Deeper understandings Good news of stewardship
New Testament has a lot to say about it, as well as generous giving Editor’s note: This series is intended
to be a public conversation among teach- ing theologians of the ELCA on various themes of our faith and the challenging issues of our day. It invites readers to engage in dialogue by posting comments online at the end of each article at www.
thelutheran.org. The series is edited by Philip D.W.
Krey, president of the Lutheran Theologi- cal Seminary at Philadelphia, on behalf of the presidents of the eight ELCA seminaries.
By Mark Allan Powell W
e hear a lot about stewardship in the church, often with ref- erence to generous giving of
our time, talents and treasures. What does the New Testament have to say? There is nothing in the New Tes-
tament about stewardship programs, offering envelopes, pledge campaigns, commitment Sundays or many other modern practices. But it has a lot to say about stewardship and generous giving. What is a steward? Stewards are
caretakers who live in a place that is not their own. They are allowed to make full use of the owner’s property
Author bio: Powell is profes- sor of New Testa- ment at Trinity Lutheran Semi- nary, Columbus, Ohio.
in exchange for taking good care of it. In the New Testament, Jesus tells
many parables that liken human beings to stewards (Matthew 21:33- 43; 24:45-51; 25:14-30; cf. Luke 16:1- 10). Everything we are and everything we have belongs to God. Jesus says we should remember that we are stew- ards, not owners, and we should take good care of what God has entrusted to us: our planet, our families, our physical bodies, our time, our money. We practice “good stewardship” when we view all these things as gifts from God to be used responsibly. That is the big picture: everything
we are and everything we have belongs to God. Lutherans recognize that this biblical message may be received as both law and gospel. The call to be faithful stewards judges our idolatrous desire to be self-reliant and condemns any mentality that views anything as truly ours. Still, the recognition that we belong
to the God who created us, redeemed us, and continues to love and protect us is fundamentally good news, inspir- ing trust, gratitude and devotion. We not only belong to God, we
are precious to God. Paul writes: “... you are not your own(.) For you were bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). His point is that we belong to God not only because God made us (Psalm 100:3) but also because God sent his Son to die on a cross for us. It cost God a great deal to obtain us; therefore we are valuable to God. We belong to God and we are pre-
cious to God. This is fundamentally good news. Stewardship has many facets and can apply to almost any aspect of our
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lives. Still, when many people hear the word stewardship, they think of money—financial stewardship.
Money Why does money get more attention than anything else? Perhaps because it’s the area in which we need the most help. When Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters,” he was talking about money: you cannot serve God and wealth (Matthew 6:24). And what did Paul say was the root of all kinds of evil? The love of ... (you can fill in the blank—or see 1 Timothy 6:10). The New Testament urges us to
acquire, regard, manage and spend our money as people who belong to God. We are encouraged to work for a living, viewing our jobs not only as a means of making money but as voca- tions that enable us to do something worthwhile with our lives (2 Thessa- lonians 3:6-12). We reject greed (Luke 12:15; Colossians 3:5) and anxiety (Matthew 6:24-34; Philippians 4:6) in favor of gratitude (Colossians 3:15; 1 Thessalonians 5:18) and trust (John 14:1; 1 Peter 1:21). Instead of squan- dering our money recklessly (Luke 15:11-16) or hoarding our possessions needlessly (Luke 12:15-21), we put it to good use. In general, the Bible commends the
virtue of frugality, or what we would call “living more with less” (1 Timo- thy 6:8). An overarching principle is that money is to be spent in ways that exhibit love for God and neigh- bor (along with an assumption of responsible self-care). So Peter urges “good stewards” to use what God gives them in ways that serve others (1 Peter 4:10-11).
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