![]() ![]() We are called as God’s stewards to manage that which belongs to God. While we complain about our rights here on earth, the Bible constantly asks, What about your responsibilities? Owners have rights stewards have responsibilities. God owns everything we’re responsible for how we treat it and what we do with it. In explaining responsibility, Peel writes,Īlthough God gives us “all things richly to enjoy,” nothing is ours. Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth. Stewardship is the commitment of one’s self and possessions to God’s service, recognizing that we do not have the right of control over our property or ourselves.Įchoing Deuteronomy 8:17, we might say: “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But Deuteronomy 8:18 counsels us to think otherwise: Therefore, stewardship expresses our obedience regarding the administration of everything God has placed under our control, which is all encompassing. God owns everything, we are simply managers or administrators acting on his behalf. This is the fundamental principle of biblical stewardship. It is clear that man was created to work and that work is the stewardship of all of the creation that God has given him. In the beginning of Genesis, God creates everything and puts Adam in the Garden to work it and to take care of it. The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it. The psalmist begins the 24 th psalm with, Peel suggests that there are four important principles about biblical stewardship we must understand: His essay can help us build a framework to begin unpacking this biblical idea of stewardship. We believe it is where the concepts of faith, work and economics intersect.īill Peel over at The High Calling recently wrote an excellent essay entitled Leadership Is Stewardship. In a recent blog on stewardship we asked the question, “What does stewardship look like in our lives today?” Unfortunately many Christians today only associate the idea of stewardship with sermons they have heard about church budgets and building programs.īut for us at the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, the idea of biblical stewardship is about something much more expansive. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service, you could not give Him anything that was not in a sense His own already. * Everyone can answer basic questions about mission, programs and finances.Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God. * Everyone can articulate a case for giving and how a gift will be used. * Everyone behaves as an ambassador, helping to identify new friends. * Everyone understands the need to raise money and knows their role in that effort. * Everyone in the organization is crating and building lasting relationships. It is a finely tuned machine, of which every board member contributes and serves as an ambassador and to which donors are engaged, have influence and make a difference. They said that stewardship means: Thanking Introducing Involving Providing a pleasant surprise Providing access Demonstrating the organization’s commitment Listening Connecting Sharing values Reminiscing Showing interest and, Cheering.Īll that is good, but Higgins and Hryncewich urged nonprofits to go beyond the ordinary and strive for great stewardship, because great stewardship creates a culture of philanthropy. More than just asking for money, stewardship means creating an atmosphere in which an organization’s mission and vision are appreciated. Speaking during the recent international conference of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Steve Higgins of Bob Carter Companies and Cathy Hryncewich of Father Martin’s Ashley emphasized the importance of stewardship in the fundraising effort. ![]() One aspect of nonprofit operations is the culture that exists, within the sector, within an area of concern, within an organization.
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