Last Days and Stewardship

The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has been greatly disruptive, to say the least, and the total adverse affect of this pandemic is still very much unknown. While the government is doing all that it can to subsidize the crushing blow to the economy, it doesn’t appear to be enough. Many small businesses are wiped out; millions of Americans are out of jobs; people’s savings are being depleted; and there doesn’t seem to be any great solution to this crisis.

• The economic fallout of the pandemic is staggering and unprecedented in our lifetimes.

• The COVID-19 pandemic has caused the biggest blow to the US economy since the Great Depression.

• GDP fell at a 32.9% annualized rate, the deepest decline since records began back in 1947.

• 30.2 million Americans were receiving unemployment checks in the week ending July 11.

Now, back to the connection between “Last Days” and “Stewardship”… Here is the simple and powerful connection. Because we expect our Savior’s return in the future, rather than hunker-down and batten-down the hatches waiting with fear and trepidation, instead let us be compelled, more than ever, to accomplish the work that God has given us, His Church, His Bride, before He comes for us. But how we balance our personal needs during these tough times verses committing to putting forth our means in furthering the gospel would require some wisdom.

How to find the balance between stewardship and survival

The word stewardship, if you look it up in the dictionary, it’s defined as the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially, the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care. And the word steward is defined as one who actively directs affairs; manager.

So, stewardship is the management of something that isn’t yours but managing it, caring for it, and tending to it, as if it is yours (or maybe better than if it is yours). And a steward is not an owner but a manager.

That being said, even though stewardship is usually associated with money and financial resources, we are stewards of many things. Regardless of your religious beliefs, we are all stewards of this earth, our time, relationships, our influence, talents, skills, and many other things.

For the sake of this article though, Let’s focus for a moment on financial resources. God has blessed each of us with certain amount of financial means, some greater than others. And He requires us to show forth Who is the source of those means by way of us returning our tithes and offerings. In light of present financial woes, many are in a survival mode and are inclined to focus on their own needs at the neglect of doing what God is requiring us to do.

So how do we strike the balance of managing for out needs in light of our everyday reality of just trying to survive and also be faithful to our calling as Christians?

A balance can be achieved if we keep the core principles of stewardship in mind: We are not the owners but managers.

Ownership

The psalmist begins the 24th Psalm with,

“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.”

In the beginning of Genesis, God creates everything and puts Adam in the Garden to work it and to take care of it. It is clear that man was created to work and that work is the stewardship of all of the creation that God has given him.

This is the fundamental principle of biblical stewardship. God owns everything, we are simply managers or administrators acting on his behalf.

Therefore, stewardship expresses our obedience regarding the administration of everything God has placed under our control, which is all encompassing. Stewardship is the commitment of one’s self and possessions to God’s service, recognizing that we do not have the right of control over our property or ourselves.    

Echoing Deuteronomy 8:17, we might say: “And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.” But Deuteronomy 8:18 counsels us to think otherwise:

“But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day.”

If we’re managers, not owners, then we are responsible for what has been placed in our care. Taking that responsibility seriously and managing what we have with the utmost level of care is our duty as managers. Like the servants in the Parable of the Talents, we will be called to give an account of how we have administered everything we have been given, including our time, money, abilities, information, wisdom, relationships, and authority. We will all give account to the rightful owner as to how well we managed the things he has entrusted to us.

The principle of reward

In Colossians 3:23-24 Paul writes:

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

The Bible shows us in the parables of the Kingdom that faithful stewards who do the master’s will with the master’s resources can expect to be rewarded incompletely in this life, but fully in the next.

We all should long to hear the master say what he exclaims in Matthew 25:21:

“His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.”

As Christians in the 21st century, we need to embrace this larger biblical view of stewardship, which goes beyond church budgets or building projects, though important; it connects everything we do with what God is doing in the world.

We need to be faithful stewards of all God has given us within the opportunities presented through his providence to glorify him, serve the common good and further his Kingdom.

We cannot afford to be faithful

It is imperative, especially when times are toug
h, that we should practice faithful stewardship. It is when we acknowledge our role and managers of God’s means that we can also expect God to honor our faithfulness.

Remember

“Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto.” — Deuteronomy 15:10