Stewardship is a multifaceted concept relevant to theology, ministry, neighborly love, and leadership. While I have touched upon stewardship in previous blog posts, it’s important to delve deeper into its meaning and underlying assumptions.
First, What Is A Steward?
One of the clearest explanations of stewardship comes from Helge Brattgard in God’s Stewards: A Theological Study of the Principles and Practices of Stewardship. Brattgard defines stewardship as “the willingness of church members to take active responsibility in the service of the church through a voluntary contribution of time, money, and natural gifts” (Brattgard, 2). This definition can be broadened beyond church membership to encompass a wider range of individuals. The key takeaway is that stewardship is more than just monetary contributions; it also involves dedicating one’s time and utilizing one’s natural abilities. These abilities include vocations, passions, gifts, opportunities, and talents of all kinds. Therefore, stewardship can be seen as the practice, expression, belief, and study of offering one’s time, money, and talents in service to others, especially in the context of ministry, where it is in service to God.
Theologically speaking, stewardship goes beyond simply serving God. It is rooted in the belief that everything we possess and everything we are has been entrusted to us by God. Our time, talents, and resources are entrusted to us to be managed responsibly in service to others. This leads to a crucial question:
What Does it Mean to Be a Steward?
One depiction of stewardship
A visual representation contrasting ownership versus stewardship, highlighting the responsibility of managing resources for the benefit of others.
While I could offer my own interpretation, my friends Rev. Chick Lane and Grace Duddy provide an excellent answer. They explain that “A steward, by definition, cannot be the owner. A steward is a person who takes care of that which belongs to another. A steward is a manager of someone else’s property. A steward is the trustee of that which is owned by someone else.” This underscores the idea of being entrusted with something valuable. It also emphasizes the relationship between stewards and the one who entrusts them, which in the Christian context, is God. Duddy and Lane further explain that “God owns everything and has seen fit to entrust some of God’s stuff into our care, our management, our stewardship.”
Rev. Chick Lane and Grace Duddy’s perspectives on stewardship offer valuable insights. When you combine these understandings of stewardship and what it means to be a steward, one’s view of the relationship with God, creation, money, possessions, and others undergoes a profound transformation. It necessitates moving beyond basic definitions and delving into a deeper understanding.
This leads us to consider how we perceive money and resources. Do we believe we live in a world of abundance or scarcity? How does this belief impact our faith and our relationship with God? How does it shape our interpretation of scripture?
Rev. Chick Lane, a theologian whose insights contribute to understanding the role of a steward in relation to faith and resources.
Chick Lane and Grace Duddy offer a helpful synthesis of these ideas in their post on “The Bible, Stewardship and Money“. Here are their key conclusions:
“Stewardship is about how you understand yourself to be in relation with God. Do you understand God to be a generous loving God who has entrusted more into your care than you could ever deserve or exhaust? Or do you understand God as one who must be appeased by you diminishing your already scarce possessions through giving some to the church, because you really ought to? Is your relationship with God characterized by abundance or by scarcity?
Stewardship is also about how you understand yourself to be in relation with the rest of creation. Do you live so that you can make the lives of other people and the created order richer through encounters with you? Or do you live in competition with other people for a finite pool of resources? Is your life invested in others, or is your life invested in yourself?
Stewardship rightly understood is about money, but it is also about these very basic spiritual matters. The writers of the Bible understood that money and possessions have a distinct hold on our hearts and what we do with the money that God has entrusted to us has the capacity to affect not only us, but our neighbors and communities. The Bible invites us to use the money and possessions that God has entrusted to us to love our neighbors and by doing so enrich our relationship with God” (Grace Duddy & Chick Lane, 2014).
Grace Duddy, whose perspective alongside Chick Lane’s, emphasizes the importance of spiritual matters in understanding and practicing stewardship.
In conclusion, being a steward involves recognizing that we are entrusted with resources, talents, and time that ultimately belong to God. It requires a shift in perspective from ownership to responsible management, guided by a belief in abundance and a commitment to serving others and enriching the world around us. Stewardship is not just about money; it’s about our relationship with God, creation, and our fellow human beings. It is a call to live a life of purpose, generosity, and responsible use of the gifts we have been given.
Resources and Sources:
Helge Brattgard, God’s Stewards: A Theological Study of the Principles and Practices of Stewardship, trans. Gene J. Lund, (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1963), 2.
Chick Lane & Grace Duddy, “The Bible, Stewardship and Money,” (2 January 2014), http://www.enterthebible.org/blog.aspx?m=3783&post=2982.
