LEADERSHIP AND STEWARDSHIP ARE SYNONYMOUS
Spiritual leadership and stewardship in mission are synonymous in nature. The ultimate form of leadership is stewardship.
In addition to the salvation accomplished for us by Jesus Christ, these words cumulatively represent the greatest gifts we have been given by God, and can be expressed in terms of relationships, time, resources and the Holy Spirit.
The foundation of stewardship (and mission) is rooted in the Old Testament Shema (Dt. 6:4-5), and outlined by our Lord again in the Gospels, this time re-emphasizing the love of neighbors and the flow of grace, which we ourselves have freely received.
Mark 12: 28-31: “One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these."
From this beginning scripture, our philosophy of leadership and stewardship originates.
The Stewardship of Relationships
Stewardship has been, and will always be grounded in our relationships. The Alpha and Omega of all relationships is the one we have with our savior Jesus Christ, and this relationship is the starting point of our journey in stewardship.
The stewardship of all relationships is at the heart of the many missional commands of our Lord (i.e. John 21:15-17- “Feed my sheep…”). The relationship that we have with Jesus, and the relationships that we have with His children will always be critical to effective mission and stewardship.
Stewardship is the end result of surrendering everything that we are and that we have to the Lord in dependence upon the finishing work of Christ. It is the surrendering of the one worldly relationship we tend to value most, the one of personal identity in the world. We must exchange this worldly identity for a new identity in Christ to become stewards of His kingdom and of the relationships He places in front of us.
The surrender of a worldly identity allows us to become obedient to and dependent upon the spiritual leadership of Jesus Christ, and to become effective in His mission to others in a kingdom relationship. Without the surrender of a worldly identity and the embracing the relationships that we have surrounding us, there will be no need for stewardship, and subsequently, there will be no ministry and no mission.
Stewardship, ministry and mission are based upon the foundational relationship with our Lord and each other, and these relationships become communities connected by grace in His kingdom.
The Stewardship of Time
Closely following the foundation of the stewardship of relationships outlined by our Lord is the element of time. Time is the only non-renewable resource we have. We can lose all other resources, and those resources can be regenerated by the grace of God, however, we can never renew or recapture time lost.
Time is a finite measurement of who and what we will serve in this world. In addition to relationships, time is the only gift and resource we really have at present, for all collateral, material possessions, resources and our very existence belong to the Lord. We will serve something or someone with the gift of time that we have been given.
None of us know exactly how much time we have been granted on this earth to serve the Lord in His mission. Therefore, the time that we have been given today is a gift from the Lord for serving Him and His children. He has given us this time first to invest in knowing Him. By intimately knowing Him and enjoying His presence and His gifts, we will then be able to serve His children effectively with His love.
Our interaction with family, friends, peers, employees, employers, believers and non-believers should be conducted in the light of the second of God’s great commandments “to love thy neighbor as we love ourselves.” These interactions should always be held high consciously, and as a priority, for time is the most precious and fleeting tool of stewardship.
Martin Luther said, “When the heart is captured, the work will fall of itself.” Adequate time should be invested with the Lord to ensure our hearts remain “captured, and immersed” in His Spirit …and this translates into stewardship and service in His mission.
The Stewardship of Resources
Most people think of resources in terms of finance and money. Certainly money is a God given resource, but it is not the only resource we have.
We also have the resources of relationships, spiritual gifts, experiences and abilities and the non-renewable resource of time. When combined in faith with the grace of God, these are mighty resources that will generate everything else needed for effective mission in the kingdom, including financial resources.
Money is a gift …and it can also be a burden. It becomes a burden when we see this resource as being "ours," and not as being a gift from God to be used in His service. It can be a burden if it is used solely for our worldly benefit, and not for the benefit of the kingdom. Yet, if we have completely surrendered to God what is rightfully His (our lives and everything in our possession), in faith, hope and humility we will love the Lord with all of our hearts and minds. Subsequently, we will love His children and manage His resources well as stewards of His children and His kingdom.
Any resource is to be multiplied in terms of effective stewardship. This involves “investing” for a spiritual return that we may or may not see on this earth. If there is no spiritual return to the kingdom on the investment of any resource, most especially money, it is questionable that an investment be made at all.
The Gift of the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is the ultimate gift and resource of stewardship.
Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you;
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the ends of the earth."
Without the power of the Holy Spirit of the living God, we cannot be a steward of anything He values, for apart from the Spirit we are only dust. It is Jesus that has redeemed us, and He makes intercession for us, enabling us by His Spirit to serve His kingdom and His mission.
The fruits of His spirit are issued through the grace and love of Christ, and these fruits allow us to become good stewards of every resource that the Lord provides, including time, spiritual gifts, experiences, abilities and …money.
When the elements of relationships, time and resources are used in conjunction with the power of the Holy Spirit, our stewardship is powerful on His behalf. With biblical commitment, vision, influence and opportunity, we become amazing instruments of stewardship in the hands of a gracious and merciful God.
The world views stewardship in certain terms, yet the definition is much, much larger … for it is leadership in missio dei (the mission of God) itself. Missional leadership is "focused stewardship" for the kingdom of Jesus Christ.
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