Grace Blog

The word "steward" seems to have made a comeback these days. I notice a sign at a park near my house that asks people to be "good stewards of the land." Stewardship is a great biblical idea. It means that I am expected to manage well what I do not own. The Apostle Paul reminds us that Christian leaders are merely servants and stewards of the mystery of God. The mystery of God in the New Testament that is now known is that God would send his Son, Jesus, to be a crucified Messiah. By his sacrifice our sin would be atoned for when we by faith trusted in that sacrifice as the sole and sufficient payment for our sin.

The Christian leader in a church doesn't own this message—it is not his own idea. Rather, the leader belongs to Christ, as a servant belongs to his master. Furthermore, the mystery of God does not belong to him or her—it belongs to God! So whatever else may be involved in being a Christian leader in a church—it primarily means he or she is a servant and steward of the good news of Jesus. This means that his or her obligation is to share the good news of Jesus Christ—Him crucified for sin. In other words, the Christian leader is a servant of Christ and a steward of the gospel of Christ. I wonder how well the leaders of Grace Bible Church steward the gospel—how well do I steward the gospel? Only the Lord can truly be the judge of my stewardship.

My father was a home builder. He was not your typical large contractor who builds a home in 2 months. It often took my dad as long as 2 years to build a home—because he was a slow, but careful custom builder. His homes were built to last. He was always skeptical of new building material or methods. He was old school—he knew that a home that was built to last rested on a firm foundation. It took him forever to get a foundation completed. He insisted on French drains inside and outside of the footer. All footers had to be 36 inches deep and the walls were either 8 or 12 inch thick block with concrete poured inside the block every few feet. The outside of the blocks were plastered with 2 inches of mortar followed by a thick coat of tar. His foundations never leaked, cracked or swayed! They were built to last because he was a careful builder.

So when God tells the leaders at Corinth to be careful how they build the church and that no one can lay a better foundation than Jesus Christ, I think of my father. I want to be a careful builder of God's church. It scares me that I might build with poor material or use construction methods that cut corners and are quick, but may not last. I certainly want to be sure that Jesus Christ is the foundation and that the material built on top of Him will be quality material in the hands of skilled builders. I pray that God would teach me and the other leaders to be careful builders—and give us the grace and knowledge to become skilled master builders—building a church that will last.