First Glimpse

Wii™ Stewardship

“Stupid game!”

I slammed the remote to the sofa in frustration as Luigi™ (a Wii character, for those who might be unfamiliar) spun dizzily across the Mario-Kart™ racetrack, caromed against a wall, and came to rest facing traffic.

“Whoa! Whoa!” Luigi’s high-pitched, electronic voice screamed in fright and alarm as cars, motorcycles, mushrooms, turtle shells, and flying banana peels raced toward his stranded vehicle.

“Stupid game,” I muttered again, bending to retrieve the controller.

From the corner of my eye, I glimpsed my daughter’s horrified face and realized she was no longer playing. I froze. A flush of shame instantly replaced my anger. “I’m sorry, Peanut!” I blurted. “I shouldn’t have lost my temper.”

“It’s okay, Daddy,” she replied, but her face said otherwise.

“Do you want to start the game over?” I asked hopefully, anxious to make amends.

“No, I don’t want to play anymore. I’m going to my room for a while.” She disappeared from the living room without another word.

My heart sank.

“Well, you blew that one.” My wife’s dry tone broke the uneasy silence as she exercised her uncanny knack for pointing out the obvious.

She was right.

In a single moment, I erased a hundred positive examples of patience, grace, and godliness. Stupid game indeed!

Later that week, Paul’s words to Titus seemed to leap from the page. “Since an overseer manages God’s household, he must be blameless—not overbearing, not quick-tempered…”

Ouch.

While Paul referred specifically to church leaders in this passage, his words are a solemn reminder for everyone—especially dads like me—that stewardship is far more than dropping a ten in the plate on Sunday, praying over meals, or volunteering occasionally at the local soup kitchen. No, stewardship is a lifelong process of bringing “every thought captive,” of giving ourselves back to God, of breaking the vise-like grip this world has on our souls…of becoming blameless.

He put it another way in 1 Corinthians 6:19, 20: “What? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Sure, I know my life belongs to God. But living that way every moment? Now that’s a challenge beyond anything Nintendo™ can offer.

Eric K. Thomsen is managing editor of ONE Magazine. Contact him at editor@nafwb.org.