Stewards
March 3, 2001
We don’t have stewards in most areas of our lives anymore, but in a bygone day, stewards were tremendously important. In fact, the efficient operation of a household depended on the faithfulness and diligence of the steward. The steward was the official who controlled the affairs of a large household, overseeing the services at the master’s table, directing the household servants, and controlling the household expenses on behalf of the master. Without question, you’ll recognize this to be a powerful and very influential person.
If you remember the story of Joseph, in Egypt, when his brothers came, it was the steward who received the instruction about returning their money, and whom the brothers talked with when they found it and were very troubled by that discovery. It was the steward, named Eliezer, who would have been Abraham’s heir if Ishmael and Isaac had not been born. In Daniel, it is the steward of the king that the 4 Jewish men talked with about not eating the rich food and being able to have a more healthy diet, and who complied, reluctantly, fearing loss of his office and privilege if they were to appear to be wanting.
Stewardship is very important in the Christian life, as well and although we don’t use the term all that much, in general life, it is an important concept for us in 2001, too! It was for the Corinthian Christians and Paul had to bring them up short because their ideas were not rooted soundly on this subject.
Please turn with me to 1 Corinthians 4, and let’s unpack some of what Paul has to say to us today, and here, even as he had to say some things to the Corinthian Christians. We have a discussion in which he attacks self-sufficiency, self-satisfaction, and self-exaltation in any form. Paul is truly the humble servant of God, and has the most incredible measure of perspective about what is important.
Let’s look at the focus in the first few verses here.
v. 1- ministers of Christ- now that ‘could’ be read in several different ways with different messages. Some might read that in a way to emphasize their own importance as ministers of Christ, but that would be very much out of keeping with the context. The key word is not ‘ministers’; the key word is ‘Christ’. This is a term of ownership or possession, where Paul is emphasizing who he answers to.
Similarly, in the expressions ‘stewards of the mysteries of God’ can be read, and has been read over the years, in different ways. It could be read to emphasize the specialness of someone who understands or has these mysteries of God. But, again, that would be outside the proper context, and I believe you’ll recognize that as you put this chapter in the context of the 3 chapters that have come before, where Paul’s constant emphasis is on “Him” and identity coming from Him and accountability to Him. There’s absolutely NO space for emphasis on the individual as special. The focus here is that the mysteries belong to God, and they are stewards of those. A steward had to behave carefully. Remember the parable of the unfaithful steward, who was about to be removed from office because of abusing it and bringing a certain shame to his master and his master’s household? Stewardship carried heavy responsibility.
v. 2- the requirement of stewardship was to be faithful. A steward was a super servant. He was not an entity to himself. He had to behave in a way that was consistent with the master and the nature of the household.
v. 3, 4- was Paul being ‘cocky’ and self-assured? Not at all. When you understand the context, you don’t misunderstand Paul- so much of contemporary attacks on Paul come from not understanding the context and what he was really saying. His confidence, of course, is in God and he knows that he is answerable to God. This is a correct understanding of the steward’s role. The steward answered to the master and to no one else! He was exalted or condemned by the master of the household. This is what Paul is declaring.
v. 5- What a verse full of principles for us all! Hasty judgment is so prevalent and is what so many of us will do, on almost any issue. This is what the news media is ‘into’, and editorialists and commentators are always jumping into issues, often without doing their research very well.
In the true context of this letter, though, Paul is urging being slow in judgment and waiting for the whole story to come out. This, he acknowledges, doesn’t necessarily happen immediately. Sometimes it takes time! Wait and let the day of the Lord take care of things. This brings us to that idea of ‘the Day of reckoning,’ which he discussed in chapter 3. At that time, everything will be on the table, not just part facts or personal perceptions of facts.
1 Ti. 5. 24- not all facts are necessarily immediately available, so judgment will be incomplete and unfair. We need to be extremely careful about reactions to items on the news. I know how easy it is to get all churned up and it can really hurt!
Prov. 18.13- about answering a matter before having all details- it’s foolishness.
v. 6- interesting idea. He’s saying that there’s truth about being a steward that’s generally known. And he applied it to those who were their ministers so they would keep perspective straight. He’s telling them that if they understood stewardship, alone, it would destroy their argumentative and divisive ideas that they had been exalting.
v. 7- the key verse of the passage and the one that we need to most focus on. Apply this to yourself. What do you have that you didn’t receive? What are you that you didn’t receive? We all go around in life as we have really done a lot and contributed a lot. But where does your individuality come from? Where does your personality come from? Where do your qualities come from? You received it all!
Ps. 139.13-16- I’m currently reading “Discover Your God-Given Gifts” by Don & Katie Fortune. This is what they write about this important passage: “Our giftedness was not an afterthought. It was a part of God’s plan to shape us for our role in the building of His Kingdom….What a magnificent expression of the design and development of the child in the womb! God uses what scientists now call DNA in the process. When a child is conceived half of his DNA inheritance comes from the father and half from the mother. And in that microscopic fertilized egg the joined DNA forms a helix-shaped genetic ladder that is literally six feet long. Yet it is marvelously compacted within that tiny egg. How incredible!
“Every detail of our physical being is programmed by DNA. Its intricacies far outweigh the most sophisticated computer system on the market today. The color of your hair was pre-programmed by your DNA. The shape of your nose, your height, your body frame, all your physical characteristics were determined at that moment of conception.
“If God has so precisely planned for the development of your physical body- which is eventually subject to degeneration and death- how much more has He planned for your giftedness. We believe that our motivational gifts are given to us at conception and that just as DNA eventually brings forth our physical characteristics, so our motivational gifts bring forth the interests, abilities, enthusiams, and actions that make us effective members of the Body of Christ.” (p. 22, 23). Then they go on to discuss some fascinating studies of twins that indicate more about this.
What I got from this, and do believe is true, is that God IS involved in every life on the earth. His purpose is for every life to be involved in His Kingdom and in the work of the Kingdom. He has the plan, as He works with the individuals, to get them there, despite and in spite of the horrific physical conditions that some live in, because of the impact of sin in their area.
v. 8- the Corinthian Christians had put all their focus on themselves and what they thought they could learn, do and be all by themselves. But they needed to get perspective straight. They needed to look up to Him- to God- and to draw from him.
v. 14- Paul was not concerned with shaming them but with helping them. He wanted them to know that it wasn’t all about them, as they seemed to think it was. It’s about a different perspective, and they needed to adopt that perspective. It wasn’t about best speakers or handsomest ministers. It wasn’t about which idea ‘they’ preferred, or which speaking style ‘they’ preferred. It wasn’t about ‘their’ preferred method as opposed to another someone’s preferred method. It all was about God and what He had in mind.
This is a difficult concept for people then… or now, for that matter. We are used to being the centre. And we’re used to making the determinations. We’re used to telling God what we’ll give him and what we’ll not. It’s tough for us to accept that He has the right to tell us! We don’t like that very much, but it’s true, nonetheless. We like to pick and choose our scriptures to obey- and we all do that to some degree. (We’re talking about worship in tomorrow’s council meeting- and one thing scripture says about worship is ‘lift holy hands.’ Some of us might say ‘we won’t’, but then we’d be against scripture, but we justify it for whatever reasons. Scripture tells us that we need to be in church regularly, but some of us don’t like that too much and make our excuses why we can’t be- especially in the summer, for some reason, as if God and the Kingdom work of a congregation stops in the summer.) So, we all pick and choose, to some degree, and are guilty of the same thing that the Corinthians Christians were. It’s important to identify, in scripture, how it does apply to us!
So, let’s talk about our personal stewardships for a bit.
What have you received? What has God given to you? Think about it and let’s make a list. It can get rather personal, can’t it? It should, shouldn’t it? Remember the idea that you don’t have anything that wasn’t received- that wasn’t given. It all came from God. So, it’s hard not to be incredibly humble before God about this. When you get to it, this was the response that Paul was urging for the Corinthian Christians and is the proper response for us, too! We need humility before God, rather than to be all self possessed and self-concerned and self-sufficient.
So, how about some of the areas of your stewardship; let’s list them- (audience participation)!
Let’s pray with thanks about these areas of our lives.
Conclusion:
I call you to faithfulness about stewardship and in all areas of your stewardship. It’s not just about money, which we sometimes understand because we use that word in our church circles. It’s about everything! It’s about our bodies, and minds. It’s about relationships with God… and with people around us. It’s about homes, cars, furniture, and everything we have. We have received everything and are stewards of all that. Whether physical or spiritual, we’ve received it all- and are not to act as if we earned it by our own efforts or got it somehow by ourselves. We have because God, in incredible graciousness, has given to us.
I’m asking each of you to take those areas of stewardship that you’ve become aware of today, to God’s throne-room this week and to offer them there. In the spirit of becoming living sacrifices, place each area of stewardship on the altar of sacrifice and offer it to God! Ask God to direct you in your use and in your stewardship. Through this, you, like the Corinthians, will make a gigantic leap in your Christian life. You’ll rise to the occasion of your calling and will delight more in God who has given unendingly and with forethought to you!
