steward |ˈst(y)oōərd|
noun
- a person employed to manage another’s property,
esp. a large house or estate.
In the previous post about Stewards, I cited J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”, and talked about the concept of what it means to be a Steward. But what does the Bible say about being Steward? The bible actually has a lot to say. Take a look:
Jesus talks a lot about stewards in the Gospels.
Matthew 25:14-30 – The Parable of the Talents.
Matthew 20:1-15 – The Parable of the Laborers in the Vinyard.
Luke 16:1-9 – The Parable of the Money Manager.
Luke 17:7-10 – Instructions on Servant/Slave Role.
Luke 19: 11-27 – The Parable of Money Usage.
The apostle Paul, author of the majority of the New Testament, refers to himself as Steward in 4 of his letters to the 1st century Church.
1 Corinth 9:17, Eph. 2:3, Col. 1:25, & 1 Tim. 1:4
In the book Genesis we learn that God in the beginning created all that we know: space, time, the earth, the animals, everything. Then he makes this creature that’s different from all else that he has created. This creature is made in the “Imago Dei”, the “Image of God”. God calls the creature man. He puts man at the center of all this creation, a garden, and gives him the charge of ruling over His creation! Adam’s first duty was that of steward of God’s creation! The scriptures even start with a mandate of stewardship.
The Bible teaches that we are not the Lords of Creation, but we are actually temporary overseers of all that is God’s, which is…well everything. Nothing is really ours in a biblical worldview. It’s all on loan. That’s a pretty generous gift. We’ve all got something to be grateful for this Thanksgiving. There’s a lot more to being a good “Steward” than gratitude, but that’s a good place to start…
In the next post, we’ll discuss our culture’s view of what it means to be a Steward.