“Let a man so account of us, as
of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.
Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.”
(1 Cor. 4:1, 2)
Stewardship Defined
Webster’s Dictionary: One who
manages another’s property, finances, or other affairs.
Greek 3623 oikonomos {oy-kon-om'-os}
from 3624 and the base of 3551; TDNT - 5:149,674; n m AV - steward 8,
chamberlain 1, governor 1; 10 1) the manager of household or of
household affairs 1a) esp. a steward, manager, superintendent (whether
free-born or as was usually the case, a freed-man or a slave) to whom
the head of the house or proprietor has entrusted the management of his
affairs, the care of receipts and expenditures, and the duty of dealing
out the proper portion to every servant and even to the children not yet
of age 1b) the manager of a farm or landed estate, an overseer 1c) the
superintendent of the city's finances, the treasurer of a city (or of
treasurers or quaestors of kings) 2) metaph. the apostles and other
Christian teachers and bishops and overseers.
Who provides the stewardship?
God is the rightful owner of it all:
“The earth is the LORD's, and the fulness
thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”
(Psalms 24:1)
“For who maketh thee to
differ from another? and what hast thou
that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive
it, why dost thou glory, as if thou
hadst not received it?”
(1 Cor. 4:7)
“For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country,
who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.
And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another
one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took
his journey.” (Mat. 25:14,15)
“Now we have received, not
the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might
know the things that are freely given to us of God.”
(1Cor. 2:12)
What are we stewards of?
Ideally all that we are and all that we have are the Lord’s. It has been
given to our care to watch over and develop according to the Lord’s will
and purpose to the glory of God in Christ Jesus.
(1Corinthians 6:20 “For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify
God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.)
The predominant thought for
today is that when we speak of stewardship money rises to the forefront.
Sadly, this is not what scripture teaches. Money is one aspect of what
we are stewards of but it is not the primary.
(1Corinthians 7:23 Ye are
bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.”)
We are stewards of our actions:
“For a bishop must be
blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not
given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; But a lover of
hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate; Holding
fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by
sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.”
(Tit. 1:7-9)
“And if Christ be in you,
the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of
righteousness.” (Rom. 8:10)
“But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”
(Gal. 5:22, 23)
“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God.” (2 Cor.
7:1)
We are stewards of our possessions:
“Then he that had received the
five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five
talents. And likewise he
that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had
received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money.”
(Mat. 25:16-18)
“But Peter said, Ananias,
why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep
back part of the price of the land?
Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it
not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine
heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.”
(Acts 5:4)
“Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of
all thine increase:”
(Prov. 3:9)
We are stewards over spiritual things:
“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards
of the mysteries of God.” (1 Cor.
4:1)
All of 1 Corinthians 12
“Feed the flock of God
which is among you, taking the oversight
thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre,
but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over
God's heritage, but being ensamples to
the flock.” (1 Peter 5:2, 3)
“Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers,
in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity.”
(1 Tim 4:12)
“And take the helmet of
salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”
(Eph. 6:17)
“For he that soweth to his
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the
Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”
(Gal. 6:8)
“Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
(2 Tim. 2:15)
We will be held accountable
We will be held
accountable for our stewardship of the gifts that God has given us. Our
efforts towards our responsibility as stewards will one day be
evaluated. Take a look at the passages below.
“But I say unto you, That every
idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the
day of judgment.” ( Mat. 12:36)
“For it is written, As I live, saith
the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to
God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”
(Rom. 14:11, 12)
“Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it,
because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's
work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built
thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned,
he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.”
(1 Cor. 3:13-15)
“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they
watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do
it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”
(Heb. 13:17)
“Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the
dead.” (1 Peter 4:5)
We will be rewarded
“And every man that striveth for the
mastery is temperate in all things. Now they
do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.” (1 Cor. 9:25)
“I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept the
faith:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give
me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his
appearing.” (2 Tim. 4:7, 8)
“Blessed is
the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive
the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”
(James 1:12)
“And when the chief Shepherd shall
appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.” (Revelation 2:10)
“Fear none of those things which thou
shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that
ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou
faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” (1 Peter
5:4)
“Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast
which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” (Rev. 3:11)
In Conclusion
Tithing is merely
one aspect of our stewardship. If our lives are surrendered to Christ,
tithing is not an issue. People can become bound by the percentage, or
the amount. Jesus explained how he evaluates our actions in Matthew
6:1-4 and Mark 12:41-44. Jesus places it in perspective in His rebuke of
the Pharisees.
In Matthew 23:23, “Woe unto you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and umin, and
have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and
faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.”
Never forget Paul’s admonition in 2 Cor. 9:7, “Every man
according as he purposeth in his heart, so let
him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a
cheerful giver.” And so let our lives exemplify that of people
serving the Lord with a heart filled with Joy.
Food for thought
What have you
learned about stewardship that you may not have already known?
Do you see a
correlation between stewardship and servanthood?
Can you think of an aspect stewardship in your life?