When we start from the foundational understanding that everything we have has been given to us by God and that everything else is under the ownership of God then we can begin to grasp the biblical approach to stewardship. I like what randy Alcorn said, “God owns every treasure. I am, His investment manager.” This is an easy thing to say but much more difficult to believe and subsequently apply to our lives. Think about it. God owns everything. We really don’t own anything. Even the money that we earn is His because He gave us the ability and the strength to work to get it and He owns the job where we work and the actual physical money that we earn. This is difficult for me to comprehend but I think that when I am able to embrace this concept it is easier for me to understand stewardship.
Stewardship is managing what belongs to someone else. So the obvious implication is that what is being managed is meant to be used for the purposes of the one who owns it not for the purposes of the one who is managing it. This is especially difficult to grasp when the person who owns it is not physically present. Not only is God not physically present (though He certainly is spiritually present) but He is not a micromanager. In other words, He does not correct us immediately for mismanaging the resources He has entrusted into our care. Rather, He allows the natural consequences of a mismanaged life to teach us the much needed lesson. By taking this approach to leadership God empowers us to become the self motivated stewards that He desires us to be.
Contentment is a hallmark trait for anyone who will be a good steward of their resources. Embracing and internalizing the truth that it doesn’t matter how much you’ve been given but what you do with what you have been given is what is essential. Most people, myself included, spend so much time worrying about the amount that they have and obsessing over the inherent injustice that it is not comparable to what someone else has been given that they fail to manage and multiply (through correct investing procedures) what they do posses.
Churches in the first century manifested an understanding of the laws of giving. This is seen in the church in Jerusalem (Acts chapter 4) and the church in Corinth kingdom of God
I also believe that part of the giving of our time involves giving one day a week as a Sabbath to the Lord. Even though we are giving it to Him we are reaping the most benefits from it. In our harried, hurried and stressful culture we rarely take time to rest.
In the end analysis stewardship comes from a heart of obedience to God. When we recognize that He is Lord and owner of everything and that everything we have has been lent to us for the purpose of investing back into His kingdom then we can begin to live a lifestyle of biblical stewardship.
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