What is Stewardship?
In the New Testament, the Greek words oikonomos (house manager) and oikonomia (house management) are the original words for the idea of “stewardship.” Stewardship involves the responsibility or work of managing a household. A steward is someone who uses what the owner has to manage his house.
Oikonomia occurs nine times in the New Testament. In Luke 16:2-4, it appears three times, which the English Standard Version (ESV) translates as “management.” In 1 Corinthians 9:17, the ESV translates it as a “stewardship.” Ephesians 3:2 and 9 have “stewardship” and “plan” respectively. Both Colossians 1:25 and 1 Timothy 1:4 have oikonomia as “stewardship.”
So, what is the essence of Christian stewardship? It is managing what God has placed into our hands for the work He has entrusted for us to carry out for Him. As a steward, the Christian is the manager, not the owner. He is the one entrusted, not the one who owns the trust.
Stewardship involves all of life as we live it out in our families, churches, society, and marketplaces. Stewardship is not confined only to church or what we put in the offering plate. Oh, it does involve that–but it’s much more! Stewardship is faithfully managing all that God has placed into your hands in all the vocations He has placed you to serve.
What Motivates Us in Faithful Stewardship?
In my experience, guilt has often been the motivator when it comes to the stewardship of money and congregational giving. When it comes to getting people to give, guilt often works. After all, we might ask, why shouldn’t someone “feel guilty” for not giving sacrificially as he should be giving, as Scripture tells us to do?
But everything is not always as it seems. Guilt is a merciless motivator, effective only in the short run. He’s a tough disciplinarian with dwindling returns. When guilt motivates someone, it is like burning regular gasoline in a car designed for premium. At first, you may not notice any difference; in truth, the first fill up is cheaper! Eventually, however, the engine begins to clog, power decreases, and the wheels stop rolling.
We should not see stewardship in a legalistic way, which stresses giving but overlooks the strength of one’s faith. The true goal of a “stewardship program” is not to increase giving by our members–as much as that is needed! No, “stewardship” is all about increasing the depth of faith in our members. That needs the Gospel!
The power of God’s grace at work through the Gospel is what motivates us to be faithful stewards. That’s what motivates us in all areas of Christian life. Knowing that your “mission” in life is to be faithful, as a manager of what God has given you, you ask, “How do I best manage what God has entrusted to me?”
Congregation Expenses and Stewardship
Your offerings to Shepherd of theHillsLutheranChurchare only part of what God has given you to do. What you choose to put in the offering plate each week is a result of how much you value God’s Word and Sacraments. The New Self given you in Christ will see worship (the Divine Service) as the most-important hour of your week. It’s to be the center of your life from which your Christian works flow. Of course, the old sinful self will despise and resent anything the church asks you to do, including tithes and offerings.
What is the solution? Jesus. The more “jesused” you get, the more He feeds and strengthens your New Self in the Holy Spirit. That’s what motivates you to live out the faith in a vibrant and fuller way. Your offerings are simply part of this.
Joyful Stewardship
So, the way to have joy in your giving is to have joy welling up within you. Don’t mistake joy for happiness. Happiness comes and goes and is a fleeting emotion. Joy runs deeps and undergirds you with hope, even if you are suffering from depression. Joy, because it runs deeply, comes from a strong faith consistently fed by Word and Sacrament and taught God’s truths. Such joy-filled faith has even been tempered in the fires of God’s testing and has come out all the stronger.
In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says, “First, seek thekingdomofGodand His righteousness.” Jesus is saying, more than anything else, that this needs to be first in your life: seeking His kingdom and righteousness! And where do you find that? Where Jesus comes to you every week in Word and Sacrament to give it to you.
With Jesus feeding and strengthening you, as you ponder how to be faithful in all that God has given you to do, joyful stewardship will result. May such happen in your life–in all the areas where God has called you to serve! Amen.
