The Stewardship of Our Material Possessions
The Stewardship of Our Material Possessions THE STEWARDSHIP OF OUR MATERIAL
POSSESSIONS
By P. D. Wilmeth
Introduction.
Brother Cox, Brethren and Friends: I am made tremendously humble by this occasion and moved to a deep sense of gratitude. You have favored both your-self and the speakers of this Lectureship by your presence. I have been invited to speak upon the subject of “The Stewardship of Our Material Possessions,” and therefore, challenge your attention to that end.
Strange as it may sound, our Lord had much to say about material things, and of money in particular. It has been suggested that twelve out of thirty-two of his parables deal with stewardship or use the parable to thus illustrate the thought. Some have even suggested that one out of every eight verses in the four gospels has something to say about money. The church therefore, which claims in a peculiar way to be a proponent of his teaching finds that it cannot avoid speaking upon this subject. And that, not primarily because the church wants or needs money, but because it is interested in the saving of the souls of “baptized believers” by creating the right attitude toward life. A man’s attitude toward his money is his attitude toward life (1 Timothy 6:10). Paul touched the heart of both the problem of money and its solution when he said, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” It is impossible for a man to have the right attitude toward life and the wrong attitude toward money, and vice-versa. But with the average person in the pew, a sermon on money or its equivalent is but a means to extract something precious from others apart from conscience and unrelated to salvation. Such is based upon a false premise. It is at once an inescapable part of God’s pattern for a true disciple. It is a component part of the plan of human redemption. We need to develop a consciousness of stewardship that will make giving an inspiration and a joy.
I. What Is Stewardship?
1. In Its Broader Sense: The word “stewardship” came out of the vivid life of the Orient. It literally glows with color and life. In a literal sense the word “steward” means “a man who is over—one to whom something has been intrusted.” “Ship” of course implies a relation between two persons or things. In its broadest sense it means the resonsibility for administering our whole life, personality, time, talents, in fluence, material substance, everything—in accordance with the purpose of God.
Moreover, the idea of stewardship is a New Testament conception. There is mention of the steward of Abraham (Genesis 15:2, A. V.); of Joseph (43:16, R. V.); and of the king of Babylon (Daniel 1:11), but it took Jesus to actually impress us with the reality of its meaning. Twice he expressly uses the term steward to set forth the relation between God and a man and his property (Luke 16:1-8; Luke 12:42), and in many other places it is implied (Matt. 18:23-25; 19:16-22 21:3341; 24:25; 25:31-46; Luke 12:16-21; 13:6-9; 19:1127). This is an important fact and one that has not always been observed by students of the Bible.
Abraham, of Old Testament fame, practiced the high art of stewardship when he put himself and all he had.at God’s disposal; he never refused God anything, not even his only son, Isaac. Joseph, one of Abraham’s posterity, was given to the noble ideal of stewardship. His poise was remarkable, his purity incorruptible and his piety was paramount. God was central in his life. That God-consciousness (a sense of all belonging to God) kept him from sin. When sorely tempted, he could say: “He is not greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9). He is an example of what every young man can and should be, and by the grace of God can be in personal life. William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, after his blindness, said: ‘T’ve done my best for God with eyes, now I’ll do it without eyes.” He had a consciousness of stewardship. But we must narrow this thesis to a particular emphasis upon material things.
2. It Is a Trust: Stewardship is a trust with an obligation. “It is required of a steward that a man.be found faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2). There is no option— it is required. This is true, in any relationship of human endeavor. That philosophy of trust began in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:16-17). They misused God’s portion, and this is sufficient to teach us that it is dangerous to be unfaithful in our. stewardship. Two companion parables in Luke 16 teach us this same les-son. The parable of the Unjust Steward whose sin was “wasting” his master’s goods was spoken against the Pharisees, who were “lovers of money” (1 Timothy 6:10). Reduced to the one essential truth, that steward’s one fault was “untrustworthiness.” He just could not be trusted. The fate of Dives is an illustration of the man’s re-ward who misuses his money. After a life of sumptuous feasting, and extravagant dressing, he found in hell that he could get no relief. (No he could not even get on relief of any kind). Why? Because he had been unfaithful to the charge committed to him while on earth. Jesus warned his disciples of the dangers of infidelity in our stewardship.
Brother McMillan in his tract on Stewardship suggests that, as a people, churches of Christ, have so afflicted the Bible doctrine with “don’ts” that little of the penetrating lessons on giving money has been able to enter our consciences. We have said, “Don’t get money except by free will gifts”; “don’t preach too much on giving for fear of being misunderstood.” “Don’t take a collection except on Lord’s day morning.” Still others have said, “Don’t pass the collection baskets ; don’t pledge or promise ahead (promise anybody but the Lord) what you intend to give”—and most of us have said, “Don’t distribute any gifts except through the treasury.” The result of all this is that we have been very meticulous to guard against off- brand giving and distributing, and have not been very conscientious about the spirit and reality of giving.
3. It Is An Investment: This is an age of investment, some wise and some unwise. When we have succeeded in convincing a man that a given investment will pay large dividends, he will usually manage to find some money to invest. Considered from any angle susceptible of presentation giving of one’s material possessions is one of the best investments that one can make. Few, however, regard it as such. It is a worthwhile investment to the man on the street. The philanthropist who invests in hospitals and schools, finds the culture of the soul as of inestimable value. Churches as such have a way of insuring him of his money invested in these other two areas. Think of the value of morality to society, and the dangers from the lack of it. Think of what it means to any business man to have a dishonest partner, or a dishonest banker, customer or employee. It is worth the investment to society. Real estate values are enhanced wherever the church has gone. Few men would want to move into, and rear a family in a town where they had no church privileges. If the validity of these truths are axio-matic here, how much more so for those who are its members. The church of our blessed Lord does not need to beg; it is a good investment to give into its coffers. Jesus tells the story of a certain rich man whose lands produced plentifully, all of which harvest he selfishly stored away in new barns. At the end of his greedy hoarding, his unclad soul was called to account before God. The lesson deduced is without question. “So is everyone that lays up treasure for " himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:21). In the light of this philosophy we find two questions clamoring for an answer.
II. Two Pertinent Questions
1. How Much Should One Give? Throughout our study we have been made aware of two ideals in practicing stewardship. One may be defined as legalistic and the oilier as spiritual. The legal aspect has to do with giving which is prompted externally, usually by law. Now all efforts to determine this question by giving so many cents out of each dollar are based uoon false premises of strained interpretations. The highest motive of giving is not “the percentage basis.” Throughout the Old Testament, at least from Abraham down, God’s people gave a tenth of all their earnings to the Lord (Hebrews 7:4-10). But we have men who strongly oppose tithing, which is right if opposed as a statutory law, To make the tithe a specified amount demanded by divine law would be out of harmony with the. whole spirit and teaching of the New Testament; moreover, it would cause many to be satisfied with much less than they should give. But unfortunately, those who oppose tithing, usually imply on their contention, that we should rot give that much.
How much to give? Paul said to the Galatians and Corinthian brethren, “to give as prospered” (1 Corinthians 16:1-2). There are no warnings against giving too little. Examples already cited are sufficient evidence of this. From approved examples we learn that a widow once gave all she had and the Lord approved it (Mark 12:43-44)1 Another woman broke a cruse of precious ointment on the Savior’s head and he rebuked her critic, and praised her (Mark 14:3-9). Jesus’ own example reveals how much he was willing to give (2 Corinthians 8:9). He gave up his earthly home, even to the point of possessing a pillow, which he could call his own. He gave up his heavenly honor, and gave up as a crowning gift for us his life’s blood to wash away our sins. 'If. he had done less, our memories of his love could not rise to such1 heights of appreciation. Our gifts to the ^ost world are expected to be the duplicates of his.”
2. What Motive Should Prompt Giving? The spiritual ideal may be defined as those impulses from with-in which prompt our giving. Jesus was inclined in this direction. He taught that the quality of life depends upon the motives. Every distinction between right and wrong is traced back m the Sermon on the Mount, to the motive of the heart. Giving can therefore be either an irritation or an Inspiration. If it is motivated by outward compulsion, it is usually an irritation. If it is motivated from within, it is usually an inspiration and joy. Some give to be seen of men. Jesus condemned this (Matthew 6:1-3). Sometimes appeals are made to various motives, any one of which may have some merit. Giving is urged because it brings dividends. It does pay to give, but this can degenerate into crass commercialism. The need, the urgency of the task, and the brevity of time are all valid motives with a reservation. The supreme motive, the capstone of them all is that of love. We should be motivated to give for the good of others and for the glory of God. As the mother joyously sacrifices herself for her child, and as Christ lovingly gave himself for all the world, our all (self included) should be placed upon the altar of service for the glory of God and the good of others. The Macedonians are noble examples (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). We observe that they gave of their own accord, beyond their power, over protest, prayed for the privilege, and above all else gave themselves. When we develop this consciousness about stewardship, we shall be seeking places to use the money given.
Conclusion
Allow me to leave the words of William Booth to you who said: “I will place no value on anything I possess except in its relationship to the kingdom of God.” And then the words of a familiar old hymn should assume meaning here.
“I gave, I gave my life for thee,
What has thou given for me?”