Stewardship Component 2 – Relationship
Welcome back to our series exploring the 5 components of Biblical stewardship. The second component we are considering is ‘Relationship.’ This is closely connected to ‘Ownership.’ Understanding this component gives us confidence in our stewardship responsibilities being well suited to us.
As I mentioned in the Introduction, I am pulling on two parables Jesus taught for some illustrations in these posts. You can read the full text of both here…
Relationships in the parables
In each parable the settings are similar. A property owner must leave home and undertake a journey. Prior to his departure he calls several of his servants to him and entrusts parts of his property – a set amount of money – to each of them. This is done with instructions and an expectation that they perform certain activities with it in his absence.
There is then a gap in the narrative while the man is absent and then servants are performing their stewardship activities, but it commences again on his return. When he has come home, he looks for an accounting of the work that has been undertaken, and rewards the men based on the actions they took.
There are three relationships we can highlight from these parables:
- The property owner has a relationship with each man he makes a steward.
- Each steward has a relationship with his fellow-servants who undertook a stewardship.
- The stewards would have conducted their business in relationship with others in the wider community.
This post focuses on what we can learn from the primary relationship between property owner and steward. (The other two relationships will be addressed in future posts.)
The Owner – Steward relationship
This is the easiest relationship to identify from our texts. It is evidenced by phrases such as “…he called ten of his own slaves…” (Luke 19:13), “Master, your mina…” (Luke 19:16), and “…enter the joy of your master…” (Matthew 25:21).
Without this relationship there is no stewardship. The master acts, and the servants act because of the relationship between them. That relationship takes on an additional dimension when property is entrusted to the steward.
The parables do not simply identify the relationship that exists, but we see some of the depth and dimension of that relationship. There are six very important words in Matthew’s parable that I want to draw out in this context of relationship between property owner and steward.
Matthew 25:15
“…each according to his own ability…”.
Intentionality
These six words are a very important detail. They shed a great deal of light onto the relationship between the property owner and his servants.
He knew them.
He really knew them.
What they could handle.
And, what they could not.
He then took this knowledge and used it to influence how much of his possessions he gave to each servant.
When I consider this the adjective that comes to mind is intentionality. It was not a raffle or lottery to see who got what. The property owner was deliberate in his actions when he considered what he knew about each of his servants. There was a reason one received five talents but another just one. He took what he knew about his servants and used that when giving them their stewardship responsibilities.
Rakes and leaf blowers
There are several big, beautiful, mature silver maples and black walnut trees in our garden. Every fall we have lots of leaves to collect. Over time I have invested in a leaf blower to help make the job a little easier. Since the day I bought it, my son wanted to use it, but he didn’t get to until this last fall.
This was partly because of a rule we have in our family that if you haven’t learned to use a manual tool well you can’t use the power tool equivalent. Also, knowing my son and I knew some of what would, or would not, have happened if he got his hands on the leaf blower.
For a time he was too young to physically use it. When he was physically able he would not have used it wisely or well. Dogs would have been chased and family members blasted with hurricane force winds. It would not have ended well.
But the fall he was 12, he was ready. He had proved he could use a rake and would somewhat willingly collect the leaves alongside me. He had matured enough to know that terrorizing animals is not acceptable in our family, no matter how fun it may appear. And so, he got to use the leaf blower.
And do you know what? He did a great job. I spent more time with a rake that fall than he did.
Why do I share this? To put a real-life illustration on what it can look like to be intentional when entrusting something to another person. It doesn’t happen outside of a relationship. It doesn’t happen in relationships that have no depth or where the property owner has only a cursory awareness of the steward’s ability.
God is intentional with his stewardship assignments
When we consider our positions as stewards of God’s property, gifts, and resources, God occupies the position of the property owner in the parable. He can decide who he gives his property to. He can determine if one person receives something different to another, or if someone receives more of one thing than one of their peers.
Just as with the property owner in the story, this is not done indiscriminately but with great intentionality. God takes his knowledge of us and in his sovereignty entrusts each of us with different things at different times in our lives according to each of our own abilities. This is what we have confidence in when we act as stewards. Not our ability to do it well. But in the fact that this resource, or circumstance, is perfectly suited to us because God knows us better than we know ourselves. (If you need to be reminded of how well God knows you, take some time and read Psalm 139.)
Up Next:
Explore Relationship more:
Relationship – The Danger of Comparison
“My responsibility in light of Relationship” **Coming soon**
