We’ve been talking about everybody’s favorite church topic (wink, wink), money, at Harvest Community Church where I serve as Executive Pastor. I’ve really enjoyed wrestling with what, out of everything that could be said, might we say to help people have a better perspective as to God’s amazing grace which leads to generosity. At the core, I am convinced that Jesus changes everything, and that includes our perspective on wealth and possessions.
My hope for our church is really the same as my hope for my life in this area. I want Jesus to be first in my heart, and for that to direct everything else. This Sunday we’re discussing the idea of stewardship. A steward is “someone an owner entrusts with the management of his assets.”1
Do you understand that God (and not us) is the owner of everything?
Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. (1 Chronicles 29:11-12a ESV)
My perspective of everything I have begins to shift in a healthy direction when I really believe that everything I have isn’t really mine. What we own tends to own us. If we are possessive of our possessions they tend to possess us. Don’t let stuff rule you!
Do you know that God owns you?
You are God’s, first because he created you. Then, if you’re a Christian, your his again because he bought you back from sin which had become a ruling force in your life. The Bible’s word for this repurchase is redemption.
He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. (Ephesians 1:7 NLT)
So, God (and not me) owns everything. That means he owns me too. So what do I do with everything that I have, if its really all his? I understand I am a manager, and I invest it in what’s best? All of the gifts, resources, time, and income that I have I understand are mine as an investment manager not an owner.
So the question is, how good a manager are you? And do you know what the best investments for all that you have are? Let me give you a hint: what investment will pay you dividends even after you die?
1- Alcorn, Randy (2011-02-21). Managing God’s Money: A Biblical Guide (p. 15). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition.
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