Stewards, not owners!

Have you discovered, as I have, that there are only two kinds of people in the world, getters and givers? The getter never has enough and the giver is surprised with what he has and is continuously looking for new ways to express generosity. “The sluggard’s craving will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work. All day long he craves for more, but the righteous give without sparing.” (Proverbs 21:25)

The issue of ownership goes to the heart of the matter. John Wesley wrote, “When the possessor of heaven and earth brought you into being and placed you in this world, placed you here not as an owner but as a steward.” Stewards, or managers, serve at the pleasure of the owner. Stewards understand that they are not the one who is to be satisfied, but the owner.

God’s people are assigned the responsibility of demonstrating His great generosity. Our Heavenly Father was under no duress when He sent Jesus to be the sacrifice for our sins and suffering. He freely gave, held nothing back. If we fully embrace that truth, everything in our care is to be shared freely and widely. The burden of the steward is not in the sharing, but in discovering the most appropriate way to make the best possible use of the Owner’s property and abilities with which he endows us. One thing is clear, selfishness is never an option. If we err, we ought to err on the side of generosity.

All who have been born of the Spirit are stewards of truth. At the risk of being “preachy” I suggest that all stewards of truth ought to –

• Live lives consistent with the truth. “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:5-7) A man who shared wisdom with me when I was young repeated often, “If the way I live is different than what I say, the best prayer I can pray is, ‘O, Lord, help me keep my mouth shut.’” Our confessions of faith ought to be reinforced with our behavior.
• Live as generously as we know how. Giving, sharing, living with an ever-increasing capacity to trust others, to empower others, to bless others without any reluctance. Of course, some will abuse our willingness to share, but if we try to possess and refuse to share, we will be misused anyway!
• Remember grace! Isn’t it true that, if we received what we deserved, we would all have been in hell long ago. But, God pours out grace, unearned, undeserved favor. Others, likewise, need not deserve our generosity. Haven’t we squandered the grace of God on occasion? Isn’t it possible for our generosity expressed toward others to be similarly wasted?
In short, we might need to periodically do a bit of introspection and ask, “Am I living life as a steward of God’s possessions? Am I making the best use of God-given abilities? Or, am I behaving like those who have never tasted of the grace of God?”

I’m off to find a new way to give away my day to someone. Maybe we will meet in the same marketplace confounding onlookers with our generosity.