Definition of stewardship
The obligations of a steward, the conducting, supervising, or managing of something
especially : the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care
The stewardship of money
“Money does not change people, it unmasks them “
Turn to the gospel of Luke, chapter 16, where were going to read verses 10-13
““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. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?”
Luke 16:10-12 NIV
Jesus speaks these words immediately after telling the parable of the unjust servant or the unjust steward.
In the parable the unjust steward is caught squandering his master's money and is called to give an account of how he has used his master's money.
Realizing that he has been caught, he begins to use the master's money to make friends for himself so that when he no longer has a job, he will at least have friends.
Read the chapter
Meaning-Use the adjective shrewd to describe a person or thing that is smart or clever in a practical sort of way. The word shrewd is from a Middle English adjective formed from the noun schrewe "an evil person, a villain." King James “ wiser or cleaver
He says, "for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light."
Jesus does not condone the steward's dishonesty, but points to how clever and shrewd he is. The moral of this parable is that if the wicked can be this shrewd in the things which are temporal, how much more shrewd-wiser should we be in our dealing with those things which are eternal?
Now, look at verses 10-13 (read text).
Jesus is saying that if we cannot be trusted with something as temporal and fleeting as money, He is not going to trust us with the truly valuable things of the Spirit.
If we have not proven faithful with little, we will never be entrusted with much. If we are not faithful with that which belongs to someone else, who will give us something of our own? Then Jesus tells us that you cannot serve two masters, you cannot serve both God and money.
Think about money in these four simple terms.
1. It is a trust – It is something God has entrusted to our care, something which belongs to Him but which He has given us to invest on His behalf. The idea here is that He will get a good return on His investment.
If He trusts us with a little, and we use it wisely, He will trust us with more. That's why He says, "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much…" Money is something God has entrusted to us. It is a trust.
2. It is a tool – He expects that we will use it to further His kingdom here on Earth, using it as best we can to reveal His glory and to relate His gospel to those around us. To the one who is spiritually minded, money is never something which should become an end unto itself, but rather it is merely a tool, something which is to be used to accomplish a greater good.
Like a rope thrown into the water to save someone from drowning, the rope is not what is of real value, the life being saved is what is of real value. So it is with money. It has value, but only to the degree that it is used properly, only to the degree that it is used to further the kingdom of God.
3. It is a test – God often gives us something of lesser value to see if He can trust us with something of greater value. If He cannot trust us with something as fleeting as money, why should He trust us with spiritual things of eternal value?
If He cannot trust us to make good decisions with the small amount of money that we have, it stands to reason that we cannot be trusted with the large amount of money that we may want.
And just for the record, God can give you as much money as He wants to give you and He can leave you with as little as He wants to leave you with. When we are dealing with someone who has our very heart beat in His hands, we shouldn't quibble over something as temporal as money. We should seek to pass the test and use it as He commands.
4. It is a thermometer – How we spend our money reveals the truth about our spiritual lives.
Conclusion
Now let's just take the gloves off for a moment. If you do not at the very least tithe, if you are not investing at least a portion of the money God has entrusted to you into eternal causes, you are not a growing Christian and you probably need to take a long hard look at your life through the lens of scripture to see if you are even a Faithful at all.
That may sound like a harsh statement, but Jesus makes it abundantly clear that you cannot serve God and money. He talks about money more than heaven and hell combined.
It is clear: Jesus thought the use of money was an important thermometer of your spiritual life. If you are truly His servant, and you have surrendered everything in your life to Him, one of the most elementary external visible signs of that internal transformation is that you will walk in obedience to Him with respect to money.
Go through the scripture, from the Old Testament through the New Testament and you find the same message
Stewardship- It’s a matter of Trust
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV
