Being the Church Today: Stewardship

Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. 2 Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. I do not even judge myself. 4 I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive commendation from God.  1 Corinthians 4

You might be feeling a bit of a disconnect between the picture and the text above.  Maybe wondering, "What is the deal with the pigs?"  I am born and bred in Iowa, where I think pigs outnumber people.  But actually, the picture is to make a point about the word steward, which is really an English word for the ward of the sty, as in pig sty, as in what your mother always said your room looked like.  How in the world did being a keeper and overseer of pigs become a biblical image?  I am not sure exactly, especially since pigs are about as un-kosher as it gets.  But to keep the sty means that you are managing someone else's property.  Remember the prodigal son in the parable bearing his name?  Where does he wind up?  Watching pigs!  And he starts to salivate at what the pigs are feasting upon.  In that moment, the prodigal was a steward.

That is quite the image to think of next time your church does its annual stewardship campaign.  But if you think about it, the way the church approaches money might as well be dealing with pigs.  Pastor's dance around talking about money.  Or the pastor goes to the other extreme and starts to rain guilt that if you don't increase your pledge that you might as well bring the marshmallows for the after life because God will see that you did not tithe.  It is all messy and brings up a lot of baggage.  But, we need to start unpacking some of that.  We need to start airing our laundry around stewardship.  We need to let God enter in with the wisdom only God can bring...remember Paul cautioned the Corinthians and us today to rely too much on our own wisdom.

So, here is where we might start: do you believe everything belongs to God?  By everything, I mean, everything.  Your house, your car, your family, your paycheck, your calendar, your check book, and your whole life!  It is easy to say, "Oh yeah, totally."  But if you let that sentiment start to rummage around your life, that is where it gets difficult.  Because then we start to say things like, "You deserve that vacation."  Or, "You earned that new car."  However, if our resources belong to God, doesn't that mean that God is the source of our time and talents that allowed/enabled us to earn that treasure?  See what I mean?  One statement starts to wiggle around our hearts and upsets everything...and probably everyone reading this blog!

So, let's start with that statement.  How do you respond to, "Everything belongs to God?"  How do you reconcile that with words like, "deserve" and "earn"?  How does the still speaking God help in this?  Where do all of us need to be better stewards of the sty's of our life?

May God bless the prayerful pondering of our hearts on this issue!