OUR PART

GOOD AND FAITHFUL

AFTER HE AND JEAN FINISHED signing the deed, Allen slid it across the desk. “I feel a lot of relief,” he said. “But I also feel like I’m supposed to do something.”

Allen was right. We cannot just sit back, do nothing and wait for God to perform. We have a responsibility. But, like Allen, we may not know exactly what our part is. God, the Master, is the owner of everything, the controller of all events and our provider. Our responsibility is to be a steward. The word for steward can be translated into two different words: manager and supervisor. In Scripture the position of a steward is one of great responsibility.

He or she is the supreme authority under the master and has full responsibility for all the master’s possessions and household affairs. As we examine Scripture we see that God, as Master, has given us the authority to be stewards. “You [God] have put him [people] in charge of everything you made; everything is put under his authority” (Psalm 8:6, LB). L STEWARD Well done, good and faithful slave; you were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things, enter into the joy of your master. MATTHEW 25:21 One’s only responsibility is to be faithful.

“Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2, KJV). Before we can be faithful, we must know what we are required to do. Just as the purchaser of a car studies the manufacturer’s manual to learn how to properly operate the car, we need to examine the Creator’s handbook, the Bible, to find out how He wants us to handle His possessions. Several elements of faithfulness are important to understand.

1. Faithful With All Our Resources We are charged to be faithful in handling 100 percent, not just 10 percent. Unfortunately, many churches have concentrated only on teaching how to handle 10 percent of our income—the area of giving. Although this area is crucial, we have allowed Christians to learn how to handle the other 90 percent from the world’s perspective, not from our Lord’s perspective. Because they do not know how to handle money biblically, many Christians have wrong attitudes about possessions and make incorrect financial decisions that lead to painful consequences. Hosea 4:6 reads, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Ignorance of or disobedience to scriptural financial principles frequently causes money problems. 2. Faithful Regardless of How Much We Have The issue in Scripture is how to handle faithfully all God has entrusted to us.