Stewardship Part II

Being a Steward of Our Resources
Part II of a three part series on stewardship

When we look at being a good steward of our resources we are talking about becoming better managers of three areas of our lives. Those areas are our Jobs, our finances and our possessions.

Remember, the Christians perspective is that everything belongs to God and He has entrusted us to me managers of the tings that we have.

When was the last time you viewed your job as something that God possessed and trusts you to take care of? Our jobs provide us with three opportunities.

First, our jobs provide us the opportunity to be an example that imitates God. When we first are introduced to God in the Bible he is working. Genesis chapter one records the creation and we see in that account that God worked six days straight. He was diligent in every detail and because of that man had everything that he needed. There was no work until after man sinned. Then we read in Genesis 3:17-19 that because of his sin man would now have to work for everything he had both for survival and pleasure.

Genesis 3:17-19
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,'
"Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return."

We have to work! It’s a part of life. God has given us our jobs as a means of provision and survival. We should view our jobs as an opportunity to work just a diligently and hard as God did.

The second opportunity our jobs provide us is a test that develops Character. I once heard a pastor say that when it comes to our career, most of us have our dream job and then we have our real job.

If it was easy it wouldn’t be called work. If it was given to us then we wouldn’t call it earning a paycheck. No doubt all of us have had one of those days at work where we didn’t ever want to go back because things were so stressful and hectic. Look at what James says about those trials.

James 1:2-4
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

Every time your job gets tense or stressful that is your opportunity to develop your Christian character.

Finally our jobs provide us an opportunity to enhance our dignity.

Ecclesiastes 3:13
13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God.

We should take pride in the fact that we get to work for a living. It gives us something to be proud of. Our homes, vehicles and possessions are all things that we have earned. That gives us dignity.

A small church needed to have a new roof in the worst of ways, but there was no money in their account. Most of the congregation was very poor except for the local banker. He was an ornery old cuss, and he would be the first in church so he could always sit in the back pew by the door. That way, he could always get up and leave during prayer right before the offering was collected.

One day, on the way to church, an accident in front of him made him late. When he got there, the only place to sit was on the front pew in front of the pastor.

As the pastor prayed for God to send them money for the roof, a piece broke off and fell down, hitting the banker on the head. He immediately yelled out, "I’ll give $1,000. for the roof!" And one of the men in back yelled out, "Hit him again, Lord!"

Like everything else our finances belong to God. He has given us all and only asks for a tiny amount back. Imagine walking down the street in Seattle and you come across Bill Gates. He greets you and tells you that he is going to trust you with his fortune. All you have to do is give him back ten percent. Which one of us wouldn’t do that? You get to keep 90% of his money to do with as you please. Why would you walk away from that deal?

That is what God is saying to you and me. He provides us with everything we have and only ask us to give him ten percent back. Here is a passage from the book of Malachi where God explains the concept of tithing.

Malachi 3:6-10
6 "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you," says the LORD Almighty.
"But you ask, 'How are we to return?'
8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
"But you ask, 'How do we rob you?'
"In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.

Do you have enough faith in God to trust Him in that promise? You faith, or lack of, is shown every Sunday when the offering plate is passed.

When it comes to our possessions James gives us an interesting perspective.

James 1:9-11
9The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride in his high position. 10But the one who is rich should take pride in his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. 11For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich man will fade away even while he goes about his business.

A Christian understanding of possessions changes our view of people. We see people through the eyes of God and understand our equality. We are all limited by time on the earth and we will not be judged by what we have rather than what we do.

It’s fine to have nice things. I don’t believe that is wrong at all. It is when we place our value in those things instead of in God that is wrong.

A Christian understanding of possessions changes our view of possessions. Do you remember the old bumper sticker that said, “He who dies with the most toys wins”? I like the one that followed it that said, “He who dies with the most toys still dies.” The truth is that those things that we posses are material and have no impact on eternity. We cannot take them with us and they don’t help us in get anywhere after our lives end.

Being a good steward of our possessions means understanding them and the people who own them.

I have held many things in my hands and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess. – Martin Luther