We are called to exercise our dominion under the watchful eye of the Creator managing his creation in accord with the principles he has established. God has entrusted authority over the creation to us and we are not allowed to rule over it as we see fit. This is the maxim taught by the parable of the talents. And we will all give account to the rightful owner as to how well we managed the things he has entrusted to us. In the same way, we are stewards of everything we have been given, including our time, money, abilities, information, wisdom, relationships, and authority. Each one ends with the steward giving account of what he had done with the master’s property. Jesus told several parables in which he used stewardship as metaphor for how his kingdom operates. In his article “ Living as Faithful Stewards in a Fallen World,” Bill Peel writes, It illustrates accountability, one of the four principles of biblical stewardship. This is, of course, the parable of the talents. But from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away ( Matt. Matthew 25:14-30įor to everyone who has more will be given, and he will have in abundance. This is what the Bible calls stewardship. Likewise, we are to take the priceless gifts that God has given us and pour them out as a sacrifice in service to him and to our fellow man. David poured the water out on the ground as a sacrifice to the Lord. This Old Testament story illustrates the fact that we should not selfishly live our lives for ourselves. Rather, he was pronouncing their sacrifice too holy for him to selfishly consume. He poured it on the ground instead. David was not rejecting the sacrifice of the men who had gotten water for him. To their surprise, David would not drink the water they had risked their lives to retrieve. Three of the men fight their way through to the well and bring David water. David’s men overhear him longing for water from the well of Bethlehem, which is heavily guarded by the Philistines. He is accompanied by his loyal followers, mighty warriors all. If you want to know what stewardship looks like, study this passage.ĭavid is fleeing for his life. This is the story of David’s mighty men, a story of stewardship in action.
And David said longingly, “Oh, that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate!” Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem that is by the gate and carried and brought it to David. 2 Samuel 23:8-17ĭavid was then in the stronghold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then at Bethlehem. It still stands as God’s directive for our stewardship of his creation. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.Īs these latter two passages indicate, the cultural mandate was meant not only for Adam and Eve, but for others as well–including Christians today.
Take wives and have sons and daughters take wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters multiply there, and do not decrease. Jeremiah 29:5-7 says,īuild houses and live in them plant gardens and eat their produce. His letter gives specific calls to action that flesh out the command to fill the earth and subdue it. Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles in Jeremiah 29 resonates with this call to stewardship, too. And you, be fruitful and multiply, increase greatly on the earth and multiply in it.” There are echoes of this mandate in God’s words to Noah found in Genesis 9:1-7, part of which reads:Īnd God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth…. It’s where God first calls humanity to cultivate and care for his creation using the unique gifts and talents he has endowed to every person. Genesis 1:28 is known as the cultural mandate. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” The third tells us how our stewardship will be judged, and in doing so reveals how the resources entrusted to us are to be used. The second shows us what biblical stewardship looks like in action. The first key passage provides the foundation for biblical stewardship. There are many passages concerning stewardship in the Bible that tell us this, but the following three are important because they give us a biblical framework for stewardship in our lives. We were created to be stewards of God’s creation through our work.
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