The Narrow Road of Stewardship

Jesus’ words here are not specific to stewardship, but they apply there. When it comes to managing finances, most people – including many Christians – follow the wide road that leads to destruction. It’s a road of spending, accumulating, going into debt with no thought for the future. The gate to this road is “ownership” – the idea that everything we have belongs to us. We’ve worked for it, so we own it. And it’s ours to do with as we please.

Relatively few – even in the church – follow the narrow road that leads to life. This is the road of honoring God with our finances – of earning, giving, saving, and spending as trustees of what God has provided.  The gate to this road is “stewardship” – the idea that everything we have is a blessing from God.

The contrast between ownership and stewardship is not the difference between destruction and eternal life. But it is the difference between a life of financial bondage and a life of financial freedom. And it’s at the heart of Christian discipleship.

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

James 1:17

The foundational truth of Biblical stewardship is that all that we have comes from God. Even the ability to earn wealth comes from God (Deuteronomy 8:17-18). Today, that includes educational opportunities, a strong economy in comparison to most countries, job availability, physical and mental abilities, and more. It all comes from God. Recognizing this – and living by it – leads to the road of stewardship; denying this leads to the road of ownership.

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The Ownership Road

Acknowledging God as the source and owner of all that we have – and ourselves as trustees of what He has provided – protects us from several paths of sin. We tend to follow one or more of these paths when we think of ourselves as owners rather than as stewards.

The Path of Pride

When we forget God as the source of all we have, we stray down paths that lead away from God. One of these paths is pride – pride in our abilities, in our achievements, in our position. This is the path of Nebuchadnezzar.

King of the greatest empire in the world at the time, Nebuchadnezzar fell prey to pride. God had already demonstrated that He was the source of wisdom and knowledge and that he was sovereign over nations and history through a dream (Daniel 2). Nebuchadnezzar recognized God’s wisdom and sovereignty at the time (Daniel 2:47); but later, he rebelled against the dream. In opposition to the statue composed of many metals (interpreted as succeeding world empires), he set up a statue entirely of gold (a claim that his kingdom would never end) and required everyone to bow down to it (Daniel 3).

Once again, God intervened – this time by saving Daniel’s friends in the fiery furnace. And once again, Nebuchadnezzar recognized God’s power (Daniel 3:28-29).

But once again, Nebuchadnezzar forgot who was really in control. So much so that God warned him in a dream of what would happen if he continued in his path. Daniel interpreted the warning:  Nebuchadnezzar would be driven away from people for seven years, living as an animal “until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes” (Daniel 4:25).

A year after having received the dream, Nebuchadnezzar boasted of his kingdom, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30) Rather than recognizing God as the source of all that he had, Nebuchadnezzar credited his own work. And God fulfilled the prophetic dream, taking away the king’s reason and driving him out for seven years. At the end of that time, Nebuchadnezzar lifted his eyes to heaven and acknowledged God. We can all learn from his conclusion: “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble” (Daniel 4:37).

The Path of Selfishness

Another path we tend to follow when we see ourselves as owners rather than stewards is the path of selfishness. In Luke 12, Jesus told the parable of the “rich fool”, who followed this path. His ground had yielded an abundant harvest – so much so that he had all that he needed for years to come. Instead of thanking God for this bounty and sharing it with others, the man decided to build bigger barns to hold all his crops, saving them for his own use in future years. God’s response? “‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’” (Luke 12:20)

Seeing himself as the owner of all he possessed led this man to think only of himself and not of God or of others. An understanding of stewardship guards against this selfish tendency by helping us to recognize that nothing we “own” is ours in the first place.

The Path of Coveting

When we don’t recognize God as the source of all that we have, we’re forced to depend on ourselves. This can lead to paths of temptation, as it did for Achan (Joshua 7).

The Israelite army had won a major victory at Jericho – a victory completely empowered by God, as He miraculously brought the walls of Jericho down. God had commanded that everything in the city be devoted to Him, and Joshua had reiterated that all of the silver and gold were to go into the Lord’s treasury (Joshua 6:17-19). But Achan coveted some of the treasures and took them. This led not only to his own destruction and the destruction of his family, but also to the loss of a battle that should have been an easy win – including the loss of 36 soldiers (Joshua 7).

Though God had demonstrated his provision for 40 years in the wilderness and had just recently worked miracles in the crossing of the Jordan and in the destruction of Jericho, Achan still didn’t trust in God to provide for his needs. Taking matters into his own hands led him into sin and destruction.

The Path of Greed

Closely related to coveting is greed. Recognizing God as the source of all we have protects us from greed, as we look to God to provide rather than grasping for money and possessions ourselves. Jacob began his journey on this path. Rather than trusting God to keep his promises, he took advantage of his brother to secure the birthright (Genesis 25) and deceived his father into giving him the family blessing (Genesis 27). Jacob’s greed tore apart the family and forced him to run away to flee his brother’s anger.

In response to a request to intervene in a dispute between brothers over their inheritance, Jesus warned, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions” (Luke 12:15). Similarly, the Psalmist warns, “Though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them” (Psalms 62:10). The path of greed leads to setting our hearts on money rather than on God. Ultimately, we end up serving money instead of God, which is why Paul refers to greed as idolatry (Colossians 3:5).

Where Ownership Leads

The road of ownership leads away from God. We have to choose between serving God and serving money – we can’t serve both. Similarly, we have to choose where to put our hope – in money or in God (1 Timothy 6:17).

The road of ownership leads to choosing money. The rich young ruler honestly desired eternal life. But faced with the choice of following Christ or holding on to his wealth, he chose to serve money. Scripture tells us that “he went away sad, because he had great wealth” (Matthew 19:22). This led Jesus to comment on how difficult it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:23).

It’s difficult because wealth is deceitful. Wealth’s deceitfulness is one of the “thorns” that make it hard to choose to follow God (Matthew 13:22). Wealth in itself is not evil – but the pull of wealth is hard to resist, as Scripture shows us repeatedly.

The solution? Handle wealth as a steward, rather than as an owner.

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The Stewardship Road

When we handle wealth as a steward rather than an owner, we choose to serve God rather than money and to put our hope in God rather than in worldly wealth. This is the road that leads to financial freedom. Not only that, this road leads us down key paths of Christian discipleship.

The Path of Contentment

I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:12-13

Trusting God as our Provider frees us to be content with what He has given us. As owners, we’re responsible for providing for ourselves. But as stewards, we believe in God as the One who takes care of us. We’re able to live through ups and downs – through times of prosperity and times of need – being satisfied with what God has supplied and believing in Him for continued provision.

This doesn’t mean that we don’t work to meet our needs – work is part of God’s plan for our provision (2 Thessalonians 3:10). But it does mean that we receive all that God provides (both through our work and otherwise) with a sense of contentment, a mindset of abundance rather than one of scarcity.

The Path of Gratitude

Along with contentment, the road of stewardship leads us to gratitude. Pride in our own ability to provide for ourselves is replaced by thankfulness for what God supplies. This thankfulness puts us in the right posture before God, a posture of humility, gratitude, and worship.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7

Stewardship doesn’t mean that we don’t ask God for what we need. Scripture exhorts us over and over to bring our needs to God for His answers (see, for example, Matthew 7:7-8). When we ask God to meet our needs, we show our trust in Him as our provider. When we bring our requests to God, we leave it to Him to determine how to answer. And when we do this with gratitude – thanking God for what He will do as well as what He has done – God goes beyond just taking care of our needs and brings us peace.

Those who think of themselves as owners may well bring their requests to God as one of many things they do to take care of their needs. But for them, prayer is more of a backup plan in case their other efforts don’t work. And prayer like that doesn’t bring them peace.

But those who recognize their role as stewards are able to pray with thanksgiving, because they understand that God is taking care of them. Rather than seeing prayer as a backup plan, they bring their requests to God as their primary strategy. And they approach God with thanksgiving because they’ve seen His provision in the past. So even before He answers their current prayer, they give thanks for what they know by faith He will do. This kind of prayer brings peace to the steward.

Where Stewardship Leads

The stewardship road naturally leads us away from all the traps of ownership. It leads away from pride, since we realize that all that we have has come to us from God, not primarily as a result of our own work. It leads away from coveting, since nothing in our possession really belongs to us anyway. It leads away from greed and selfishness as we seek to honor the One who has provided all we need. And it leads away from worry, because we see how God has taken care of us and trust in his ongoing provision.

Equally important, stewardship leads us to several characteristics that Scripture encourages – including contentment, gratitude, peace, and hope.

Where owners are constantly worried about the next day and how their needs will be met, stewards are freed from worry by trusting in God. They’re free to seek God’s kingdom and righteousness rather than being chained by worry over finances. Seeking God in this way is the very heart of Christian discipleship.

As a result, the stewardship road leads us toward spiritual maturity. Where ownership leaves us susceptible to the deceitfulness of wealth, stewardship enables us to see clearly that God is our source and provider. Ownership turns our hearts toward serving money; stewardship leads us to choose serving God. Ownership leads to worry and a mentality of scarcity; stewardship brings peace and a sense of contentment in all circumstances.

It’s a narrow road, and relatively few travel it. But the stewardship road empowers us to live out the truth that Jesus came to give us the fullness of life (John 10:10). This is the road to discipleship, the road to developing Christlike character. How we view money – as owners or as stewards – affects our relationship with God and with others, and determines whether we live as free children of God or as slaves to money.

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