Stewardship is an old word. You don't hear it used often and if someone were to define it, they would struggle to understand its meaning and/or application.
What is stewardship?
The dictionary describes it as:
- A person who manages another's property or financial affairs. one who administers anything as the agent of another or others.
- A person who has charge of the household of another, buying or obtaining food, directing the servants, etc.
- An employee who has charge of the table, wine, servants, etc., in a club, restaurant, or the like.
The Bible's use of the word has a similar meaning. The greek word "oikonomos" is used in the new testament. The word is actually two words, household (oikos) and distributor of law, food etc (nomos).
A steward is given charge of another's possessions and manages those possessions. If it is in the context of the household, they distribute those possessions to other members of the extended family based on the wishes and direction of the owner.
The Bible through several parables and stories expands on the idea of stewardship by providing qualifications for stewardship and how to determine if a steward is succeeding.
It is not Just About Money
Most often when the church has approached the subject of stewardship it usually has been around the giving of money or the raising of funds for a specific project, like a new building. Once those funds were raised they would be distributed to fund the project or activity.
There is, in my view, a broader application and understanding of stewardship that goes beyond the use of, or raising of, money for projects. That broader view encompasses all of life, starting with our own lives (maybe we start with how we keep our bedrooms or how we handle our physical bodies), and growing to include all that has been added to us (children, homes, cars, vocation, finances, spiritual truths) as we get older and mature.
Ownership versus Stewardship
Before I go to far in developing the concept of stewardship I want to mention something that is close to my thinking, that is the idea of ownership versus stewardship. In my thinking the idea of ownership and its implications on how I handle all that has been given me runs contrary to the idea of stewardship.
Let me state at the beginning that I am not opposed to purchasing things (cars, homes, etc.) and owning them. Even though we could make a strong case that when we purchase on credit, we don't really own anything. What I am trying to work through is the underlying thinking behind how an owner thinks about what they have been given versus how a steward thinks.
A steward by definition is working with another's resources, not their own. The center of gravity is not their wishes or desires, but those of the owner. For the owner they are the center. What ever they wish or desire (regardless of the basis from which the desires emerge) become the command.
The steward sees that they are working for someone else not for themselves. So they treat all that has been given them from the perspective of the owner. The owner, works for themselves.
The problem comes when the steward begins to deceive themselves into thinking that they are the owner of all that they have. They see that everything they have is theirs to do with as they please. The center of gravity is now them. It is there wishes and their desires regardless of the basis from which those desires emerge, that serve as the basis for their decisions and actions. Consulting someone else, especially the owner, is not needed. The deceived steward becomes a resource for themselves. It is an inward consultation, not an outward or upward consultation.
I believe, much that has been ruined or harmed in our society and in our own personal lives is the result of taking the position of ownership versus stewardship. Think through this with me for a minute. What is the basis for abortion? Child rearing? Management styles? Leadership qualities? Marriage? Men & Women's roles? Relationships? Money? Homosexuality? Church?
Who determines how we should handle these issues? Us? Society? Experts? God? I could go on and on. When we believe we are the owners, we see ourselves as creators and consequently the tweekers of all that we were meant to steward. Self-gratification and instant gratification rule, the owners ways are to old fashion, out of date, not in keeping with our modern society. In the end we ruin what we were meant to steward.
I will stop here for now, let you think about this. Hopefully I can pick up this thought again in the next couple of weeks.
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