Seeing Biblical Stewardship Clearly

Which lenses do you wear?

Mark L. Vincent

Imagine a pile of eyeglasses from which you must choose one pair to correct your eyesight. Without the help of a trained optometrist, it would be difficult to know which pair served you best. Getting the prescription right is the key to seeing the world in all the brilliance it offers.

Now imagine a variety of lenses you might use to interpret and apply the Scriptures. Which one would you choose and why?

We would want to choose the best lens so we can see all the brilliance the Scriptures offer. This is especially true in any conversation about stewardship—a term used to mean most anything. For example, one popular contemporary use of stewardship relates to earth care, and not necessarily in a religious context. Stewardship is often used in contradictory ways, many of which have no biblical mooring, even though it is used often by religious people. As Christian leaders, however, we want to rightly understand, use, and apply this concept as related in Scripture.

To examine the biblical perspective on stewardship, there are several lenses we might use:

BLINDERS

When wearing blinders people have no interest in learning what the Bible says. In fact, blinders can lead them to be outright dismissive: "How can an ancient document have any relevance to my situation?"

Those wearing blinders act without consistency and without thought. They are not interested in fi xing errors in their thinking. On the subject of stewardship, blinders prevent them from distinguishing between the roles of a steward and being a philanthropist or becoming charitably minded. They do not see that being a steward is to accept God's call to use assets in a mission-oriented way.

MIRRORED LENSES

A mirrored lens refl ects rather than reveals. In this case the reflection is inward, not outward. The one wearing the lens sees only what they put in front of the lens. There is little thoughtfulness and no real interest to dig deeper to tackle diffi cult questions.

Any conversation about stewardship when wearing this lens is likely to be an echo of what one has been told. "I was always taught that I should tithe," or "stewardship is about giving money to God." The wearer of this lens cannot see anything more.

INVERTED LENSES

The inverted lens makes the world appear upside down or backwards. Secondary priorities trump more important messages. Misperceptions abound. The ability to make distinctions is limited.

Wearing an inverted lens regarding biblical stewardship means the closest and easiest subject to perceive is seized (managing money) while more important and complex subjects (serving as a steward of the gospel of Jesus Christ) get overlooked. The result is a distorted view of stewardship. Scripture is then used to manipulate raising funds. "The Bible says we should lay up treasures in heaven, so please give us money for our capital campaign to build our Family Life Center." The ones wearing the inverted lens do not understand how their logic breaks as they jump from the eternal to the temporal.

READING LENSES

Reading lenses help a person see what is in front of them. They do not provide depth and distance. A reading lens is human-centered. Examining Scripture, a person with reading lenses asks, "What does God want me to do?" The person looks for the actions they must perform and stops there.

Considering the subject of stewardship while wearing reading lenses gives a person the idea that it is good for them to be generous. So they give something away. It does not mean they grasp how generosity refl ects the very character of God (James 1:5), or that generosity serves as adhesive among a unified body of believers (Acts 4:32-37). The result of the human-centered reading lenses is sight that is limited, not seeing everything.

CORRECTIVE LENSES

Corrective lenses improve sight both near and far. The truest vision is obtained. A corrective lens is God-centered. It helps one consistently ask, "What is God doing and how can I be part of it?" Individuals wearing corrective lenses listen and act on what they hear. They refl ect and sharpen future actions so that their hearts are transformed to be rich toward God.

An individual wearing corrective lenses looks first to God, and discovers that God brings all resources to bear for the salvation of the world. God does not even withhold the divine self, but accepts death on the cross to make salvation possible. Wearing the corrective lens, one is able to ask, "How can I join God in this effort?" Corrective lenses allow a person to focus resources (time, talent, treasure, vocation, and relationships) as someone whom God spends.

So let us put on corrective lenses. Our devotional life will be profoundly enriched, our Bible study will go deeper, our talks to our constituencies will be more power-filled, and we will have more substance and wisdom when we write articles or fundraising appeals. Wearing corrective lenses allows us to make the following discoveries about stewardship:

(1) I am a steward. The Bible doesn't use stewardship, a detached word describing the state of being a steward. Rather, it uses the word steward—a title, a role, an identity I am called to claim.

(2) I am a steward of the gospel. The Bible never uses steward in reference to how one manages economic affairs. Instead, it always uses it in reference to the kingdom of God and its message (1 Cor. 4:1-2).

(3) Jesus' favorite subject was the kingdom of God. So much stewardship literature has been written through lenses other than corrective ones. The sad result is that the focus becomes money. To support our mistake, we point out that Jesus talks a lot about money. We identify thousands of verses about money in the totality of Scripture. But Jesus spoke most often about the kingdom he offered. His frequent references to money and economic life help us understand how one lives in that kingdom. He used economic illustrations to make his point, but they were not the point in and of themselves. He didn't say, "You cannot serve both God and money" (Luke 16:13) because he was raising funds for something. Neither did he say it because money was important. He said it because God is important.

(4) A steward is no different from an ambassador. The apostle Paul was fond of developing metaphors to help readers understand how servants of God give themselves fully to God and his work. He uses the word steward to convey the idea, to be sure. But he also uses ambassador (2 Cor. 5:20), jars of clay that hold a treasure (2 Cor. 4:7), and prisoner for the Lord (Eph. 4:1).

We who are Christians render our lives to another and we serve in a particular way—as a representative of our master. Our master's mission is to dispense grace so that the kingdom grows greater and stronger with each person who embraces the peace of Christ.

It is not easy wearing corrective lenses. Many will not see matters as we do, particularly our being stewards who organize all assets of life and ministry for God to spend us. That same stewardship principle also applies to ministering organizations. To embrace a leader's role in a Christian ministry is to embrace treating the gospel as the costliest of all treasure—even when others do not yet see as we have learned to see.

Open our eyes Lord. We want to see Jesus.

Mark L. Vincent is the acting president and CEO of Christian Leadership Alliance. He is the CEO of Design Group International, a group of consulting networks specializing in organizational development. He is noted for his work in organizational leadership, the intersection of faith and money, and strategy development and implementation.