Reflection on Biblical Theology of Stewardship, Series 1

Ngaitun Chow (Tom) 63B

MM502PPHB, Fall 2013

Session #1: Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs, A Biblical Theology of Stewardship

Reflection on Biblical Theology of Stewardship

            I am convinced that the most crucial question about stewardship is: “Who is God?” Without answering this question truthfully and seriously with all that I know, all that I am, and all that I can, I cannot answer: “How should we spend God’s money?” As a partnership program student, I am humbled by the deepening relationship and the increasing experience with God whom I can know Him more and more in new ways that He promises, provides, and partnership with me and my fellows. Indeed, He is the Creator and Owner. He created everything (Gen.1:1, Act.17:24, Rev.4:11), and still He owns everything (Exo.19:5, Psa.50:12), things we possess and things we desire. He is the God of every covenantal promises found in the Scripture. He is the God who provides my everyday spiritual and physical needs, and He is the God who calls my sixteen partners and three churches and I into partnership. I can never receive from anyone more than He gave, and my partners can never give anything more than what we receive from Him.

Who we are? We are stewards of everything God creates and owns. As steward of God I am a caretaker, a manager, and a worker of God’s treasures and resources, namely the Gospel, gifts, time, physical body, money, and indeed everything on earth we are mandated to care for. The Bible teaches us quite often about money. According to SALEM VOICE MINISTRIES, “The Bible devotes some 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, but over 2000 verses on money and possessions.” However, American churches are facing great challenge as this statistics shows, “Among those who attend church every week, only 16% were taught that it is wrong to want a lot of money, while 86% said, “I wish I had more money than I do” (Robert Wuthnow, 1993).

One of the reasons behind the decline of quality of faithful stewardship is due to lack or absent of preaching and teaching in this “sensitive”, “private”, or “personal” area in the evangelicals in America. As Wuthnow continue to reveal about the American Christians, “money is considered too personal to be discussed openly. The darkest taboo in our culture is not sex or death, but money… The proportion who seldom discussed personal finances with fellow church people was 97%” (Wuthnow, 1993). To redeem these lost battles, the faith community ought to openly and authentically teach and discuss about stewardship, and to address the heart of disciples, with the hard teachings, about hot issues. Scriptures that addressing to the heart of disciples can be, “You shall not covet” (Exo.20:17), “Be on your guard against all kinds of greed” (Luk.12:15); the hard teachings can be, “Let your character be free from the love of money” (Heb.13:5), “But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains” (1Tim.6:9-10).  

Lastly I have to ask myself whether the character qualities of a good steward are clear in my life. Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven” (Mat. 7:21). Am I being faithful, loyal, and taking care of God’s gifts carefully, cautiously, and diligently? I pray that Paul’s reminder to Timothy also remind myself and to carry it on, “there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it” (1Tim.6-8).