Bad Steward, Good Grace

Stewardship and Accountability

Attending the Ohio State Youth Conference brought back memories, especially when Brother Cliff reminded the parents that the kids needed spending money. When I was a teenager, spending money was a necessity for the national youth conference. Granted registration covered my T-Shirt, meals, and lodging but travel expenses and extra money for snacks and souvenirs but at the expense of my mother. Before I had my own job she would give me money, but that money had to last for seven days. There were no applications like Cash App, venmo and Quick Pay. Western Union and other options were only for emergencies and did not apply for such a week. Excitement and impulse can cause you to make purchases you would not normally make, and many times during the Youth Conference people would be fine traveling to the conference and throughout the week, but when there is a 18 hour bus ride from South Carolina to Dallas and you have to eat, you’ll need some money to get you through. Many of the Adults being better stewards of finances that us children, usually would extend grace and mercy and make sure we did not go without, but that is not to say that we were not held accountable. It’s also quite common that a conversation would be had with your parents about your mismanagement of money and a plan in place to ensure that next year you do not run into the same buzz saw of hunger, and inability to eat on your own.

I must admit, the ability to interpret this parable was quite the challenge. One thing is for certain is that stewards are held accountable. We have no idea what the totality of his job was in full, but we do know that he was managing finances that belonged to a rich man. “What is this that I hear about you? Give an account for your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward”. The tipping point is this, will you be generous when your situation is altered. One question we have to ask is it generosity when your motive is selfishness?

This parable takes a number of twist and turns that under normal circumstances we would not ordinarily expect. It proves the point that we can even learn from bad people who do good things with crooked motives. But the umbrella that covers it all is God expects us to manage what he gives us properly. All of the things we have we do not own, we made own them according to the bank, the city of Columbus or even the Federal Government, but according to God, our soul and spirit we cannot take any of it with us.

There are so many things in this parable that are eye opening and mind baffling. The steward, in preparation for termination doubles down on his relationships to ensure that he is not stuck out. What is the positive thing we learn here? Relationship building is extremely important, on the other side of this coin of stewardship we also learn that everybody is not merciful to you for your benefit. Some people are nice to you because they see you as an asset to save them from their liabilities.

Accountability and Answers

The Rich Man had a Steward/Manager -

He heard that he was wasting his possessions, wasting the possessions that belonged to the Rich Man.

How do you feel when someone misuses something you allowed them to manage. It may not be riches, but it could be time, it could be emotions. Nonetheless when someone misuses what you have given them to manage a meeting of accountability has to be had.

This is also a testament to the fact that the bible teaches that if we have an issue with our brother and sister we should to them alone. The beauty of this rich man is the fact that he did not just accept accusations, he gave the steward an opportunity to get things right. He allows the steward to prove himself just.

God allows us to show ourselves worthy: His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,

Alike the steward, what are some things we mismanage?

Time - Given by God

Talents - Given by God

Treasure - Given by God

As we should be familiar with based on the parable of the talents, that if we do not use them according to the will of God he will take them away.

Do Not Get Ahead of Yourself

When things are going awry, sometimes we like to get ahead of ourselves. Often times we are in our heads so much that it is difficult for us receive the lesson that God is trying to teach us at this moment.

“And the manager said to himself, What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg”.

This is at the expense of mismanagement, God wants us to enjoy His gifts, but He deserves for us to use them wisely. , “it is required in stewards that one be found faithful”.

Be careful of the hasty decisions you think of during a bind. Often times our first thoughts are irrational. Nonetheless selfish motives can cause us to do good things for the wrong reason.

We have to be careful because selfish motives can be disguised as generosity. The bible instructs us that giving should be heart motivated, it shouldn’t come from a place of reluctance, or even compulsion.

The steward was compelled to give, because he had to sure up his living arrangements because he knew what was about to happen. True generosity and integrity have to go hand and hand. He was only merciful because he knew he what type of person he was dealing with.

It is interesting how creative we get when things crumble.

We often get ahead of ourselves because of FEAR!

Fear keeps us from doing things we might have accomplished. Who knows what the Rich Man would have done had he reasoned with him. Pride keeps us from doing things we think we are above.

Too weak to dig ditches

Too prideful to beg

My first job in Phoenix, as a Master’s degree graduate was a parts sorter for black and Decker inside of a Warehouse in Phoenix with no AC.

Sometimes God will put you in situations of humility, to change your perspective on appreciation. On the other hand, pride has kept many of us from a number of blessings.

When we get ahead of ourselves we begin to do things that are above our scope of responsibility. It wasn’t about getting things right with his boss, it was about the surety that he would be alright.

“4 I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.”

He had no authority to change the requirements of the debtors, nonetheless in order to cover himself he did it.

Verses 5-7

How Do We Define Steward?

Steward or manager can be defined as a manger of a household or estate. Some of us have rented homes, and typically the place we rent is run by a landlord or property management company. It can be a beautiful house, but when something breaks you expect the property management company to fix it properly. You can rent the nicest house but poor property management will make you move.

We are stewards of what God gives us, stewards physically of our bodies, stewards mentally of our mind and emotions, stewards financially of what God gives us, relational stewards according to our call to be husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, and children.

Stewards are managers of money, money does not manage them. We cannot serve two masters! The world might measure people by how much they have but God measures us by how much we give!

It’s not in the nature of a Christian to be ingenious. That’s a world trait. An unexpected twist of events is the fact that the master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light.

If only we would give as much attention to God as we do with other temporal things, we might be better humans, and have better communities but when everyone is in survival mode, who is thriving?

It’s about balance, how does our relationship with God tip the scale as it pertains to our relationship with earthly things.

Relationships should never be sustains by gifts and items, it can strengthen but it should never be the driving force of why we do what we do. verse 9 - 9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

Historically speaking, it is said that many Rabbis have a saying, “The rich help the poor in this world, but the poor help the rich in the world to come”.

According to verse 10, a steward is one who is faithful in very little and faithful in much. Not to mention the other side of this coin is one who is dishonest in little is dishonest in much. Now Jesus flips our world upside down, because he explains that if we aren’t faithful in unrighteous wealth, who will entrust us with true riches. In heaven we will get what is truly ours, but it will only be at the expense of how we have handled things down here.

If I cannot take care of myself, I have no business taking care of anyone else, we have to get ourselves in order. We can have wishes of being generous, but what are we doing with what we have? How are we managing what God has already given us?

A Bad Man’s Good Example

Grace is extended when we least expect it. God as a great way of showing us the lesson learned through selfish and crooked motives.

“So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light”.

Essentially, Jesus is saying crooked folks aren’t dumb. They are always looking for an angle or a shortcut. God wants us to be smart but in the right way. Looking at adversity through the same lens how can I use this to create survival.

Stewardship was not meant to make us shrewd, it was meant to help us prioritize and be responsible with what God has entrusted us with.

Life is not just about bare essentials, God want’s us to live. Christianity is not just a means to get by on good behavior but to thrive as it pertains to the blessings we have recieved.

Conclusion

Jesus, became a manager of our sins, in which he paid the cost for our mistakes. He did not have to, but because God had entrusted him with the salvation of the world it came at an expensive cost. If we are truly thankful to what Jesus has done for us, our management of his blessings should reflect such. He did not have to give us two legs to walk, when we complain, there is someone who cannot walk who would take your place. He did not have to give us two eyes to see, He did not have to give us the mental capacity to earn degrees, He did not have to allow you to just take a breath right now, but he did. God did not have to allow you to be here to get things right with Him, but he did, He allowed you to rise, just like the sun rises. If he blesses us, he expected a purpose driven live managed well!