The 5 Essentials of StewardshipНамуна

The Second Essential: It’s Not Mine. (I’m a Steward.)

When I was in high school, I worked for a hole-in-the-wall hamburger joint. There were only four tables. All the hamburgers were cooked to order. Four of my siblings worked there, too, and we got to know the owner pretty well.

Sometimes he couldn’t be there to close up the place. So he’d ask me to. This meant making sure all the other employees did their normal clean-up duties. But the biggest responsibility of all was to empty out the cash register and walk it over to the bank for deposit in the night drop.

I considered it a great honor to be entrusted with this responsibility. Even though I saw the large amount of bills go into the bank bag, it never occurred to me that I should do anything other than deposit it. Why? Because it wasn’t my money. It wasn’t my restaurant. I was just an employee. I was a steward.

That’s how God sees us—as stewards of the gifts he’s given. First Corinthians 4:1-2 says, “This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful.”

While we’ve lost some of the meaning of stewardship today, the simple definition of a steward still holds true: one who manages or administers the estate, affairs or goods of another.

As a manager, I’m responsible for the property of someone else. I don't get to spend it however I want, but how he would want me to. My goal is to take what I’ve been given and return it in as good or better shape.

Our world ingrains in us the false idea of ownership, but it actually all belongs to God. We came into this world empty-handed, and we’ll leave it empty-handed. For a season, God gives us possessions to be used ultimately for his glory. 

Questions for Reflection

1. Consider a past event in your own life where you fulfilled your job duties faithfully (or poorly). How did that make you feel? Why?
2. When you consider your job description as being a manager of God’s resources, how does that impact your daily life?
3. Look at the definition of stewardship. How does that impact your view of biblical stewardship?