Steward of God

Steward of God

Just as each one has received a gift, use it for serving one another, as good stewards of the varied grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let it be as the oracles of God; if anyone serves, let it be as by the strength that God provides, so that in all things God will be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom is the glory and the power ⌊forever and ever⌋. Amen.

W. Hall Harris III et al., eds., The Lexham English Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012), 1 Pe 4:10–11.

What is Steward?

To be a steward means to preserve, multiply, and utilize the property of the owner in an adequate way. To some extent a steward is a partner of and coworker with the boss.

He carries important responsibilities.

This makes his life meaningful.

All humans, whether or not they realize and accept it, are stewards.

They are stewards of all that God has entrusted to them: material things, time, body, faculties, fellow humans, environment, and the gospel. Even in the future kingdom of God they will remain stewards (Luke 19:17).

What can a boss expect from his employees (God from us)?

John 6:38 - Respecting the will of the boss and acting accordingly.

Matt 6:33 - Making the cause of the boss first priority.

1 Cor 4:2 - Faithfulness

Mark 11:22 - Trust

What can the employee expect from the employer (we from God)?

The employee can expect “reward,” i.e., blessings in this life such as food, clothing, a place to live, joy, peace, serenity, love, etc., and a wonderful eternal life.

And yet salvation is always God’s gift and cannot be earned.

Our service as stewards is a response to His gracious provisions.

Ekkehardt Mueller, “The Owner and the Steward,” in Perplexing Doctrinal Questions Answered (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2020).

The basic question is not how much of our money we should give to God, but how much of God’s money we should keep for ourselves.—J. Oswald Sanders

Be faithful with what you receive; be prayerful about what you need; be open about what you are doing.—E. Brandt Gustavson

In the biblical sense stewardship means the grateful and responsible use of all God’s gifts. Christian stewards are empowered by the Holy Spirit and commit themselves to conscious, purposeful decisions in the use of these gifts. For the committed Christian the stewardship principle becomes more than intellectual assent to doctrinal formulation; it becomes something to be lived out, shared, experienced.

Raoul Dederen, Handbook of Seventh-Day Adventist Theology, electronic ed., vol. 12, Commentary Reference Series (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 2001), 651.

Do you know where to tap?

A certain town in New England experienced a prolonged electrical failure. The best engineers at the power plant were unable to restore the power, whereupon one citizen recalled that a former engineer, now in retirement but living only a few miles away, might be consulted. He was brought in. He inspected the plant, the generators; then he took a wooden mallet and tapped in several places. Instantly the lights came on, whereupon he submitted this itemized bill to the town fathers: “2¢ for tapping; $1,000 for knowing where to tap.”

G. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1986), 340.