Measuring a Good Steward

Mike Hosey, An Elder

The standard definition of stewardship is to manage or look after someone else’s property. This is a good definition. However, its dryness falls short of what is expected of us as Christians.  Consider the following verses.  Psalm 24:1 tells us firmly that everything in the world belongs to God.  Did you get that?  Everything. That includes you, me, the ground we’re standing on, the computer you’re reading this with, or the paper you’re reading it from.  It includes the car you drove to work, and the home you live in. It includes your children, your pets, your job, your boss.  Everything!  Now consider Genesis 2:15. That verse tells us that the original purpose of man was to steward God’s creation. It’s what we’re made to do.  

Well before we can be a steward of God’s creation, we have to have something more in us than just an understanding that we are to manage his property.  We must have a strong understanding that what we are managing belongs to a great and mighty ruler.  Without this kind of understanding, we are not likely to be a good manager.  The first mistake that we are likely to make is to believe that our salary, or our time, or our “possessions” belong to us.  They don’t. If we develop the idea that those things are ours, we are less likely to use them on something other than ourselves when God asks us to do so.  Think about it, if you began to use your time at work as if it were solely yours, how long would you’re company retain your services?  If you had that attitude, you would be a terrible employee and it wouldn’t be long before you were replaced.  But if you use that time realizing that it doesn’t belong to you, and that the company expects a return on its investment in you, then you are likely to produce value for that company with that time. If it is a good company they will reward you accordingly. This is the same with God.  We will be rewarded when we realize that all we do is for the Lord and then act accordingly (Colossians 3:23-24).

So how do we measure a good steward?  We measure it in the same way a company measures an employee.  An employee is not measured by how much he is given.  He is measured by what he has done with what he has been given.  In the same way, God’s steward is not measured by what he has, but by what he has done with what he has.  There is an expectation of return for what has been invested in you, regardless of whether that investment is made of time, treasure, talent, or anything else.