Four Principles of Biblical Stewardship

Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from
moment to moment, is given you by God. If you devoted every moment of your
whole life exclusively to His service, you could not give Him anything that was not
in a sense His own already.
C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
In a recent blog on stewardship we asked the question, What does stewardship
look like in our lives today? Unfortunately many Christians today only associate the
idea of stewardship with sermons they have heard about church budgets and
building programs.
But for us at the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, the idea of biblical
stewardship is about something much more expansive. We believe it is where the
concepts of faith, work and economics intersect.
Bill Peel over at The High Calling recently wrote an excellent essay
entitled Leadership Is Stewardship. His essay can help us build a framework to
begin unpacking this biblical idea of stewardship.
Peel suggests that there are four important principles about biblical stewardship we
must understand:
1. The principle of ownership.
The psalmist begins the 24th psalm with,
The earth is the LORDs, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.
In the beginning of Genesis, God creates everything and puts Adam in the Garden to
work it and to take care of it. It is clear that man was created to work and that work
is the stewardship of all of the creation that God has given him.
This is the fundamental principle of biblical stewardship. God owns everything, we
are simply managers or administrators acting on his behalf.
Therefore, stewardship expresses our obedience regarding the administration of
everything God has placed under our control, which is all encompassing.
Stewardship is the commitment of ones self and possessions to Gods service,
recognizing that we do not have the right of control over our property or
ourselves.
Echoing Deuteronomy 8:17, we might say: My power and the strength of my hands
have produced this wealth for me. But Deuteronomy 8:18 counsels us to think
otherwise:
Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce
wealth.
2. The principle of responsibility.

In explaining responsibility, Peel writes,

Although God gives us all things richly to enjoy, nothing is ours. Nothing really
belongs to us. God owns everything; were responsible for how we treat it and what
we do with it. While we complain about our rights here on earth, the Bible
constantly asks, What about your responsibilities? Owners have rights; stewards
have responsibilities.
We are called as Gods stewards to manage that which belongs to God. While God
has graciously entrusted us with the care, development, and enjoyment of
everything he owns as his stewards, we are responsible to manage his holdings well
and according to his desires and purposes.
3. The principle of accountability.
A steward is one who manages the possessions of another. We are all stewards of
the resources, abilities and opportunities that God has entrusted to our care, and
one day each one of us will be called to give an account for how we have managed
what the Master has given us.
This is the maxim taught by the Parable of the Talents. God has entrusted authority
over the creation to us and we are not allowed to rule over it as we see fit. 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.
Like the servants in the Parable of the Talents, we will be called to give an account
of how we have administered everything we have been given, including our time,
money, abilities, information, wisdom, relationships, and authority.
We will all give account to the rightful owner as to how well we managed the things
he has entrusted to us.
4. The principle of reward.
In Colossians 3:23-24 Paul writes:
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for
men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.
It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
The Bible shows us in the parables of the Kingdom that faithful stewards who do the
masters will with the masters resources can expect to be rewarded incompletely in
this life, but fully in the next.
We all should long to hear the master say what he exclaims in Matthew 25:21:
Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will
put you in charge of many things. Come and share your masters happiness!
As Christians in the 21st century, we need to embrace this larger biblical view of
stewardship, which goes beyond church budgets or building projects, though
important; it connects everything we do with what God is doing in the world.

We need to be faithful stewards of all God has given us within the opportunities
presented through his providence to glorify him, serve the common good and
further his Kingdom.

Davids Mighty Men: Stewardship In Action

Then the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines and drew
water out of the well of Bethlehem that was by the gate and carried it to David. But
he would not drink of it. He poured it out to the LORD.
2 Samuel 23:16
The Old Testament contains some of the most remarkable stories. Many of these
tales revolve around a young shepherd boy named David who grew up to become
the great King of Israel.
His ascension to the throne was not without difficulties. Shortly after he was
anointed by the prophet Samuel, David fell out of favor with the establishment and
had to flee for his life. He hid out in the wilderness outside of Jerusalem with a group
of his loyal followers. The Bible calls this group Davids mighty warriors.
C. David Jones, in his book Davids Mighty Men, describes Davids entourage as a
magnificent, special elite force of fearless warriors. They were extraordinarily
strong, courageous, unflinchingly brave, and completely committed to David. They
were thirty-seven of the most fierce and dedicated warriors that ever lived. Jones
writes,
They were a combination of combat commandos, stealth rangers, navy seals, green
beret, special ops and Delta forces who had acquired the skills of battle demanded
to survive and conquer in hand-to-hand warfare. They engaged in clandestine
operations and were often outnumbered by staggering odds pitted against them,
yet they stood their ground. Time after time on fields of battle they were the last
men standing.
One story in 2 Samuel recounts a time when Davids mighty men overheard King
David say, Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of
Bethlehem which is by the gate! (2 Samuel 23:15). At this point in time, Israels
hated enemies, the Philistines, had taken control of the city of Bethlehem. It was
heavily guarded.
The three mighty men, on their own, went down and fought their way through the
lines of the Philistines. They made their way to the well in Bethlehem, where they
drew water to take back to the young King. They eluded the pursuing Philistines,
returned to their hideout, and presented the water to David.

To their surprise, David would not drink the water they had risked their lives to
retrieve. He poured it on the ground instead.
David was not rejecting the sacrifice of the men who had gotten water for him.
Rather, he was pronouncing their sacrifice too holy for him to selfishly consume.
What an inspiring picture of the way Christians are called to live their lives. The
Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:15 that because Christ died for us, those
who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and
was raised.
This Old Testament story vibrantly illustrates the fact that we should not selfishly
live our lives for ourselves. David poured the water out on the ground as a sacrifice
to the Lord. 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. This is what
the Bible calls stewardship.
Stewardship is one of the most important and practical themes laid out in the Bible,
and yet is often overlooked or minimized by Christians today.
The Bible says a great deal about stewardship because this concept touches every
area of our lives. The Disciples Study Bible defines stewardship as,
a way of living that involves ones daily activities, values and goals for life, and
the use of all possessions. It begins with God and His plans for creation and
purposes for humankind. The steward is Gods responsible representative and
manager of all creation.
This type of stewardship requires a fundamental commitment to present ourselves
completely to God as his servants, with no reservations.
Stewardship is not one more thing we have to do, but a way of seeing everything
we already do in a very different light.
In return this whole life stewardship will add the peace, fulfillment, significance
and purpose to our lives in the here and now that we all so desperately seek.

VS 23:13-17 - 13 Then three of the thirty chief men went down and came to David
in the harvest time to the cave of Adullam, while the troop of the Philistines was
camping in the valley of Rephaim. 14 David was then in the stronghold, while the
garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem. 15 David had a craving and said,
Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of Bethlehem which is
by the gate! 16 So the three mighty men broke through the camp of the Philistines,
and drew water from the well of Bethlehem which was by the gate, and took it and
brought it to David. Nevertheless he would not drink it, but poured it out to
the Lord; 17 and he said, Be it far from me, O Lord, that I should do this. Shall I
drink the blood of the men who went in jeopardy of their lives? Therefore he would
not drink it. These things the three mighty men did. - David tells the story of how

that the three of his mighty men broke behind the enemy lines and got David a
drink of water

8.1.
This is an incredible story told of the three of Davids might
fighting men. The story reveals the depth of loyalty in serving that they had to their
leader, David. David had grown up in Bethlehem and as a young lad had enjoyed
the wonderful tasting well water his family possessed. One day as David and his
men camped in the wilderness and the Philistines had the city of Bethlehem as their
garrison, David simply made mention to some of his men of how he longed for that
great tasting well water he enjoyed in the city of Bethlehem. David didnt ask his
men to go and get some of this water for him, never-the-less they risked their lives
by going and breaking through the Philistine garrison in Bethlehem to get David a
drink of Bethlehem well water.

8.2.
David was so impressed by the selfless and courageous action of
these three loyal men, that he could not drink any of that water for he considered it
blood water since these men had risked their lives to obtain it. Feeling unworthy
of what his men had done for David he poured this Bethlehem well water out before
the Lord as a drink offering because it was too precious and valuable for him to
drink.

8.3.
We see from this story (as well as the rest of the stories about
Davids fighting men) that David included these stories of his mighty fighting men
which revealed their courageous and selfless acts in order to be able to honor and
commend them before the Lord for eternity.

8.4.
We Christians need to realize that even though our courageous and
selfless deeds done for the sake of the Lord are not rewarded or commended in this
life that Jesus Christ (again Davids anti-type) will reward us greatly in eternity with
crowns for our service here for Him.
Three Men and a Little Drink (vv 13-17)
The incident described in these verses could have occurred before David became
king, while he was still fleeing from Saul. The cave of Adullam is first mentioned
in 1 Samuel 22:1. This is where David located after he fled from Gath. It is where a
number of his kinsmen joined him, along with others who were also out of favor with
Saul. At some point in time, David and his men were in this cave while they were at
war with the Philistines. The Philistines had taken possession of Davids hometown
of Bethlehem and were garrisoned there. Perhaps as they were running out of water
and David was thirsty, he verbalized what was meant only as a wish. If only he
could have but a drink from that well in Bethlehem. No doubt he had drunk from it

many times in his younger years and grown particularly fond of the water it
provided.
Some of his men could not help but overhear what David said. He had given no
orders to fetch him some water from that well. He had not even intended that
anyone would be prompted by his words to attempt to get some water from it. But
to these three brave men, Davids wish was their command. The men left the safety
of the cave, marched some 12 miles or so to Bethlehem, broke through the enemy
lines, drew water for David, and then marched back another 12 miles to bring it to
him.
When presented with this water, David did what at first seems very unusual 125 he
refused to drink the water, and instead poured it out on the ground. This is not
because he disdained the efforts of these courageous men, nor because he did not
wish to drink the water. I believe his actions demonstrated that he refused to drink
the water because the courage of those who obtained it was too noble to do
otherwise. David never intended to put these mens lives at risk, merely to satisfy
his own desires.126 The kind of devotion his men showed to him was the kind of
devotion that belonged to God. Pouring this water out before the Lord was Davids
highest expression of appreciation and regard for these men. The water was a
symbol of the blood these men nearly shed, serving him. The highest use to which
this water could be put was the worship of God, and so David poured it out to the
Lord.

When David Livingstone, the missionary pioneer, was working in Africa, some
friends wrote: We would like to send other men to you. Have you found a good
road into your area yet?
Livingstone wrote back: If you have men who will only come if they know there is a
good road, I dont want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.
He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.
Missionary Jim Elliott