Develop Stewardship

Develop Stewardship

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“Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a son over God's house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.” Hebrews 3v1-6

All Christian Disciples are called to be stewards! We are Gods stewards! Stewardship is defined as the exercise of responsible care over possessions or gifts entrusted to them by God!

New Testament Greek - Oikonomos - the manager of a household and the resources of his master. Hebrews 3v1-6 describes the concept of stewardship. A house in scripture is a family (1 Timothy 3v15; 1 Peter 2v5; 1 Peter 4v10-17). Every Christian Disciple is a member of the house of Jesus Christ. The concept of stewardship derives from this: Jesus Christ is the head of the house, and Christian Disciples live in the house and are stewards (Ephesians 4v7-16). Two prime qualifications for stewardship are faithfulness & wisdom.

What are Christian Disciples stewards over? In the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) Jesus intimates that those who follow Him, will be judged according to all that they have been given stewardship of! This includes things such as Spiritual Gifts (1 Corinthians 12v1-10), acts of service (Galatians 5v13) and material possessions (2 Corinthians 9v6-8)! These are used to accomplish three other items of Stewardship: mission, message and men.

1. Jesus & Paul as examples of stewardship.

a. Jesus Christ. He is a steward of a mission, a message and of men.

• Mission - John 3v17; John 17v4
• Message - John 17v8, 14
• Men - John 17v6, 9, 11, 17

b. Paul. Also is a steward of a mission, a message and of men.

• Mission - Ephesians 2v19 - 3v8
• Message - 1 Corinthians 9v16-17; Colossians 1v25
• Men - His brothers are equals - 1 Timothy 1v11-18; 2 Timothy 1v6-14, Titus 1v3-5; 2 Corinthians 2 v12-13

2. The responsibilities of a Christian steward.

• Needs to know his mission from Jesus Christ
• Needs to know his message
• Needs to know his men who God has given him
• Needs to know what resources are available to do the job.

3. Nehemiah's example.

Nehemiah exhibits beautifully, the responsibilities of a steward with regard to procedures or activities. There are no set patterns in the Bible of procedures of stewardship or management but there are certain procedures that are emphasised and taught.

Prayer (Nehemiah1v4) - The quality of his prayer life, we need to pray through the situation before we can come up with a plan.

Planning (Nehemiah2v12-16) – Nehemiah planned the rebuilding wisely. He spoke to the King, went to Jerusalem and then surveyed the walls in secret!

Motivated (Nehemiah2v17-18) - Nehemiah motivated the people. He identified their felt needs, both public and personal, and gave them a workable solution, and answered any objections.

Opposition He initiated the work in the midst of opposition and he makes a declaration of faith "The God of heaven. He will prosper us therefore we His servants will arise and build." (Nehemiah2v20)

Organised and delegated (Nehemiah 3) is a record of how Nehemiah scheduled, organized and delegated the workers to rebuild!

Evaluate and sustain - To give support, to maintain or cause to continue, to endure without falling. Chapter 4. If the enemy can destroy your self-image, he has destroyed your work, and that is what the enemy is trying to do. Nehemiah gets them together and prays. He got the people's eyes off themselves onto God, He transferred their weakness to God and onto what He was going to do and it freed their minds. Evaluation is not to find out what is wrong, it is to find out what we do to sustain the people in the work (Nehemiah 4v7-8, 14). Nehemiah's answer "God you think about it, I am going to think about it and build the walls."

Do not allow unjustified criticism to stop you. Let God think about it, and keep at the given task. We are God's stewards and want to be faithful to Him and be wise.

Developing co-workers (Ephesians 4v11-12) - We are all going to die, who is going to be left behind to do the job. The key to Nehemiah's stewardship and accomplishing this mission, was that Nehemiah modelled in faith and in action what was needed to be done to build the wall.

For more to think about please do ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together.

Q1. Read 1 Corinthians 12v1-11 - Have I discovered my Spiritual Gifts and am I using them in accordance with Scripture for the glory and honour of Jesus?

Q2. Read Galatians 5v13 - How is my service to the Church and to God dynamic and how can I improve my service to the Lord Jesus Christ?

Q3. Read 2 Corinthians 9v6-8 - How is my giving to be done and why do I give?

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