Stewardship is a principle that exemplifies the responsible planning and management of possessions, real or otherwise. The concepts of stewardship can be applied to the environment, nature, economics, health, property, information, theology, cultural resources, and anything that a person might be responsible for. First Peter 4:10-11 describes stewardship stating, “As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” Good stewardship started very early in the Bible with Genesis 2:15 telling us, God took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Even before the Garden of Eden, it was God’s intent that man was to be good stewards. In the very first Book of Genesis verse 29 states, “And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and overall the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” The phrase “let them have dominion” means man will have sovereignty and control. And the word sovereignty means to have supreme power and authority. How much plainer can it be that God expects us to take care of things and to be “Good Stewards.” It would be difficult to argue that God did not give us a special responsibility to guard the earth and all things on it. In the creation story, it would be easy for us humans to argue that we rank right up there near God. He gave us an awesome power and responsibility during his sixth day of work. This awesome power and responsibility have to be approached with great caution and respect. Psalm 8:3-5 gives more reason for caution telling us, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You ordained, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him (man) a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor.” This being just lower than angels means we were made to rule over God’s creation, remembering that we will always be accountable to God for our actions and totally dependent upon God for our existence. Mankind runs a risk of becoming headstrong and believing we may have had some responsibility in the actual creation. God is totally responsible for all of creation and is the sole owner of everything including us. We are here to assist God in the care of all things and in return God allows us to enjoy everything that He created. Man sometimes will invent something or discover something but we must remember that it was a gift or ability or intelligence that God gave us that allowed these actions. We may have accomplished an event but God made it possible. So really, we did nothing and were only privileged to take part in the event. Many times, we forget that God is involved in everything. The most important thing we have to remember is that God’s stewards (Us) are managers and not owners. God’s stewards have been honored by God with life and life’s resources.
“According to scripture, God created Earth for mankind and we are now stewards of His creation. This means it is our responsibility to look after and take care of this world. We should accept this responsibility and appreciate God’s gift of creation for being our home. Our stewardship of creation involves the caretaking of the environment and animals as well as our families and communities. Being a good steward in this world is one way of expressing our love for God and our gratitude to Him.” (Staff, 2020) “For Christians, stewardship is about recognizing where our resources come from and what we should do with them. Understanding—and practicing—good stewardship is a crucial part of becoming mature followers of Jesus. It helps us develop a more complete picture of our relationship to God and prioritize our finances, values, and lives around the things that matter most. “ (Nelson, 2021) “We are each and all uniquely gifted by God in a variety of ways. Owning up to those gifts, especially talents and abilities, is not prideful or egotistical but true humility when we credit God with our gifts and put them in His service. (Vetter, n.d.) Having a talent to sing, play an instrument, enjoying a gift of medicine or accounting, and many other talents are all gifts from God. These gifts should be shared and not flaunted “Our unique gifts include our very lives and the time we have been given, our faith and the Church, our relationships, our work and vocations, our abilities and interests, experiences and passions, our intellects and personalities, our money and possessions, the environment and our citizenship, even our obstacles, weaknesses and mistakes. Once we realize how generous God has been to us, we respond with gratitude by developing all our gifts to their full potential, using them well to serve others, building up the kingdom of God, and sharing them generously in proportion to what we have been given.” (Vetter, n.d.)
What about stewardship that doesn’t take its start in the Bible? Is there stewardship that does not involve some religious aspect? As Christians, our main allegiance is in the Kingdom of God, but we are also responsible to the country that we live in. We are extremely fortunate to live in the United States of America where freedoms are many. As Christians, we have certain biblical obligations, certain rights, and many responsibilities to the local, state, and federal government. The Bible confirms that “all men are created equal” as stated in the Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately for the majority of the world, most nations are not created equal and lack in many things, with differences in laws, rulers, and ethics. Many countries have ceased to be legitimate and now enjoy a tyrannical, unbiblical, ungodly power over their people. There are many things that we disagree with when it comes to being governed. How will we as Christians respond or act if America is allowed to leave many of our freedoms behind? How will we maintain our Christian stewardship if we allow America to continue moving away from God and becoming more tyrannical and ungodly? To answer some of these questions we need to consider the theology of citizenship and if we are truly good stewards. John Repsold in the series “Christian Citizenship” has the following advice. “We are to “do all” for the glory of God—I Corinthians 10:31. This must include politics. (See also 2 Timothy 2:17—equipped for ‘every good work.’ God cares about secular government and leaders. (See Daniel 4:27; Paul w/ Felix in Acts 24:24-25) Preaching “the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:26-27) must include preaching about civil government. The word “king” is used 112 times in just Psalms, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. If the Bible is not relevant to the pressing political questions of our day, how will people believe it is relevant to other pressing issues? Pastors throughout history have preached about politics. This is nothing new.” (Repsold, 2020) First Peter 2:15-16 states, “For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: as free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God.” And then First Peter 4:10 reminds us, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace:”