Text: 1 CORINTHIANS 4:2
By: Whiskey, Joshua
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God has entrusted a lot to each of us, the issue therefore, is how do we carefully manage or supervise the things entrusted to our care? There are different areas we are required to be faithful stewards.
INTRODUCTION
Giving in the church is just a part of our stewardship of money. We are also to use wisely that which we do not give to the church. Stewardship is therefore encompassing. Our topic today is FAITHFUL STEWARDSHIP.
Faithful stewardship has to do with the wise use of that which we give in the church and that which we use for ourselves. The person who is very faithful in certain things and unfaithful in others is not a good steward. There is nothing a Christian can be or do to which stewardship living does not apply.
The apostle Paul writes, “Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:1–2 NKJ).
We shall consider the different areas of stewardship that we all need to be faithful:
- STEWARDSHIP OF TIME
Time and life are all given to us to use for God. If we could realize just how precious time is, we would not squander so much of it. The Christian is to be a faithful steward of his time.
Listen to the psalmist: “So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12 NKJ).
In Psalm 39:4 we have the following: “LORD, make me to know my end, and what is the measure of my days, That I may know how frail I am.”
The fact of life is that we cannot do with time as we do other things. We cannot lay time up and use it later. Time is such that if we do not use it immediately, we have lost it forever.
Time is a sacred trust given to us by God. Every day of our lives is a precious opportunity to do good deeds. For that reason the moments that are golden should be valued in the highest degree and used to promote the cause of Christ.
The brevity of time is a reason why it is precious. Since the stewardship of our time is limited, it is necessary that we be faithful in the use of each day as it comes.
The question is what are you doing with the time that you have? Because time is precious, that is the reason it is said, time is money. We should learn to value the time that we are given.
Do something good with the time you have. Wealth and poverty depend on how people use their time. Our going to heaven or not depends on how well we use our time.
Christians need to use their time well. V.P. Black says, “Many members never have time to serve God because they have never learned how to use time.”
The apostle Paul tells how the Christian is to use his time: “redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16 NKJ).
Every one of us is a steward of the time we have. How well are we using our time?
- STEWARDSHIP OF INFLUENCE
The stewardship of our influence is very important. This is because we cannot go through life in isolation.
The apostle Paul writes, “For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself” (Romans 14:7 NKJ).
This means the Christian is not to be careless about how he lives.
Don’t say it does not matter what you do. This is because someone is watching you and depending on you.
Since we cannot shut our lives from other people, our influence becomes important. What we do and say influences those around us.
In the home, in the church, in business, in office, the Christian life is influencing others.
It is because of the importance of our influence that Jesus commanded saying, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16 NKJ).
Jesus wants people to see our good works (influence) and glorify our Father in heaven.
Someone may say, it is my life, I can live as I like. But we need to know that we have a responsibility towards our brothers or sisters.
A brother or sister can be helped or hurt by the way we live our lives. But our influence is to be helpful to others. The author of Hebrews writes, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works” (Hebrews 10:24 NKJ).
Since our influence matters, the question is how are we faithful in managing our influence? People are watching us and if we fail in our influence, the cause of Christ will fail.
God has made us to be stewards of our influence, how faithful are we in trying to influence people positively? The truth is that there are people who are getting their conception of Christianity from us.
Our influence does not stop with one person, and it does not stop at death. This is why we need to be prayerful and watchful with our influence.
A new convert once said, “Now I am understanding that people in denominations are lost. If it is so then, we need to pull our resources together to make sure we preach the gospel.”
That is true. If we understand that people are lost without obedience to the true gospel we will do all we can to make sure the gospel reaches as many as possible.
The preaching of the gospel has been entrusted to us. The apostle Paul writes, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!” (Romans 10:15 NKJ).
- STEWARDSHIP OF THE GOSPEL
The stewardship of the gospel has been entrusted to us. The Lord has allowed us to be the ones that will care for His gospel.
The feet that the Lord has to carry the gospel to the world are our feet.
The hands the Lord has to reach to others are our hands. In Matthew 28:19 the Lord commanded the following: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
This becomes a command that every Christian must obey. The song is true: “Into our hands the gospel is given, into our hands is given the light.”
A good steward will love the gospel and will do all in his power to see that other people hear it. If we sit back to hear the gospel preached to us and forget the people who have never heard about Christ, we are not being faithful stewards of the gospel.
- STEWARDSHIP OF MONEY
The Lord God has entrusted to us the stewardship of money. Everybody has the desire to acquire money.
As Christians, we are also to acquire money. But the Christian’s purpose of acquiring money is not selfish. The Christian understands that he is accountable to God for all of his income.
We are not only accountable for the ones we give in the church but also the ones we use for ourselves.
This is why the way the Christian uses his money is as important as the means he uses to get the money.
Whenever we are faithful in our giving to the church and we give to the church, God no longer holds us responsible for what is done with it.
God holds the elders responsible for how that money is used. If they use it wisely or not, they will be accountable for it. But then we are accountable for the remaining money that we use for ourselves.
This means if we are faithful stewards, we will be careful with the way we use our money on ourselves after we have given that of God to Him. God requires that we be faithful stewards with our money.
CONCLUSION
The Christian life is one of stewardship. The Christian is called and entrusted with so many things that he will give account of on the last day.
Since we are not called to live for ourselves, let us make sure we make effective use of everything given to us by God. Live in such a way that after here you will hear a “Well done faithful servant.” May God be with us as we understand that we are not our own. We are bought with a price and we are to glorify God in everything we do.
May God bless us in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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