
    As stewards we are expected to be active in our role. Whether that be in caring, managing, or using what God has entrusted to us we cannot be idle.
  3. The stewards in view are Christians.
    There are some things that Christians and non-Christians both steward. Environmental stewardship is an example of one such crossover category. Biblical stewardship includes those things which non-Christians may steward, but goes beyond it to those things God has specifically entrusted to believers. The gospel, spiritual gifts, the local church, etc.
  4. Its focus is the glory of God.
    Why do we do what we do? Why do we steward well? For God’s glory. If anything we do as stewards is motivated by self-promotion, we have it backwards. Everything we do must cause glory to be given to God so that he might be praised and magnified.

There is nothing overly complicated about this definition, but the impact of applying it to our lives and our stewardship could be immense. At Legacy Ministries Canada we have the privilege of seeing the impact Biblical stewardship has on peoples’ lives and on their service for God. My challenge to you is whether you are ready to have it impact your life too?

Stewards in the time of Jesus

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Stewards were present in the time of Jesus. He uses the stewardship relationship as the context for two parables in Luke 19:11-27, and Matthew 25:14-30. Take some time to read these two parables, and as you do, see if you can observe something that is absent that you may expect to be included.

Something was missing in Jesus’ parables

Did you notice what is missing in Jesus’ narratives? (Perhaps it is a little unfair to ask you to identify something that is absent.) Notice how he spends no time explaining to his audience the background to the scene that he frames his parable within. I often find myself doing a lot of this as I teach on this topic  because the concept and titles of steward and stewardship are not overly familiar to us today. Jesus didn’t have to do this because these were circumstances that were a common part of their culture and community.

Another example of this is in Luke 16:1-13. He begins his parable “There was a rich man who had a [steward], and this [steward] was reported to him as squandering his possessions.” Jesus does not explain what a steward was, what the title conferred, or how serious an offence it was for the steward to be accused of wasting what had been entrusted to him. The audience knew this. It was a familiar part of their culture.

Stewards were a familiar part of Jesus’ culture

Stewardship was a common relationship in Jesus’ day. While the parables in Luke and Matthew present a property owner’s use of a steward in the event of his absence, it was just as common for a property owner to have a steward while they were still locally present. Landowners, business owners, merchants, and the like, would routinely employ a steward, sometimes referred to as a manager, to oversee the affairs of their land, farm, holdings, or business so that they might focus on other tasks or activities.

The role of a steward was a significant position in society and came with a certain level of prestige and benefit to the individual who occupied that position. The steward would frequently have all the rights and power of his master to make decisions with the property under his care. The line of demarcation was drawn though in that he was not the owner of that property.

Stewards existed before Jesus taught his parables

As we read narratives throughout scripture we find this was a common practice in the centuries before Jesus was alive. As far back as Abraham we see that he employed a steward, a man called Eliezer who came from Damascus. (It is often believed that it was Eliezer who Abraham commissioned to find a bride for his son Isaac.) So significant was the position that Eliezer held as steward that if Abraham died without an heir, he would have inherited Abraham’s fortune. (Genesis 15:2)

Perhaps a better known example is Joseph. After being sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers, Joseph rises to significance in his master Potiphar’s house to the point where Potiphar “made him overseer over his house, and all that he owned he put in his charge.” (Genesis 39:4) While Joseph would eventually be forced from this position he would later rise to an even greater position of stewardship when he became the second most important ruler in the entire country to Pharoah and oversaw the affairs of that nation.

Stewards still exist today

When we consider stewardship in its simplest form being the activity of caring or managing something that belongs to another, there are a lot of other examples that spring out to us even if the label of ‘stewardship’ is not applied to it. The person who cares for your family’s pets while you are on vacation. The GM of a sports team managing that team on behalf of the owners. The manager of a fast food location running that restaurant for the franchise owner. While we often do not use stewardship as a label today, the activity still occurs frequently.

And if the activity is undertaken, the primary association that a steward has is vocational. The actual job title of steward is rare and often only associated with two roles. First, an individual who is responsible for looking after passengers on a ship, a plane, or a train. This usually includes activities like serving meals and taking care of personal needs. Second, they are workers at large sporting events and entertainment venues. They are responsible for supervising and keeping order among attendees. Others who may not have the word ‘steward’ in a job title, but perform the role are the pet-sitter, the plant-waterer, the hockey GM, and the investment manager. Many people are stewards vocationally.

Next time we will answer the question, ‘So what is Biblical stewardship?’ We will also investigate in more detail on just what this means for you and me as we embrace our role as stewards.

Should we emphasize a metaphor?

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In my last article I wrote how I believe Christians need to take stewardship seriously. It is easy to assume that we know exactly what is meant when we encounter the word stewardship but often these assumptions present more barriers than aids to our understanding. In this article we will examine a common hurdle you will face as you open your Bibles to study: the fact that stewardship is a metaphor in scripture.

No one passage

Early in studying stewardship you find there is no single Bible passage  where a concise or comprehensive overview of the topic is provided. If you were studying Spiritual Gifts and turned to 1 Corinthians 12, Paul is tremendously helpful as he starts right into the section with, “Now concerning spiritual gifts…”. It’s not the only passage on spiritual gifts in the New Testament, but you are left in no doubt about what will be covered in the text following.

You will have to read a lot of the New Testament to find all the references that there are to stewards and stewardship. Don’t let that discourage you though. As you read, you will discover just how much of a Christian’s life is considered in stewardship terms. Once you have started to understand what stewardship is you can then start to see how individuals in Biblical narratives lived out stewardship in their lives. That is a whole other fascinating study.

A metaphor Jesus used

You first encounter stewards and stewardship in the parables of Jesus. Parables like those in Matthew 24, Luke 16, Luke 19, and others. Some speak of stewards and stewardship explicitly. In others you have to infer the position and actions based on the narrative.

What we discover in these parables is that Jesus never had to explain what a steward was to his audience. They were familiar with it. It was a regular and known part of their culture and society. Jesus used it as a metaphor to add power to the point he was making in his parables.

Wilfred Tooley points out that it is one of two metaphors used by Jesus that is continued and developed by other apostles in their writings. It is used to aid the early church in understanding its ministry and leadership. (The other metaphor that the apostles took forward from Jesus’ teaching is that of a shepherd.)

Are we making too much of it?

Given that one of the purposes of Legacy Ministries Canada is to teach Biblical stewardship, you can imagine that our answer to this question is, ‘No.’ However, the question should be asked. It needs to be asked because there have been many occasions where metaphors can be extrapolated too far and error taught as a result.

We do not believe that teaching Biblical stewardship from the metaphor makes too much of it. The metaphor makes the subject matter sticky. You can attach what is being taught to the underlying metaphor and suddenly it makes more sense.

The key is to use the metaphor to the correct extent without taking its application into error.

So why major on a metaphor?

As we consider stewardship today it may feel like we place the metaphor at too high a level. Part of the reason for this is that we don’t frequently have roles in our western society and culture with the title of ‘steward’ and the responsibility of ‘stewardship.’ This was however common in Jesus’ day and culture. We emphasize this metaphor because without fully understanding it we will not fully understand what it means to be a steward.

For us to fully grasp the impact of the metaphor as we find it used in Scripture, we first need to understand more about what a steward was in the times when the Bible was written. That is our topic for next time.

Stewardship, seriously?

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Stewardship. Often misunderstood. Frequently applied incorrectly. But still a Biblical principle essential to a Christian’s life, and one we must take seriously.

Did you assume?

Reading the title to this post, I would venture to guess that a number of assumptions crossed your mind. They may have been assumptions about my topic, my point, or my focus. I am being bold with this assertion because it is what I have consistently witnessed in all my discussions about stewardship.

Whenever the topic comes up, most assume I will go on to talk about, or write about, money. That my focus will be how we need to be good stewards of our money. And how we need to give more to our local church or Christian charities. Allow me to be crystal clear, I am not writing about money. (At least not in this article.) I want to challenge you to take stewardship, as a whole, seriously.

Compounding the assumption

The association of stewardship with finances is the most common link I find in peoples’ minds. Many would even go so far as to see stewardship and financial management or principles as being synonymous. This is one of the greatest disservices that can be given to the topic. But a disservice that has been well fed in Christian circles.

Copious amounts of books and articles have been written, courses taught, and sermons preached that present stewardship as being wholly financially focused. Others may not be so extreme but while they give a cursory nod to the scope of stewardship being wider than financial matters, the remainder of their content leaves the consumer in no doubt that they believe the financial application is the most appropriate and necessary.

I want to state clearly that stewardship is about so much more than money. When we restrict it to this one area of our lives it loses its power and opportunity for impact for us as Christ followers.

We need to take stewardship seriously.

There are applications of stewardship that can be made to our finances. And many of the resources I include in my groupings above do a better job at making that link than I can. But we need to see that there are wider applications and that stop us writing off the topic as being financial in nature.

If we are to take it seriously, then we need to examine it carefully. Once examined it needs to be applies consistently in our lives. I invite you to look at stewardship with a renewed perspective. I will write a number of articles that will examine the topic in more depth on this site. The first will address whether it is right to major on this metaphor.