Owner or Steward?
The Key to Following Christ
by Blake Jennings, Southwood Teaching Pastor
I've not always been the most responsible driver. Toward the end of college, I bought a Nissan 240 with a stick shift. It was the closest thing I'd ever owned to a sports car. I drove that car much too fast, especially on winding roads. It was great fun until while driving on a heavily wooded two-lane road, I encountered an unexpected wet patch on a tight corner. I lost control and plowed my car into a guardrail. While my body was unhurt, my car and my pride never quite recovered!
Fast-forward five years. For two months, a friend graciously let me borrow his pristine Civic SI - a shockingly fast version of an otherwise staid four-door compact. The car was much quicker than my old Nissan. And yet, I never pushed it. I never redlined the engine. I never found out how fast it could take a blind corner. I never even thought of racing it. Why? Because it wasn't mine! I was only borrowing it for a short time. It was a gracious gift on loan. So I pampered that car. I was wise with it. I treated it well - much better than my own car. And when the two months were up, I returned it in perfect condition. The reality that the car was not mine radically altered how I treated it.
To use biblical language, I was a steward of that car. A steward is one who manages someone else's stuff - their property, finances, business, household, car, etc.. The steward does not own the stuff. The steward manages the stuff wisely to maximize the owner's benefit.
According to the New Testament, all believers are stewards. All that we own actually belongs to Christ. My life, my abilities, my time, my wealth ... none of these are mine! As Psalm 24:1 plainly states, "The earth is the LORD'S, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it."
To grow as a follower of Christ we must recognize that reality. We must see everything in our lives as a gracious gift from God on loan to us. It's not ours to use as we see fit. It's all His, and we are responsible to faithfully invest His gifts for His profit. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:2, "...it is required of stewards that they be found faithful." It is required of us as stewards of Christ that we invest the life, talents, wealth, and time He has graciously given us on this earth toward His profit; toward the growth of His kingdom and His fame. That is our first and foremost calling in this life. Engineer, teacher, homemaker, doctor, mechanic... your profession is simply the context in which you live out your calling as a steward of Jesus. Your job is secondary. Being a good steward is primary, and this is what Jesus Himself will evaluate when He returns.
So, for the next four Sundays we will discover together what it means to be a good steward, to invest our lives, talents, wealth, and time for Jesus Christ. In preparation, be praying that God would help you to relinquish ownership of the things in your life that you've mistakenly assumed belong to you. Pray that He would show you what exactly He desires of you as His steward. Pray that He would do whatever it takes to grow you in faithfulness so that when He returns, you may hear from Him, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
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