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Stewardship
Introduction:
When Jordan asked me to speak, I won’t lie, it seemed intriguing to me. In my eyes it seemed like an opportunity to present myself to the church in a meaningful way. Initially we touched on the idea in June and I was slated to speak in August so I had the whole summer to prepare and along with a few other speaking opportunities I was excited to see what the summer held. Although I have no regrets I’ll be honest when I tell you I embarrassed myself on stage more than a few times but it wasn’t because of my speaking ability but rather my inability to steward it well and taking accountability by failing to separate my ego and the
true reason as to why I gifted this opportunities which is why on top of accountability I decided to include the topic of stewardship in this sermon as well.
In order to receive accountability, one must also have a reason to receive it in the first place. Otherwise the accountability that was intended for growth could easily be turned into condemnation which could steer any Christian, seasoned, beginner, or otherwise, away from
the faith entirely. So before we even touch the topic of accountability I want to take some time to discuss stewardship first.
Every Christian no matter how long someone has been in the faith will go through trials and testing so that one will become more aligned with God and his will and have his faith strengthened for the greater things to come. This is outlined in the book of first Peter chapter one verse seven:
1 Peter 1:7 ESV
so that the tested genuineness of your faith more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Often the term “test” is associated with a negative connotation. Many of us think that when we are tested it is a time for immediate suffering. If you only look at times of drought as a chance for growth you’ll only be growing half the time. Even times of surplus can be utilised as a time for growth in ways you may never have even thought of.
Many of us make the mistake of thinking that the grace and giftings of God are rights.
This is a mistake in judgement that even I have made. One of the biggest issues with that is we will not steward the good things given and often become ungrateful because we feel entitled towards it. When in reality the blessings we receive from God are privileges that we can easily take for granted.
Which leads me into my first point:
“The level of privilege felt by a blessing will be directly reflected in how that blessing is stewarded”
When I was seventeen my Dad bought me my first car, a 2007 mazda3, I still have dreams about that car. I could use the car to get to practices, hang with my friends, etc. But the car was registered under his name. Everything else was my responsibility. The gas, the maintenance, the potential repairs etc. This is a similar situation many of us may have been
through where when a parent pays for something, gives it to you, but it isn’t really yours. And just like the blessings of God, my gratefulness was reflected in how I treated that car, and when I wasn’t responsible the car was taken away. That car wasn’t given to be mine but it
was my responsibility to manage. And when I finally started to steward my car well, I saw the privilege behind it and the reasons to be thankful for it.
Second Point:
“The feelings of gratitude will be the fueled by the actions of gratitude”
Has anyone ever heard the term: “Have an attitude of gratitude”? I personally think that this term is somewhat ridiculous. Gratitude is a feeling, one cannot achieve the feeling of anything without taking the necessary steps to get to that feeling. If you want to feel healthy and confident that won’t be achieved without the lifestyle changes necessary to get there.
Wanting to be thankful is an active choice, this is highlighted in Psalms:
Psalm 118:24 ESV
“This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
It didn’t say: “This is the day that the Lord has made, I’m automatically happy”. It says: “let us rejoice and be glad in it”. You can pray for a relationship, money, a car, a job, whatever it may be, and we may receive in ways we can’t imagine. But how we exist with those blessings in our space is up to us because our free will allows for choice.
Our choices and perspectives of our relationships ultimately fuel a lot of the decisions we make while navigating through life. As well as how we determine we determine whether something given from God is a blessing or curse.
Final point on stewardship:
“Your relationship with your gift is proportional to your relationship with the giver”
Now, we’re gonna get personal with this part. I’m gonna ask you a question, and I want you to be honest with yourself. I know that can be a difficult thing at times, but the theme of this sermon, as much as it is accountability and stewardship, this sermon also
follows the theme of self-reflection. It says in James that he who reads the word but doesn’t apply it to his life is like a man who looks in the mirror, and forgets his face.
James 1:23-24 ESV
“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks
intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.
There are eight billion people in this world, that means there are eight billion
reflections of God and that includes everyone in this room. So when you self-reflect you are looking at an image of God. When you look in the mirror and you see something on your face you remove it, correct? Okay, so as I ask you this, don’t be afraid to look.
Okay I want you all to close your eyes, now I want you to imagine that you’re struggling. You have no food, no money, no home. Now I want you to imagine someone who has hurt you deeply, someone you have considerable distaste for. It’s okay if you have one, you don’t have to like everyone. Even if you forgave them. Now this person walks up to you and hands you a stack of money and says “Go buy yourself something to eat, this is a gift from me to you”. Now I’m sure you remember you aren’t the biggest fan of this person. How are you going to perceive this gift? Is it a blessing or is it patriotism from someone who has hurt you? If you took the offering as patriotism that would make sense because of the perception that you have of the person who gave it to you.
Now I want you to imagine that same scenario with Jesus, with the context of your personal relationship and perspective on him. Is it a blessing, or do you feel patronized?
Whatever your answer may be, keep it to yourself and use it as a personal reference moving forward for the remainder of this section.
For the last section of stewardship we’re gonna focus on the Parable of the Talents, Matthew 25:14-30. I’m sure many of you have heard this parable but to summarize it: A long time ago a man gave his three servants an amount of money according to the ability of each.
The currency was referred to as a “talent”. To paint a picture of how much those are worth
one “talent” would be equivalent to roughly 2.5 Million dollars Canadian. The master set out on a trip and instructed each of the servants to watch over what he had given them until he had returned.
We’re gonna break this down into two sections, verses fourteen to twenty-three is gonna be the first section and verses twenty-four to thirty will be the second section.
The Parable of the Talents ESV (First Section)
(14) “For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. (15) To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each
according to his ability. Then he went away. (16) He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. (17) So also he who had the two
talents made two talents more. (18) But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. (19) Now after a long time the master of those
servants came and settled accounts with them. (20) And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ (21) His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’(22) And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master,
you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ (23) His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’
Now it’s clear that the first two servants understood the assignment. They took what was given, stewarded it well, doubled it, and came back glad and excited to show their master what they had done. It’s clear from this that they had a good relationship with their master and wanted to bless him in return for the blessings that were given. As a result of their faithfulness, the master in turn trusted them with more than what they could have asked for.
He expressed this to both servants in saying “You have been faithful over little; I will set you over much” In comparison to what was given to both of these servants this small act of reliability set them up for a bountiful relationship with their master. Small acts are referred throughout scripture expressing that a small gesture can move mountains but the opposite can do just the same.
Luke 16:10 ESV
“One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.”
Stewardship, in the eyes of God, is not just an expression of faithfulness but an expression of trustworthiness. He cannot trust you to carry more if you’re constantly dropping the ball. Yes, there is grace but there is a difference between humanness and carelessness.
Moving on to the next section:
Parable of the Talents ESV (Second Section)
(24) He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, (25) so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’
(26) But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed? (27) Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and at my coming I should have received what was my
own with interest. (28) So take the talent from him and give it to him who has the ten talents.
(29) For to everyone who has will more be given, and he will have an abundance. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. (30) And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
The final servant obviously didn’t carry the same mentality towards the master as the other two did. Having a harsh perception of his master filled his heart with fear and caused him to bury the gift he was given into the ground. Resulting in him angering his master due to his lack of faith and stewardship. It's seen in scripture that the servant describes his master as a “hard man” going even further to use descriptions that would paint him as a selfish master. This is a perfect example of how your faith in God’s blessings and calling on your life is directly impacted by your relationship with the Father. The story ends with him losing his
blessing and being cast into the place that will have weeping and gnashing of teeth. The same description of hell that is used multiple times throughout Matthew and once in Luke.
Luke 13:28 ESV
“28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out.”
So drawing back to the answer of the question that was initially asked at the beginning of this section. What feelings arose when you received the money? Do you carry resentment of the blessing because of the unjust resentment that you hold towards God? Do you take the blessings of God and instead of stewarding them do you bury them under ground out of fear of failure? Many of us will rationalize our procrastination claiming that we will get to it when it is the right time. I do this too but a hard pill we must all swallow is this:
“The only difference between disobedience and delay is that disobedience has three more syllables”
Stewardship in our lives is vitally important to not just the believer but the
non-believer. In simple terms, stewarding over something no matter what they may be is to
have the discipline to follow through with something to the best of our abilities. It’s necessary in our jobs, school, families, relationships, and from a Godly perspective more than anything: The Church.
Overseeing and stewardship of the church and its many roles is very important for the church to keep moving, but in order to keep it moving on the right path requires something that is just as important if not more so than stewardship. And that vital piece is called:
Accountability
When a relationship fails, and you go to one of the parties and ask them: why did it fail? What’s the most common response? “He did this….” or “she did that…”. It’s very rare for anyone to say: “It was my fault”. I’m not saying that admitting blame is an easy thing to do. It takes a lot of humility to be able to admit such a thing, and when you go online and look up the common reasons why relationships fail you’ll see a myriad of answers.
70% of all unmarried couples break up within the first year, 40 - 50% of all couples in and outside of the church divorce, and that number increases every time they get remarried.
When this couple were approached after the break up it was concluded that lack of commitment was the #1 reason for relationship failure. In other words: fear of long term accountability.
No one, myself included sometimes, wants to be held accountable for their actions.
The reason why we’re held accountable in so many contexts of our lives is because even though it doesn’t always feel good, it's necessary for self-growth.
Biblical accountability starts from within and ends with him. In order for one to be
accountable for their actions that same person must possess a quality many proclaim to have but only dwells in the silent. Humbleness. God has given us free will, and with that will we have the choice to submit ourselves to each other. The word “submit” in today's society is viewed negatively. Many people myself included struggle with the putting down of our pride and we blame God because we aren’t where we would like to be. How many of us, I ask myself this too, have chosen to silence the words of those called by God to help us because we refuse to look in the mirror? We think these people know nothing because they aren’t in our shoes. But when we deny the people that God has chosen to represent him, Jesus states that it's just as good as denying Jesus if he were in the flesh.
Luke 10:16 ESV
“The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”
Accountability is one of only things in all of scripture that God has given us full control over. Living in the community provides us with that choice. This aspect of the church unlike all the others provides a certain level of conviction that either forces you to improve or be left behind.
So essentially:
“Accountability is the mould that God uses to shape you into who you need to be”
Has anyone ever heard the term “solo Christian”? The term describes someone who is separate from the church but proclaims Jesus. It’s an interesting practice in theory but it's an arrogant mindset to hold. It's based on the idea that you don’t need anyone for growth but ultimately you’d be stunting your own growth because God uses other people to teach us. If everyone in the faith is of Christ, denial of the church is denial of Christ in turn. This is discussed all throughout scripture. Solomon discusses this in Ecclesiastes saying how the strength of many will always prevail over the strength of one.
Ecclesiastes 4: 9-11 ESV
“(9) Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. (10)
For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and
has not another to lift him up! (11) Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?”
Next Point:
“How can one speak for the body without being a part of it?”
The body of Christ is used by God to oversee the development of every single Christian. One of the most prominent problems with the church is that we tend to use a tier system. We use our humanistic standards to rate one’s “righteousness”. This unfortunate way
of thinking opens gateways for a lot of shame. Biblically that isn't outlined as the formula to Change. Jesus would rather focus on the goodness he provides by being transformed by him than scaring you with the punishment of eternal separation.
The process of change through continuous accountability can be described with the word: “Sanctification”. This process is the continuous and constant renewal of your spirit to be more like christ. Have you ever wondered why the closer you get to Christ, the more
sensitive you are to your sin? Moreover, the more frustrated you may feel with yourself when you do sin? That’s because you’re aware of not just what you’re doing but also who you’re hurting.
Here’s an example: One day you open up your fridge, and in there you see a tray of snacks. So you take one, later on your family member comes to you and says: ‘Hey, I saw that you took one of the cookies, I’m not mad because you didn’t know but please don’t take anymore those are mine’. The next day you walk into your kitchen and you see the tray in
the fridge again and even though before you may not have been at fault because you didn’t know the boundaries surrounding those cookies, you do now. So if you take one of those
cookies now you know you’ll feel a certain conviction behind that action because you know it was wrong and that you’ll be hurting your loved one. It’s the same thing with sin and Sanctification.
Although reading the word is incredibly important the process of sanctification
requires the external accountability of others. It’s clear biblically when this is referenced it is referring to the accountability of those from within the body.
Proverbs 27:17 ESV
“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another”
When receiving accountability it’s important to remember that yes it must stem from within the church, context matters. We are told to seek and give accountability within the church but the bible outlines that we are not being burnt at the stake. Similar to earlier we discussed how when we steward blessings, the relationship between the gifter and recipient matter accountability works in a similar fashion.
Although we are all the same in the eyes of Christ we are not all the same to one another. Meaning that when accountability is needed we must focus on God being the
example of what to be rather than making your brother the example of what not to be. So that we are properly guided to the right path with conviction and grace instead of making our
peers feel as if there is no path for them at all.
Many people can say the same thing to one person but the message may only stick when it is sent by one person. Relationship matters when it comes to the stewardship of helping one grow.
Which leads me into my next point:
“Accountability emphasizes growth and relationship, Condemnation emphasizes punishment and isolation”
The main reason why relationships are so vital in accountability is because Christ uses the safety of relationships within the church to reflect the safety of relationships with him.
Jesus is not physically with us to give us the tangible love and correction necessary for our change so he uses the church as a representation of him for us to give an account of our sins too.
Romans fourteen verse twelve says that each person is to “give an account of himself to God”. This wording that is used “an account of himself” directly implies that a relationship must be established with him in order to confess the sins we have committed.
And in that moment of submission God then provides a guiding hand to righteousness through him.
Romans 14:12 ESV
“So then each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.”
One thing that many of us seem to think is that one correction may work for the whole body. Although a wise master knows the abilities of his servants and knows how each servant should be tended to. It’s important to recognize that no matter the spiritual maturity, age, religious authority, or otherwise one thing is to be accepted and understood:
Next point:
“Not every Christian has the capability to hold every Christian accountable”
A fool cannot accept that he has to be taught, a wise person cannot get taught enough. God uses us in many capacities within his church but he has made it clear that he will not use us more than what our limits will permit. And when it comes to the topic of stewarding the growth of one another. It requires us to be humble enough to admit that the stewarding of our brothers in relation to holding them accountable may at one point or another be out of our depth and we must pass them on to someone who may be able to counsel them better than ourselves.
Many people, myself included at times may feel shame towards admitting that they need help from someone older and wiser out of a desire to show God that they are superior and don't need the assistance of others. But here’s the thing: If we were superior, we wouldn’t need saving.
It’s important as younger individuals that good mentorship should be sought after, yet at the same time those who have gone through the struggles of being young should model proper behavior to the young ones. This is outlined in Titus chapter two:
Titus 2: 1-3 ESV
“But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. (2) Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. (3) Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, “
This wisdom that we receive when we’re young is not just to be kept within us and given to the next generation but it is to be given to our peers as well. Yes, as important as it is to be guided by our elders, the root word of “relationship” is relate. And many young people have an issue with listening to their peers rather than their elders and scripture references this also when in Galatians Paul rebukes Peter for not living the life that he proclaims to live.
Galatians 2: 11-14 ESV
(11) But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. (12) For before certain men came from James, he was eating with the Gentiles; but when they came he drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. (13) And the rest of the Jews acted hypocritically along with him, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. (14) But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”
We are not called to judge one another but rather we are called to correct one another.
We are not called to judge or “fix” the lost. When one needs to be “corrected” that means
there is a correct way of doing things and often that person knows that what they are doing is wrong in the eyes of Christ they just need to be corrected. That is what the church is for,
because when we are on the outside looking in it we are able to see things that those distracted by sin cannot.
Matthew 18: 15-17 ESV
(15) “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. (16) But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses.”
As we hold each other accountable, it's wise to remember that our leaders must be held accountable as well. God will use certain people with certain gifts to guide the church to where he intends it to be. Not to imply that some gifts are important and others but those who have been placed in leadership positions are required to submit themselves to not lead the church astray. It is the responsibility of the leaders to have accountability above them but it is also the responsibility of the church to insure the Gospel preached soundly.
James 3:1 ESV
“Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”
Conclusion:
Accountability, although is one of the major pillars of the church it unfortunately is one the topics within the faith that is very rarely discussed. In order to maintain the progression of the church, its leaders, its impact in the world, and more we must steward the
giftings of one another as well as keeping one another accountable to the words we speak and living the Godly lives that we all claim to live.
Many people in the world claim to be living “their truth”. The major flaw that is to be found in that logic is: One can say their truth but exist in deception. What is the truth? It’s absolute, constant, consistent, applies to everyone, everywhere, in every situation no matter what it may be. And if Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life any other way of living is a direct contradiction of the truth as it says in first John chapter one verse six.
1 John 1:6 ESV
“If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.”
Let us be good stewards to one another and the growth of the body of Christ by celebrating one another and our achievements and correcting one another with gentleness, love, and compassion.
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