STEWARDS AND MORAL POWER
"For the kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods." (Matt 25:14)
Moral power is the ability to choose the good and refuse the evil. This was a trait of our blessed Lord when He walked amongst us. Isaiah prophesied of the Messiah, "Butter and honey shall He eat, that He may KNOW to refuse the evil and choose the good" (Isa 7:15). "Butter and honey" speak of communion with the Father; of imbibing the grace and power that comes from fellowship with Him. Christ's life was marked by an uninterrupted communion with His heavenly Father. That very communion was the source of His power. That is how He could consistently "refuse the evil and choose the good." That is moral power at its apex, or fullest sense!
This same power is available to men today. It comes with the grace of God that brings us salvation. The experience of grace, which is the ultimate in communion with God, "teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts;" i.e., refuse the evil. It also teaches us to "live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world;" i.e., choose the good. Christ will NOT entrust His goods to those who cannot even be trusted to refuse evil and choose good! Stewardship assumes the moral and spiritual integrity of the individuals to whom the goods are given! It assumes faithfulness.
There is a movement in this nation that is calling men across the country to moral and spiritual integrity. I am for such a movement, but it is not a superior one. Integral to this movement is the idea of accountability to one another. Men are asking their peers, for example to make them accountable to be faithful to their wives. Such a resolve is noble – in fact, it is imperative. God has stated how He regards unfaithfulness.
For the steward, however, there must come a time when His accountability to God is sufficient for him to maintain moral purity. To make ourselves accountable to one another in this matter actually betrays a fundamental ignorance of the very nature of the kingdom of God. Grace teaches us effectively! Fellowship with Christ accomplishes the moral objectives of God. You simply cannot live in God's presence and sin – it cannot be done! The Spirit states it this way, "Walk in the Spirit, and you will NOT fulfill the lusts of the flesh" (Gal 5:16). If that is true, it literally explodes the notion of accountability to one another for maintaining moral integrity.
Those who are enamored with such vanity will not be entrusted with the goods of the Master. Those who HAVE the goods of the Master can establish the people of God, thereby readying them for use by God in this world and that which is to come. If this is not the result of an individual's ministry, only three things are possible. Either they have never received anything from God to minister, or they have buried what they received, or those to whom they minister have rejected their ministry.
Stewardship is not being accountable to one another, but to the Lord who has given us "His goods." How you use those goods is reflected in the life you live as well as the ministry you profess to have to others. In the end, you will give an account to God. It is good to begin now to live under the influence of that reality.
In summary, stewardship is the allocation of heavenly commodities to those who are trustworthy. Such individuals are primarily "His servants," and are charged with managing "His goods." Their foremost responsibility is the care of their Master's possessions. Those "goods" must be protected, invested, and increased, at all cost. In the end, all men will see that this is the truth. However, to properly prepare for that time, life must be lived now within the framework of that ultimate reality.
PRAYER POINT: Father, in the name of Jesus, grant me grace to live with an acute awareness of the fact that I am always and ultimately accountable to You.
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