The Extent of Good Stewardship

I received a comment on my article, "Should Christians Play the Lottery?" that really got me thinking. The gist of the comment was that to be good stewards of God's gifts we should give up a lot of the conveniences we have in favor of feeding the hungry or other ministry activities. On the surface, I'm tempted to agree with the notion. But upon deeper reflection, I just can't support the concept. It's not Biblical.

Here's why.

Yes, we are called to be good stewards of the resources God entrusts to our care. Luke 16 is only one story of what happens to bad stewards. The man's lord took away everything from him. The same thing happened to the servant who hid his master's one talent in the ground instead of putting it somewhere where it would multiply in Matthew 25. It's safe to say we don't want to be bad stewards.

That said, is it really being a good a steward to ride a bicycle instead of driving a car? Being a good steward does not only apply to money. It applies to our time as well. We're given such a finite amount of time here on this earth that it is not good stewardship to waste it riding a bicycle when God has blessed us with a car that allows us to do more for his kingdom than we would if we had to pedal ourselves everywhere.

Much has been said about the benefits of watching less television in favor of reading more books. TV has the unfortunate nickname "idiot box" which goes a long way toward fostering the "TV is bad" stereotype. However, it does have its good points. TV has served to bring the world into our living rooms. It has exposed us to new career paths, taught us fascinating historical tidbits and told us many, many stories that jumpstart our imagination.

As a result of television and the internet, which is very closely related, we've been able to unite as a global community. It has also brought us opportunities for ministry. Imagine how much worse Katrina would have been without TV broadcasting the need for food and shelter all over the world. People in unaffected areas would never have known the extent of the devastation without the images on television and online and been moved to send aid to the victims.

While concert tickets or trips to a beautician may seem excessive to some, they are considered necessary to others. If someone doesn't get the same joy out of a sunset as attending a concert, the person shouldn't be condemned as being a bad steward. God put in them the desire to enjoy music more than nature. That's a difference to be celebrated. Not frowned upon. This can also be said of visits to a beauty shop. It's not always about vanity, but about the fellowship one shares with the others in the shop. Since God has made us social creatures, this socializing can not be considered bad stewardship.

Finally, the thing that struck me most about giving up all these creature comforts in order to be a good steward, is the massive loss of jobs that we would sustain if we suddenly revert to these seemingly simple pleasures. Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 3:10 that if we don't work, we don't eat and God never commands us to do something that is impossible for us to do. In this scenario, that's exactly what will happen. All of the things some people consider "excess" are the means by which millions of other people are able to feed themselves and their families.

Instead of being a good steward, we would have taken away the resources by which others could be good stewards. That surely doesn't line up with God's will. If it did, he wouldn't have given us the talent and ingenuity to build cars or produce television shows or style hair. Managing our talents falls under the heading of good stewardship along with time and money. I don't think God would have wasted his time handing out the knack for fixing a car if he didn't want the person to use it. How about you?