Talking Stewardship

 ...assuming that you have heard of the stewardship of God's grace that was given to me for you... Ephesians 3:2

Many Christians may cringe when they hear the word Stewardship raised. It brings up thoughts of things such as a congregational treasurer (who would rather not be in the situation to begin with) standing in front of the assembly to show the numbers required for ministry and to ask for people to support the congregation through their gifts and offerings. A few typical bible texts get pulled out, we hear that God loves a cheerful giver, and everyone hopes that the talk is over fairly quickly.

That may be something of what you think when you hear the word stewardship. And if so, I am truly sorry for that. Today in reading and discussion I have already come across the word stewardship at least two or three times, and it has not been in the realm of the scenario described above. I was reading a book about being faithfully connected in the digital world, and the author wrote about the stewardship of being aware of sharing things like credit card and social security numbers, as well as stewardship of what you are considering as a purchase. In a conversation, a colleague and I were talking about the stewardship of overseeing ministry matters, seeing to it that things are done in a good order and being aware of our responsibilities to do so.

For Lord of Life, this past Sunday we heard the verse above from Paul's third chapter to the Ephesian Christians. Paul also speaks of stewardship, the stewardship of God's grace. Paul was given responsibility to see that God's grace was administered to the Ephesians. Such an administration, such a stewardship, was for the good of the Ephesians. It means that Paul was responsible for stewarding the good news of Jesus to the Ephesians, as well as helping them to see how to grow as a response to that grace from God in Jesus. Paul had stewardship of something marvelous.

One of my contentions for quite a few years has been that we too narrowly restrict stewardship talk to money and offerings. Our whole life as a Christian, including our possessions, our families, and even our mindsets, are to be seen as part of our stewardship. My words are part of my stewardship, and so I have a responsibility to use them wisely. My actions are part of my stewardship, and so I have a responsibility to be aware of my actions and how others see me. How I spend my time is part of my stewardship, and so how I allot my time is something to be aware of. 

The reality then comes to the forefront. Everything we have is something given to us by God. That calls for responsible stewardship. It's not just money, though money is part of what we are responsible for. Even how we share the good news of Jesus is part of our stewardship. God gives this stewardship to us because He wants us to be a part of His working in this world. This is truly something to be thankful for, even as we see that it calls for responsibility on our part.