Ministry-ment #4 - Faithful Stewardship

What Leonardo da Vinci accomplished in the early 1500s continues to influence our world today.  He produced a work of art now known as the Mona Lisa.  Her enigmatic smile so consumes art experts and lay persons alike, it is continually reproduced over and over again.  But there is only one original copy.  It hangs in the Louvre in Paris.  But that doesn’t matter.  The beauty of the painting can be enjoyed by anyone because so many quality copies of her exist.  Granted, none of these copies are of the same grandeur as the master’s original.  Nonetheless, the original work is so exquisite that a faithful copy of the original can inspire and impress.

We love faithful copies.  When the original is of great value yet out of reach, we depend on faithful copies.  When there is limited access to the original, we rely on faithful copies.  Faithfulness implies consistency and coherence to the original.  We know it isn’t the exact same thing, but because it is a reliable, trustworthy, and accurate copy, we call it “faithful.”  Whether it is a work of art, or a document, or any other such reproduction, we are always pleased to know when a copy is a “faithful”.  We can’t own the Mona Lisa, but we can still enjoy the beauty of that art by viewing a “faithful” reproduction.  Yes, some of the nuances may be slightly different or missing altogether but is an accurate representation of the original.  No one can create an exact replica of the Mona Lisa.  It is too much one-of-a-kind.  Still, much of her intrinsic beauty can be appreciated in the copies of her.

And this is the essence of being “faithful.”  Faithfulness is a one of the qualities Paul says should mark our lives as we follow Jesus.  He is the ultimate “one-of-a-kind.”  John calls Him the “only begotten of the Father.”  He is unique.  We will never be exactly like Him because we are not deity.  He is.  But we can be faithful copies.

In our highly individualized western culture, we tend to make things personal and individual.  We talk about our relationship with God as “my faith.”  This is what I believe.  There are so many variants of Christianity out there it sometimes seems like its practitioners have created their own faith-system by choosing personal preferences from the buffet table of theology.  

Of course, there is a need for diversity in our faith, for different perspectives.  This is especially true when it comes to matter of how we express our faith (what music we like, how we celebrate the ordinances, etc.).  But it should not be true when it comes to being a faithful representation of the person of Christ.  Our character, our passions, our priorities, our heart should all be faithful reproductions of those Christ exhibited and taught, and what God has revealed Himself to be in the pages of Scripture.

This brings us to our fourth “Ministry-ment:” Thou shalt pursue faithful stewardship.

There are two key ideas in this statement.  The first as I’ve already said, is the component of faithfulness - a reliable, accurate, truthful reproduction.  The second is that of “stewardship.”  Except in the context of money, we don’t talk much about stewardship.  I think we should.

Grasping the steward’s mindset is an important element to being faithful.  A steward, by the very nature of the task, is one who acts in the best interests of someone else.  The steward isn’t the owner, they are in the service of the owner.  In many of His parables, Jesus praised the quality of faithful stewards - those individuals who acted kindly and wisely on behalf of an owner.  

Clearly, God is the owner of all things and we are the stewards.  Hopefully, we are pursuing the ideal of being faithful stewards.  Not all stewards are (Matt. 25:14-30).  Good stewardship is much more than just good management.  The owner is not only concerned with what the steward does but also the manner in which it is done.  After all, all stewards are acting on behalf of and are representatives of their owner.  Poor behaviour in a steward taints the reputation of the one who is using their services.

The Apostle Paul made the point this way, “One should think about us this way– as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.  Now what is sought in stewards is that one be found faithful” (1 Cor. 4:1-2 NET).  There it is.  The idea of being “faithful.”  Not just doing a good job, but representing well, with truth and care, the interests, nature, and character of the Owner of all things.

This is not an instruction to become a superstar, the next social media influencer for the Christian faith.  It does mean that whatever it is with God has entrusted us, wherever it is that He has placed us (read Acts 17:26!) that we represent Him as well as a well produced copy of the Mona Lisa represents Leonardo da Vinci.  The copy is never exactly the same as the original, but we can be faithful reproductions of His grace, mercy, compassion, righteousness, and justice.

This is our pursuit:  the faithful stewardship of the King’s resources (and that may be in any form - knowledge, relationships, life-skills, wealth - you name it, it all belongs to God).  The greatest of these treasures is of course the gospel itself and our relationships with people.  Serving them and sharing the good news through both deed and word is the highest task we can complete as stewards of the King of all creation.  This is our greatest challenge.  It is an all-consuming task:  to be a faithful reproduction of the person of Christ in the place and context where He has chosen to place us.