THE COMPETENCE AND ATTITUDE OF STEWARDSHIP
A friend, who is a Pastor and I recently visited a site where he was planning to build a house. The lessons there has inspired what I share with you.
To set the stage for discourse, let us try to define the word, "Steward".
The combined American and British Dictionary says a steward is "A person who manages the property or affairs for another entity".
In the above definition, the operative word is manage. A steward is therefore not a slave but an 'elevated servant'. As long as the person or entity being managed for is not around, the steward plays the role of ownership. That is, he works as if the estate is his yet with the mindset of accountability. It is these two that ensure that he works for profit, yet does not squander.
To choose a steward is not an easy task. The master must see five attributes:
1. A steward must be trustworthy.
2. A steward must be faithful.
3. A steward must have occupational time.
4. A steward must have a working knowledge of the estate.
5. A steward must know and understand the master.
May the good Master make us stewards of competence and of the right attitudes.
We have learn that the dual nature of master-servant seen in a steward is what makes a steward to work for results, yet does not squander.
We continue to take a critical look at the attributes:
1. A steward must be trustworthy. What this means is that, the master must be confident in him and find him reliable. A true confidant who is able to keep secrets and work for mutual interest. He must, therefore, have a proven record of previous trust fulfillment.
2. A steward must be faithful. He must account as it is without embellishing and must put in all his best at his stewardship. Being faithful is the other side of the coin. Faithfulness reimposes and emphasizes trust on the other side. It gives the assurance of saying it or doing it as it should.
3. A steward must have occupational time. He doesn't only need time but a working time. That is, the time needed in stewarding must be available to him. He doesn't abandon post or lazy about. He works to achieve set goals in a given time frame. He knows when to rest and when to wrestle.
The story that inspired this was birthed here; my pastor friend bought a strategic land and asked a friend who is a surveyor to take care of the land for him. After a year, he returned and saw another man building on it. The surveyor's excuse was "I was busy doing other things. I didn't have time". He did not just have time to occupy.
4. A steward must have a working knowledge of the estate. He must know what he is about and what is required of him. This may call for training and learning. An effort to understand how things work and are done. Paul said no novice should be called into stewardship (1 Timothy 3:1-6). You can't be a steward when you don't know the boundaries and worth of what you have. Some may get lost and you won't know. In the same way you will not know your output after input. This working knowledge is paramount in the steward requiring little or no supervision.
5. A steward must know and understand the master. He must know the master has faith in him. He must know how the master does his things and more importantly understand the 'whys' of the master's actions. This is where the third servant failed most. He purported to have known the master but never understood him. So he misinterpreted the master's ingenuity of producing a lot out of nothing as hard handedness. Oh, that we may know the Master and understand His ways and will. Then we may fully surrender to Him and say "Have Thy own way, Lord"
May these attributes and more virtues be found in us as we strive to be stewards of our era.
Let us activate impact to impart.
Looking at the definition and five attributes of a steward.
After all has been said and done, God has two ways to judge competence; being a GOOD or WICKED steward. Nothing more or less. This means if you fail to accomplish the task, there are no averages. The Master expects us to perform. Our competence is seen whether we are good or wicked. As far as God is concerned, He is ready to give the increase. Our role is just to 'plant' and 'water'. If a steward fails to plant after the seed (talent) has been given, then it is an understatement that you have been wicked.
We have been called to specific assignments.
The five attributes we studied reveal what the Master requires of each steward. Let's just plant and water, the Lord will give the increase. This is borne out of a desire to fulfil the Master's task and working out that desire. This is the sum total of competence.
Some people are very competent but have bad stewardship attitudes. When I was in the media, a friend of mine and I were very good at creative marketing and advertising. Though this was not part of our core mandate, we saw that the market executives were given commission apart from their salaries so we went in to get companies to come in. We started recording TV adverts as characters in the ad. Soon, we started diverting such clients to work directly with us and only placed the finished work with the TV station we worked for.
One day we landed a huge deal with a university and when our CEO got wind of it, he called me and said "George, adwum y3didi hu 3ny3 mu. Wodidi mua 3sa". To wit: We spend profits not investments. I was ashamed. I was denying the company revenue yet expected increased salary.
I was competent but had the wrong attitude. The attitude of stewardship is faithfulness. As you do good work, you must account for everything as it is. The first two stewards could have accounted for extra two or one talent respectively but as faithful servants they gave the true accounts.
In your place of work, maybe you are praised because you are competent, but are you being faithful? Are you not under or over invoicing? Are you not keeping some for yourself that you should account for?
The Master requires of us to be good and faithful, stewards of competence and attitude.
May we be found good and faithful stewards now and at His appearing. Amen.
NB: This article was written by:
GEORGE OSEI-ASIEDU (Rev)
THE CHURCH OF PENTECOST
DAMBAI-LAKESIDE DISTRICT
Fon: 0243309114, 0243481771
email: creatorsvessel@yahoo.com
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