The Stewardship Equation

by Jeff Cates

Stewardship.

The very mention of the term causes our mind to race. Most people assume that when you refer to stewardship, you are about to make a full frontal attack on their personal finances. While it is true that any person or church trying to be good stewards of the resources God has placed in their possession must address money, much more is involved in stewardship. Resources such as time, talent, spiritual gifts, and more must be added to the equation for biblical stewardship to be complete.

In reality, the easiest area of stewardship for most churches to tap is finances. We live in a culture that seems to believe if you throw enough money at something, it will be successful. Even within the church, we find a tendency to “pay someone else to do it.” But that does not get to the heart of true stewardship. God does not need our money to do His will. He does, however, need people willing to give…everything. We must see the big picture and invest all available resources to His work.

I must admit that, as a pastor, teaching stewardship is hard work. We often see needs not being met, and our first instinct is to point those needs out to others in hopes of a good offering. But, if we want to teach it, we must practice good stewardship personally. When we give generously ourselves, others will follow our example.

In a mission church, you learn very quickly that any resource can be valuable in reaching your goals. Allowing people to be who they are and to use their gifts, no matter how underdeveloped, is often the only way you move forward. You learn to reevaluate what is really important in contrast to what we think is important. Good stewardship of people, programs, outreach, benevolence, finances, and facilities—total stewardship—is what marks a successful ministry.

For example, when we designed our building, we decided to make it user friendly. That sounds reasonable. We all want to be good stewards of our facilities. But when an early snowstorm moved our anniversary celebration inside, we faced a stewardship question. A new convert had brought a pony for the kids. He was utilizing the gifts and resources he had. So, we brought the pony ride inside.

Thankfully, concrete floors are easy to clean. We gained a family from that activity because they said, “Kids are more important to your church than the building.” You might not see it, but to me that was good stewardship.

Using every gift that people possess, be it cooking, cleaning, building, teaching, music, visiting, mowing, gardening, painting (and the list could go on) is the key to stewardship. When we are taught to give all of ourselves first, our finances will follow. When we offer to the Lord all that we are and all that we possess, it becomes obvious to even the most elementary of believers that God is faithful. He simply asks the same of us.

It is amazing how much the people of God have to offer. It is equally amazing how willing they are to give when they have a solid understanding of the stewardship equation.

About the Writer: Home Missionary Jeff Cates is planting a church in Canyon, Texas. Learn more at www.thecanyonchurch.com.