When I reflect on the concept of stewardship, I see it as one of the most transformative truths that reshaped my life after coming to faith. Transitioning from an atheist with a purely selfish worldview to a follower of Christ taught me that we are not the ultimate owners of our lives and possessions, but caretakers of the blessings God has entrusted to us.
In my pre-Christian days, my perspective was centered around accumulation and control. Like many, I viewed success through the lens of personal gain and material accumulation. However, embracing Christianity opened my eyes to a fundamental truth: everything we have is a gift from God, and He calls us to manage these gifts wisely—not for our glory, but for His.
Imagine you are employed at a company. You have responsibilities, a budget to manage, and goals to meet. However, you do not own the company; you operate under the direction of the company’s owner and their broader vision. In this context, God would be the owner, and we would be His employees. He has entrusted us with His resources—our time, talents, and treasures—and He expects us to manage them according to His will and purposes.
This parallels the Biblical call to stewardship. As Christians, we are not merely working for personal profit or to build our empires; we are part of God’s kingdom, contributing to His divine plan. We manage our resources in a way that should reflect His generosity, love, and wisdom.
My journey from atheism to faith involved a dramatic shift in how I viewed wealth and resources. As an atheist, I saw money as a means to an end, the end being personal satisfaction and security. My financial decisions were solely about maximizing personal benefit. Even my “generosity” was an avenue for me to feel better about myself and improve my self-esteem. However, becoming a Christian revolutionized this approach.
I learned that being a good steward meant using God’s resources in a way that reflects His character. It meant selfless generosity instead of greed, purpose instead of aimlessness, and community welfare over personal gain. Stewardship became a practice of faith, acknowledging that I am accountable to God for how I use everything He has given me.
For instance, in my role as Executive Director of a Church, I don’t just look at the numbers; I consider the impact of financial decisions on our community’s spiritual health and ability to serve God’s kingdom. I encourage congregants to think of their resources not just in terms of line items within a net-worth calculation, but also in terms of spiritual and ethical implications.
Being a steward means more than being careful with money. It involves nurturing the relationships God has placed in our lives, using our talents to glorify Him, and treating our time as a precious commodity not to be wasted. As stewards, our ultimate goal is to hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21).
In every aspect of our lives, we are to reflect the reality that we are not the owners but managers of what God has entrusted to us. This shift in perspective is liberating and daunting, for it carries both freedom from the tyranny of materialism and the weighty responsibility of divine accountability.
As stewards, let us strive to manage God’s resources in a manner that brings Him glory, serves others, and spreads the Gospel. This is the essence of Christian stewardship—a calling to faithfully manage what we have been given, for a time such as this.
-Seth
