Stewardship Component 1 – Ownership
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:
Explore Ownership more:
“My responsibility in light of Ownership” **Coming soon**
