Have you ever awakened from a restless sleep, in a cold sweat, wondering how in the world you will be able to pay off your debts before death, or the Lord’s return? It’s a crisis of our time—debt. I know it’s not an exciting subject, but it’s certainly a biblical one. I want us to consider, by way of a series of essays, a few things that will help us learn to be better stewards of the resources God has blessed us with. In turn, I believe these things will help us to control our debt, and even pay it off in quick fashion.

Sometimes we look at folks and think to ourselves, “wow, they must be doing well!” The “Jones’” wear designer clothes, live in a fine home, and drive a high dollar SUV—all the while wearing the biggest smile across their faces. What we don’t see, in some cases, is the fact that the “Jones’” have borrowed 125% of the value of their house, financed the SUV for seven years (or more), and are just waiting for the next credit card to arrive because the others have been maxed out buying all the designer clothes. This reminds me of that debt commercial that we saw on TV a few years ago with the guy describing all of his worldly possessions, wearing a big grin and saying, “I’m in debt up to my eyeballs. Somebody help me.”

Well, the Lord wants to help us. The first thing we have to do is listen to what God says about stewardship. That’s the real issue. In this essay we’ll briefly look at the meaning of stewardship. Then, in future essays, we’ll discuss the priority we should put on stewardship, what can happen when we’re poor stewards. Then we’ll look at some practical ways to become good stewards and some blessings that result from being good stewards.

Stewardship is more than an action—it’s an attitude. Specifically, it is an attitude toward life. Of my Lord it was said, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mt. 20:28). Jesus was a good steward.

The New Testament uses two Greek words for stewardship. The first one is oikonomos. It’s from oikos, meaning a “house or dwelling.” Then, the suffix nomos, meaning “distribute or arrange.” So, oikonomos means, “house arranger.” We find an example of this in Romans 16:23. “Gaius mine host, and of the whole church, saluteth you. Erastus the chamberlain (oikonomos—house distributor or fiscal agent) of the city saluteth you, and Quartus a brother.”

The second Greek word is epitropos. This word means, “one to whose charge or control a thing is left…manager…guardian.” For example, the Bible says, “So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward (epitropos—my manager), Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first” (Mt. 20:8).

A little boy defined stewardship this way: “Life is like a great ship loaded with rich cargo to be delivered to many places. God is the owner of the ship and its cargo, but I am the captain.” Stewardship is like management. Every resource (money or possession) belongs to God. It is up to us to manage them properly.

Have a terrific Wednesay!

–Neil Richey