Studies in Stewardship

by Andrew Pust

Noah Webster was a very wise man. The dictionary he compiled for the English language showcases that wisdom in his reliance on God’s written Word for example and clarification of terms. His work has great depth because he didn’t limit the definitions to his own thoughts or common usage; he included God’s thoughts, thereby enriching our understanding far beyond mere words about words. Let’s consider his description of a steward.

STEWARD, n. [G., a room. The steward was then originally a chamberlain or a butler.]
1. A man employed in great families to manage the domestic concerns, superintend the other servants, collect the rents or income, keep the accounts, &c. See Gen 15:2 and 43:19.
2. An officer of state; as lord high steward; steward of the household, &c.
3. In colleges, an officer who provides food for the students and superintends the concerns of the kitchen.
4. In a ship of war, an officer who is appointed by the purser to distribute provisions to the officers and crew. In other ships, a man who superintends the provisions and liquors, and supplies the table.
5. In Scripture and theology, a minister of Christ, whose duty is to dispense the provisions of the gospel, to preach its doctrines and administer its ordinances.

It is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful. 1 Cor 4.

STEWARD, v.t. To manage as a steward. [Not in use.]

Webster begins by defining what a steward is by describing the various duties a steward is known to perform—each position mentioned is one of great responsibility. But responsibility alone does not make someone a steward. 1 Corinthians 4:2 says, “Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” Clearly faithfulness is an important requirement of stewardship. Why and how we fulfill our responsibility is of as much importance as the task itself. Therefore, a steward is a person who fulfills his responsibility faithfully, and stewardship is the fulfillment of a responsibility by a faithful person.

Hurray! We have a definition! But we have only just begun our journey towards an understanding of stewardship—our definition is more like a child’s stick drawing than a Rembrandt. Sure the object vaguely resembles a person—it has arms and legs, a body and a head, maybe some hair, but it would have been difficult for anyone else to recognize grandma without some serious coaching. So what kind of person is this steward? What is his station in life? What does fulfillment mean? Is that like success? What does faithful mean? What are the responsibilities we are talking about and who is giving the orders? What if I
don’t want any responsibility? Does a steward have options? As we find the answers to these questions in God’s Word, He will transform our stick figure into a color portrait, one that reveals from every angle the depth and importance of stewardship.

For this part of the journey, we join the disciples as they walk and talk with Jesus. In Luke 12:18 and following, we find Jesus and His disciples surrounded by such a crowd, and “. . . one of the company said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me. And he [Jesus] said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or a divider over you?” Jesus, who sees the heart, knew that this was more than a simple question of equality or due process. He replies, “Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.” Earlier we saw that stewardship is more than simply having responsibility. Here we find that stewardship is more than just having possessions. It is no accident that I substituted the word stewardship in the place of “a man’s life.” God’s Word from beginning to end teaches that every man is a steward of his own life, that God is the One who has assigned the responsibilities of that stewardship, and that God will hold each person accountable for how they fulfill that responsibility.

Covetousness is motivated by a belief that self is the most important entity in the universe and that as such one has the right to whatever he wants. Remember this all-about-me mindset as we read the story the Lord told in Luke 12:16–21: “The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

What person has not at one time or another wished to be rich? This man had spent his life to make that wish reality. He appears to have been a very hard working and shrewd businessman who owned some land that he farmed with great success. The result of his hard work was a bumper crop and the natural thing to do if one’s barns aren’t big enough is to build larger ones. After working hard his whole life, he sees an opportunity to retire. He plans to sit back and enjoy all the things that he didn’t have time to enjoy while he was gathering his riches: he was planning to use up what he had worked for on himself.

Jesus calls him a fool. Why? First, he left God out of his life. He lived as though he actually owned his fields, barns, and riches and that he had the right to do with them what he wanted. He was correct about owner’s rights, but dead wrong about ownership—his fields, barns, riches, and even his life belonged to God. What he considered his possessions, had been loaned to him by God, the true owner, to use for His purpose. Because the rich man did not fulfill his proper role as steward of God’s property, he wasted the precious time that was his life and departed this world with nothing. Second, he forgot he was mortal. Death puts an end to all ownership rights. And third, he assumed that his accomplishments equaled success.

But wait, if accomplishment doesn’t make me successful, what is the point of doing anything at all? We will consider this important question in greater detail later on. The rich fool arrived at his chosen destination of no worries only to find out that he was very sadly mistaken in his understanding of the purpose of life. In the next issue, we will see that unlike the rich fool who scraped and fought and slaved away to achieve a sense of security, we who are the servants of God can possess the greatest sense of security and freedom possible by trusting that God knows what we need and will see that those needs are met.