We have been discussing
re-thinking Christianity and it's principles for the last few weeks. We looked at rethinking what it means to be a
Christian (a follower of Christ), we looked at re-thinking worship (coming to
worship and giving Him our all)…today, we want to look at re-thinking
stewardship.
Many will check out because they
consider a message about stewardship to be about money. While money is a portion, it is not all of
stewardship – not by any means.Look at what Jesus said about stewardship in Luke 16:1-13.
This can be a confusing
scripture, so let's begin by defining what a steward is. This is not a term we use regularly in our
culture.
A steward is one who is
entrusted with the management of another person's property. This person handles all the business of
another – property, money, everyday dealings.
In this case, this steward was
not doing what he was suppose to and was about to be let go. In order to help himself out, he goes and
takes care of the debts others have with his boss by cutting them a deal. This is so they will think highly of him when
he needs a job. He is thinking beyond
today into the future.
The boss (or master) commends
him…not because of his dishonesty, but because he was willing to look beyond
today. He was working out a plan for the
future. It doesn't say he didn't still
get let go.
Jesus shows us that people of
this world plan for their future better than His followers plan for their
future. Of course, a Christian's future
is beyond this world. So, let's look
at couple of lessons for us as stewards.
First, who is your master? If your master is yourself or this world or
anyone/anything in this world, then you will take care as such.
If your master is Jesus, then
you are serving Him. You are a follower
of Christ. You are here because of Him
and here to do His will and walk as He instructs. That means that you are not here to satisfy
your own desires, but do as you master commands.
Second, if your master is
Jesus Christ, then you realize that the things of this world are temporary. If they are temporary, then they are, in a
sense, on loan. If they are on loan,
then we are to take good care of them as our master would.
So, we are basically given
things in this world to do as Jesus would have us to. That means we really have no ownership of
things here. If you think you have
ownership, check out what people are able to take with them when they leave
this world…not the things of this world.
They are on loan. That is why we
are told to store up our treasures in heaven.
That gives a new
perspective…an eternal perspective.
If we have an eternal perspective, then we see that so many of the
things we want are not worth our time and effort. If we are truly stewards for the Lord, then
our time, our talents, and our resources are all to be used for Him…they are
all His on loan to us.
Third, when we are given
things to manage, we are to do that in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Does that mean that we don't enjoy life? That means that we have an eternal perspective
of enjoying life. We see that doing
things for others in the name of the Lord is joyful. We see that giving is better than
receiving. We see that we are blessed so
we can help other people. We see that we
can support those in the mission field…those serving the Lord and giving of
their life.
I wonder what kind of steward
we are for the Lord. Will we be
trusted with heavenly treasures because we have been faithful with the things
of this earth? Do we need a change in
our perspective?
