Stewardship
Text: Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 16:1-2
Series: Restoration Sermons
Date:
Speaker: Ed Rangel
Location: Waupaca Church of Christ
Bible Version: NASB 1995
Sermon Type: Expository
Learning Objectives
By the close of this lesson the hearer should be able to:
- Define stewardship from its basic description and explain the distinction between ownership and stewardship.
- Explain the three components of the true stewardship principle from Section I: what God's ownership implies for how Christians must use resources.
- Identify three false conceptions of stewardship and explain why each fails to meet the definition.
- Explain the connection between stewardship and worship — how they are the same act viewed from different angles.
- Explain why the worshipper is the steward, not the church, and what this implies for personal accountability in giving.
Thesis
A steward is not an owner — they manage what belongs to another and are accountable to that owner for the management. Everything belongs to God (I Cor. 10:26); the Christian's resources — money, time, talent — are entrusted to them for God's purposes, not consumed for their own. The false conceptions of stewardship (accumulating for self, distributing selfishly) fail because they treat the entrusted resources as owned. Worship and stewardship are the same acknowledgment: God is sovereign, and what I have is his.
Burden
The word "stewardship" is frequently used and infrequently understood. The person who hears it as a synonym for church fundraising has missed the structure of the concept: it is a legal and theological status — the status of the person who manages another's estate and is accountable to the owner for the outcome. The burden is to establish that structure clearly, so that the Christian understands not only the obligation to give but the reason for it and the scope of it.
Introduction
A steward is one who has the oversight of another's property — a house, land, money, or work. The steward's defining characteristic is that the property is not theirs; they manage it on behalf of an owner to whom they are accountable. "Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful" (I Cor. 4:2).
The parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30) and the parable of the unjust steward (Luke 16:1-2) both address the same reality: persons entrusted with another's resources, accountable for what they do with them. In the first, two of the three stewards put the talent to use and produced a return; one buried it. The two were rewarded; the one was condemned — not for theft, not for waste, but for the failure to use. In the second, the steward is called to account: "Give an account of your management."
I. All Things Belong to God
The foundation of stewardship is ownership: all things belong to God.
"The earth is the LORD's, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it" (Ps. 24:1; cf. I Cor. 10:26 — "For the earth is the Lord's, and all it contains"). The statement is absolute: all material reality, every resource a person possesses, belongs to God. The person who possesses anything possesses it on lease, not in fee simple ownership.
The principle of law and justice: at least a part of the increase belongs to the owner. Even in human law, the person who uses another's property to generate income owes a share to the owner. The Christian steward is not given the use of God's property without accountability for what the use produces. The increase — the profit, the abundance — is the evidence of how the management is going, and the owner has a claim on it.
Christian stewards must use God's property to make increase for him. The talent buried in the ground did not harm the master's principal — it preserved it exactly. But the servant who buried it was condemned. The question the master asked was not "did you keep it safe?" but "what did you do with it?" The steward's obligation is not preservation but productive use.
To use and consume property for self is not stewardship — it must be used and consumed for God. The person who eats food, wears clothing, maintains a shelter — these are legitimate uses of the resources God provides (Matt. 25:14 — "God wants man to use enough for food, clothing, shelter, and other necessities of life"). The person who uses and consumes everything beyond that for their own comfort, pleasure, or accumulation is using the steward's position for the owner's purposes only to the extent of the minimum.
To accomplish good. The positive purpose of stewardship: not merely avoiding bad uses but actively using what has been entrusted to accomplish good in the world.
II. A False Conception of Stewardship
Three false conceptions of stewardship must be identified and rejected.
Accumulating wealth for self only is not stewardship. It thwarts the owner's purpose: the resources accumulated and kept out of productive use for God's kingdom are resources that have been taken out of the management the steward was appointed to perform. It begets the love of money (I Tim. 6:10 — "For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil"). The accumulator, by treating the resources as their own, develops the attachment to them that is precisely the disorder that stewardship is designed to prevent. It violates the basic principle of stewardship: that the owner's claim takes precedence over the steward's comfort.
Selfish distribution of wealth is not stewardship. Distributing resources according to what benefits the person doing the distributing — giving to secure relationships, to enhance reputation, to receive social return — is not stewardship because the distribution criterion is self, not the owner's purposes. True distribution is determined by the owner's will, not the steward's preferences.
The three warnings against false uses. The deceitfulness of riches (Matt. 13:22): wealth convinces the person who has it that they are secure, that they have what they need, that the kingdom can wait — while it chokes the word and produces no fruit. Riches are a snare (I Tim. 6:9): "But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction." A wrong use of riches is condemned: "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you" (James 5:1) — spoken to those who had withheld wages, who had lived luxuriously while others suffered.
The steward must acknowledge the owner's rights. The basic intellectual act of stewardship is the acknowledgment that the owner has rights that precede and supersede the steward's preferences. The steward who does not make this acknowledgment is not a steward — they are an embezzler who has convinced themselves they are entitled to what was entrusted to them.
III. Worship in Stewardship
The connection between worship and stewardship is structural: both are acts of acknowledging God's sovereignty.
Worship is an obligation to God. It is not optional, not a preference, not something the Christian does when they feel like it. It is the acknowledgment of who God is, which means it is the appropriate response of the creature to the Creator.
True worship acknowledges God's sovereignty. Songs praise his supremacy — they are not entertainment or emotional expression but the public acknowledgment of who God is. Prayers acknowledge his power — the person who prays is acknowledging that God can do what they cannot and is asking him to do it. Sermons declare his greatness — the preaching of the word is the public declaration of the God the word reveals.
Giving acknowledges God's claim upon us. The contribution in worship is not a transaction — it is an acknowledgment. When a person gives, they are saying: "This is yours; I am returning a portion of what you entrusted to me as an act of acknowledging your ownership." The failure to give is the failure to acknowledge — it is the practical denial of God's sovereignty in the one area where the acknowledgment has a material form.
Man drifted into paganism because he neglected to worship God in giving — he failed to acknowledge God's supremacy over his working. The connection is historically significant: the nations that turned from God turned first from the acknowledgment that what they had came from God. The refusal to give is the refusal to acknowledge; the refusal to acknowledge is the beginning of the drift toward idolatry, because the person who does not acknowledge God as the source of their abundance will eventually acknowledge something else.
The worshipper is the steward — not the church. The church does not give on behalf of its members; each member is personally accountable for their own stewardship. The collection in I Cor. 16:2 is personal: "On the first day of every week each one of you is to put aside and save." The accountability in the parable of the talents is personal: each servant gave account for what he had been given. The church cannot be a steward on behalf of people who are themselves the stewards; the institutional management of funds does not transfer the personal accountability for giving.
We are stewards in his kingdom. "In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy" (I Cor. 4:2). The steward's sole obligation is trustworthiness — doing with what they have been given what the owner intends. The Christian steward who is faithful in the management of what God has entrusted will hear what the faithful servants heard: "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" (Matt. 25:21).
Application
The practical application of the stewardship doctrine is a personal audit: Am I using what has been entrusted to me for the owner's purposes, or for my own? Three specific questions:
Am I accumulating beyond the needs of life in ways that keep resources out of productive use for God's kingdom?
Is my giving shaped by the owner's will (regular, proportional, purposive) or by my preferences (sporadic, minimal, motivated by social calculation)?
Do I treat the giving moment in worship as an acknowledgment of God's sovereignty — as the material form of the same confession I make in song and prayer? Or is it a reluctant contribution to the organization?
Conclusion
"Give an account of your management; for you can no longer be steward" (Luke 16:2). The accounting is coming. Every resource entrusted — money, time, talent, opportunity — will be accounted for. The servant who buried the talent gave a good account of the principal; the account of the use was empty. The "Well done" is reserved for the one whose account of the use is full.
Invitation
The greatest stewardship is the stewardship of the soul — the most valuable resource entrusted to any human being. "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul?" (Matt. 16:26). The person who has not yet obeyed the gospel has not yet brought their soul under the management of its owner. Believe. Repent. Confess. Be baptized for the remission of sins (Acts 2:38). Bring the whole life — including the soul — under the Lord's management. This is the first and most important act of stewardship.
Word Study
| English Term | Greek Term | Basic Meaning | Usage in This Sermon | Sermon Significance | Key Texts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steward / Stewardship | oikonomos / oikonomia | The manager of a household estate — oikos (house) + nemō (to manage). Accountable to the owner for the management. | Used in Luke 16:1-2 for the unjust steward who is called to account; in I Cor. 4:2 for the requirement placed on stewards. | The word is administrative and legal: the steward has authority but not ownership; the steward acts on behalf of the owner and is accountable. Everything belongs to God (I Cor. 10:26); the Christian manages God's estate and will give account. | Luke 16:1-2; I Cor. 4:2; Matt. 25:14-30 |
| Trustworthy / Faithful | pistos | Reliable, deserving of trust — one who does what they have committed to do, who manages as they have been authorized to manage. | Used in I Cor. 4:2: "it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy." | The sole requirement stated for stewards is not productivity (the talents produced different amounts) but trustworthiness — doing what the owner intends with what the owner has entrusted. The faithful steward is the one who acknowledged the owner's claim and acted accordingly. | I Cor. 4:2; Matt. 25:21 |
| Snare | pagis | A trap, a snare set to catch animals. | Used in I Tim. 6:9 for the effect of the desire to get rich: "fall into temptation and a snare." | The snare image is precise: the person who walks into it does not know they are being trapped until they are caught. The desire for wealth does not announce itself as a trap; it presents itself as a reasonable goal. The person already ensnared does not easily see the trap from inside it. | I Tim. 6:9; I Tim. 6:10 |
| Put aside / Save | thēsaurizō | To store up, to treasure up — from thēsauros (treasury, storehouse). | Used in I Cor. 16:2 for the instruction to the Corinthians: "each one of you is to put aside and save, as he may prosper." | The word is the word of intentional, regular storing — not the impulse gift but the disciplined, weekly laying aside of a portion as an act of acknowledgment. The systematic character of the instruction (first day, every week, each one) reflects the systematic character of the stewardship obligation. | I Cor. 16:2 |
Scripture Interlock Table
| Theme | Boles' Outline | Supporting Scripture |
|---|---|---|
| "The earth is the Lord's and all it contains" | I | I Cor. 10:26; Ps. 24:1 |
| Parable of talents — stewards accountable for use | I.3 | Matt. 25:14-30 |
| "Give an account of your management" | Intro. | Luke 16:2 |
| "Love of money — root of all sorts of evil" | II.1b | I Tim. 6:10 |
| "Riches are a snare" | II.3b | I Tim. 6:9 |
| "Deceitfulness of riches chokes the word" | II.3a | Matt. 13:22 |
| "Come now, you rich, weep and howl" | II.3c | James 5:1 |
| "Required of stewards — be found trustworthy" | III.6 | I Cor. 4:2 |
| "On the first day each one put aside" | III.5 | I Cor. 16:2 |
| "Well done, good and faithful slave" | Concl. | Matt. 25:21 |
| Baptism for remission — bringing the soul under the Lord's management | Invit. | Acts 2:38 |
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Converted from H. Leo Boles, Outline 172. Primary text: Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 16:1-2 (stated by Boles). OCR corrections: "mu" → "must" (OCR line-break artifact); "lll." → "III." Doctrinal audit: all things belonging to God (I Cor. 10:26) established as the foundation of stewardship without making asceticism normative — the legitimate use of resources for food, clothing, shelter preserved; the three false conceptions developed as failures to acknowledge the owner's rights, not merely as moral failures; the connection between worship and stewardship developed as both being the same act of acknowledgment; "the worshipper is the steward, not the church" preserved as the personal accountability principle; invitation uses the soul/stewardship connection from Matt. 16:26; retains full obedient response (Acts 2:38).
