Title: STEWARDSHIP DOS AND DON’TS
Focus: Biblical stewardship calls for applying spiritual investment strategies, while avoiding traps and temptations.
Function: To encourage the people to practice spiritual investment strategies while avoiding traps and temptations.
Text: I Timothy 6:17-21
INTRODUCTION
Almost immediately after WW II, many Christian men and women immigrated from the Netherlands to Canada. They came to this continent for various reasons. Some came because they were unhappy with their church situation; they wanted to practice their faith without the constraints they felt the church was having at that time in Holland.
Most immigrants, however, came because they wanted a better life—for themselves, and especially for their children. At that time, the economy in Holland was on the blink, and the housing shortage was enormous. So, they came to Canada and some to the U.S.A.
I’ve talked with many of those Christian immigrants, and I’ve observed two things: (1) Most of them are grateful for the material blessings they have received. Hardly any of these immigrants ever regretted coming to this side of the ocean.
(2) However, many of them are fretting and worried today about their kids and grandkids; they worry that their blessings of financial prosperity have led to traps and temptations. They worry because they see their offspring putting their hope in wealth, rather than in God. These immigrants see a relationship between financial prosperity and a decline in faith and trust in God.
In our reflections on biblical stewardship today, I want to emphasize that Christian stewardship calls for applying spiritual investment strategies, while avoiding certain traps and temptations. In light of Paul’s instructions to Timothy and to the church in Ephesus and to us today, I want to highlight stewardship do’s and don’ts.
THE PASSAGE
The apostle Paul is writing a letter of encouragement to Timothy and the church in Ephesus, as well as to us today. The church includes both rich and poor people. And Paul has a word of encouragement as well as warning for us all. In the early part of chapter 6, Paul warns poor Christians to avoid being obsessed with material things. And he sets before us simplicity as part of biblical stewardship. Warning us against the trap and temptation of being obsessed with wealth, Paul says: (vs. 9) ”People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” I think that many of these early immigrants have observed the dangers of materialism. In overcoming this love of money, Paul advocates simplicity with contentment, which Paul calls “great gain” for us (vs. 6).
In the passage that we read (vs. 17-21) Paul addresses in particular the wealthy in the church. For the sake of developing biblical stewardship, we do well to include ourselves in this category today. Whether we are financially rich or poor, God loves us all and his mandate for stewardship remains the same.
In this Scripture passage, we note the apostolic voice of authority: (vs. 17) “Command those who are rich….” (vs. 18) “Command them….” The English translation of this passage suggests that there are at least three complete sentences. But in the original language we note that the apostle Paul writes one long sentence, loaded with concepts and ideas, and all governed by one verb—the verb “command,” followed by a number of participles. Verses 17-19 make up one sentence, wrapped up in a mantle of authority, coming from the mouth and pen of the Apostle Paul.
In other words, Paul is not giving us some generic financial advice that we are free to ignore or apply as we see fit. No, inspired by God’s Spirit, Paul binds us with authoritative instruction: “Command,” “instruct those who are rich….” The passage, then, is forceful in its teaching that biblical stewardship calls for applying spiritual investment strategies, while avoiding traps and temptations.
There is one more thing we must consider in this passage before we note the traps and temptations and before we observe the spiritual investments we are to make. Paul commands us to apply biblical stewardship while keeping our eyes of faith on two realities: this present age and the age to come. In vs. 17 Paul says: “Command those who are rich in this present age (or world)….” And in verse 19 Paul says: “In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age….”
The present age or world is where we do our living today; the coming age or world is where we do our living for eternity. This world and the world to come are very closely connected.
This world will be fully redeemed, restored by the Lord Jesus; and all Jesus’ followers will live on the restored, renewed world for ever and ever. Often, the Bible refers to the world to come as “heaven.” The Scripture does so, because when Christ restores all things, he will live with us. That is, heaven and earth will be united. God will live in our midst.
Christians, then, live today with a tension: the tension of “already”—“not yet.” Already, today, we have eternal life in Jesus Christ; we will experience that eternal life in its fullness when the new age, the new world is come, when Jesus makes all things new. Already, today, we are citizens of heaven; yet, we live out our heavenly citizenship in this present age. This perspective of the present age and the coming age confronts us with important questions for biblical stewardship.
For example, What is God’s purpose for us? Is it to be rich in this present age or in the age to come? Is it to accumulate treasure on earth or in heaven, or both perhaps? Is biblical stewardship a matter of making a lot of money now and using it wisely, or is biblical stewardship more with a view toward “taking hold of the life that is truly life?” (vs. 19b).
These are important questions to ask as we take note of the Bible’s teaching that biblical stewardship calls for making spiritual investments, while avoiding traps and temptations today.
TRAPS AND TEMPTATIONS
The first trap or temptation that we must avoid as rich Christians is the trap of arrogance or pride. “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant….” Note that Paul does NOT say: get rid of your riches! Or, give your money to the poor, or to the church, for that matter. No, rich people do not necessarily have to divest themselves from wealth; rather, we are to use it in such a way that we avoid arrogance or pride building up in our hearts.
Somehow, wealth and financial prosperity have a way of creating an attitude within us that alienates us from God and from others. Our wealth has the power (it’s a spiritual power) to corrupt us in thinking that somehow our wealth makes us better or superior people, more important, more impressive, more imposing than others, and more entitled to worldly privileges than others. That’s a trap we must avoid. Being a rich steward of God’s resources is fine. But beware of the trap of pride, and learn to practice humility.
The other trap or temptation is putting our hope or security in our earthly treasures. Somehow, in our culture, we spread and embrace very quickly the message that “the more wealth we have, the more security we have.” “The bigger the paycheck, the bigger the capital gain, the bigger our assets, the bigger our retirement nest egg, the more secure we are for our earthly needs and comforts and wants.”
This is a difficult notion to overcome, because we tend to focus so much on this present world and lose sight of the world to come. Our living today, as Christians, calls for investing in the age to come. Our concern must be the present and future; our stewardship must reflect the long view. There is a clear connection between the way we use our God-given resources today and our inheritance when Christ makes all things new. This is why we must note Paul’s strategy of spiritual investments.
SPIRITUAL INVESTMENTS
Listen to the text: “Command them (rich Christians) to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age….” Now the idea that there are treasures to be stored up for the age to come is not widely understood among us, Protestant Christians. The idea that we can earn “brownie points” with God is widely rejected. And when it comes to our salvation in Christ, rightly so! For the gift of eternal life is—from first to last—a gift, solely resting in God’s grace and favor.
The idea, however, that Christians can store up treasures in heaven today, for cashing in when we inherit the new heavens and earth, is far less known or understood. And yet, this, too, is a biblical teaching that ties in with biblical stewardship today. And that’s why Paul gives us his spiritual investment strategy.
Rich Christians must learn to do good, to be rich in good deeds. Good works, then, those works that reflect Christ-like love and concern for God and our neighbors are works to pursue; such good works may involve money or wealth, but more often they ask for a commitment from the heart.
We must do good with the resources we have: our time, our talents, and yes, our gifts or wealth.
Rich Christians, says Paul, must also learn to be generous. Greed and stinginess must turn into a liberality and cheerfulness in giving from our resources. One of the by products of such generosity is joy. Give cheerfully and discover the joy of giving.
Along with doing good and generosity, we must also learn to apply koinonia—the fellowship of sharing. Literally, Paul says: “be fellowshipers,” that is, be engaged in community building through the sharing of resources. In Acts 2:44 we read “All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.”
I am not quite sure how to apply this communal insight of stewardship in a capitalistic society such as ours. Christians, throughout the centuries, have tried to apply this radically. But communal living has never been a long-term successful adventure in the Christian world. Communal living may not be part of our stewardship portfolio, but the sharing of resources is something we can practice—if only up to a limit today.
These, then, are the stewardship do’s and don’ts we find in Scripture today: Avoid the traps and temptations of pride and false security in wealth. Apply the spiritual investment strategy of doing good, generosity and a willingness to share. And in all of these, put your hope in God. He will walk with us through the present age, and lead us to inherit the treasures we store up for the coming age.
Glory be to God! As it was in the beginning, is now, and always shall be. World without ends. Amen!