"Don't tell me what to do": Godly Perspective on Stewardship

“Don't tell me what to do!” We hear this familiar refrain most often from kids who wish to emblazon their own independence and assert their individuality in the face of family or authority figures. To cut straight to the chase, this is a refrain that all people make. However, adults have become more subtle and adept at communicating it. There’s a certain ownership that we feel over our time, our possessions and ultimately, over our entire life. This is why stewardship is such a vital practice in the personal experience of the Christian. It is the practice that gives legs and feet to the basic beliefs of Christian faith that because I am responsible to God in all aspects of my life, public and private, I must be a proper steward of the things in which I have been trusted. As I was thinking about how one could be a better steward of what we have been trusted with, the realization that came was clear as day. The fact is, we are great stewards of our time, money, and relationships when viewed through the lens of our own desires and wishes. If I wish to watch TV for six hours a day, or play video games for the same amount of time, watch YouTube videos until my computer battery dies, or any other pursuit that makes me feel content then I have been a great steward of my time according to me. I can spend my money the way I want to, give my attention to whom I wish, and do the things I want to do. The difficult reality that has to be realized is we are not the final say-so with even our lives. The word “stewardship” itself implies that we have been given a life that, ultimately, is not ours anyway. We are not the originators of anything. There really are proper and improper uses of time, money, relationships, and when not viewed from God’s perspective, those “stewardships” can seem much more like “ownerships” meant for our exclusive use and misuse. A good question to ask in regard to stewardship is “Why do I have this time, money, relationship or position?” Your answer may surprise you. Does you answer immediately lead you to God-given opportunities for His purposes in the world, or toward your own personal greatness? The answer also puts everything into perspective about the things we have but also how they are to be used. Does six hours in front of a screen (of any sort) for blasé, mind-numbing purposes really sound like a good stewardship of our time? If we view time as our own personal possession we may! Intentionality is a key point to remember when practicing stewardship. We must be intentional with our time, finances, relationships and attitudes. If we are not, we resemble a person who may go to an all-you-can-eat buffet. When a person gorges them self until they are ripe to pop, they are not eating with a proper sense of intentionality - its just brainless ingestion of food without a care of what is being put in to their body. If we are not intentional, active stewards, the abundance of time, money, and relationships we have been trusted with will disappear in a buffet of wasted time. God’s attitude for us in stewardship is one of trust, of opportunity. How are we going to best use these gifts for the glory of God instead of the betterment of ourself? Its remarkable how much time is wasted, how much money is wasted, how many conversations are missed by simply filling our lives with things that distract us from what really matters. Resist the idea and the notion that stewardship is a burden to be managed and not a joy and privilege in which you are trusted! What an amazing gift you have been given! What an amazing realization it is to know how we are to prioritize our lives from God’s perspective! May we never be like emblazoned faux-rebellious kids attempting to give off the veneer of being self-actualized and independent with the ownership of our lives that we fail to recognize that our very life is an act of stewardship, not just the particulars.