Christian Stewardship?
Was asking myself this question today…here are some answers I found…
In our day and age, one of the most neglect topics and ill treated duties of the Christian Faith is Stewardship. What does the Bible say about God and Money? How good are you as a steward of God’s possessions. The warning comes now: you will not like what you read in these articles because they reach into your savings accounts, wallets, purses and possessions.
The basic etymology of the word oijkono>mov, oikonomos meaning "steward," comes from two root words oikos (house) and nomos (law). As if to say that the steward is one who is the “law over the house,” and all that is associated with the house. He is given authority over the household but does not own the household.
The "steward, one who manages the affairs or superintends these household of another, as Eliezer of Damascus did that of Abraham (Genesis 15:2). Great confidence was reposed in those who held such an office, and hence Paul describes Christian ministers as the stewards of God over his Church and family (Titus 1:7). Believers also are described as stewards of God’s gifts and graces, to dispense the benefits of them to the world (1 Peter 4:10). Our Lord frequently uses the responsibility belonging to the office of steward, to illustrate His reasoning. In the parable of the shrewd manager, (Luke 16), the illustration is not encouraging the moral propriety of the manager’s actions, but merely advice to manage worldly goods with such liberty and generosity in a way that promotes the cause of true piety, Christian charity and enlightened love.
Luke 16: 8-13
"The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. 10"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
13"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
