Stewardship: A Pre-Fall Vocation

Editor’s note: Monthly articles from LCMS Stewardship Ministry are hosted here on The Lutheran Witness site. Visit the “Ministry Features” page each month for additional stewardship content.

No matter how hard we try, whenever the word “stewardship” is brought up, there seem to be any number of responses. Few of those responses are marked with eagerness or excitement. In over a decade of presenting Philippians Conferences across the LCMS, I’ve noticed that hesitancy and curiosity are more often the prevailing emotions at the outset. This posture is deeper than an emotional issue. It is a theological one, and it is on display in Genesis 3.

You’re not fired!

The story is familiar: The newly-minted stewards, Adam and Eve, were placed in the Garden of Eden to work and keep it. They were naked and not ashamed. But when they answered the alien voice of the serpent, everything went off the rails. Their nakedness was exposed, direct conversation with God was replaced by hiding, and blame was chosen over repentance. The pain and toil that now leads to death became the new world order.

But one thing was missing. Read this chapter, which recounts the first stewardship crisis, and you will not find any mention of the steward’s vocation being terminated. A teller who steals from his own bank would be fired, just like a manager who undermines the owner. A general who leads the failed military coup will soon forfeit both job and life. What is missing here in Genesis 3 is the Creator looking at the steward and saying, “You’re fired!”

The root of our issues with stewardship stems from never being relieved of our duties as steward. Being a steward is a pre-fall vocation that is lived out in corrupted flesh within a fallen world. When this reality is added to the pain of childbirth and the toil that leads to death, is it any wonder human beings really aren’t interested in being stewards?

Urgency against idolatry

Stewards — idol-makers par excellence — have a constant struggle against the flesh that wants to claim ownership over what rightly belongs to God. The Creator made us to be stewards, but we desire to identify as owners. Stewards cannot be owners. Hence the friction.

This is why the steward leader’s role is so critical. Left to their own devices, the steward will careen deeper and deeper into idolatry. A quick look at Revelation 22 warns where idolaters find themselves on the Last Day. Out of love for the stewards under their care, pastors and steward leaders alike are called to a sense of urgency — an urgency not merely for financial matters but for the care of souls.

Their urgency is not just for those already in the fold, but also for those in the community who have yet to be reached with the Gospel. Faithful stewards are concerned both about the stewards in the congregation AND those who still need to have the Gospel stewarded to them!

Just as there is an inherent challenge for the steward, the very same challenge falls to the steward leader. The same struggles with the flesh exist in the steward leader as for the stewards under their care. It is easier to NOT have that sense of urgency, especially when it is met with indifference, or worse yet, hostility.

Leaders are no more interested in that hostility and indifference than any other human being. The path of least resistance is far less threatening. But then again, in the garden, Adam and Eve thought that hiding and blaming were more appealing than confession. How did that work out?

Leading by following the faithful pattern

So, steward leader, stay the course! You are stewards of the mysteries of God that are revealed in the Gospel in all its forms. While the path of least resistance seems desirable, it is idolatrous. Instead, remember who the Lord created and redeemed you to be! You are to be that reflection of the Creator within creation.

Your stewardship is of the Word that calls the failed stewards under your care to repentance. Take them back to the Word. Feed them with the Holy Supper. Stand firm. Speak boldly. You are not called to an effortless way. You are called, like all stewards, to faithfulness.

This quest for faithfulness is not about perfection. Your steward leadership is marked by the same confession and absolution that every fallen sinner needs. Those under your care need to be exposed to the Word that the Holy Spirit uses to call, gather, enlighten, sanctify and keep every faithful steward.

In this way, stewardship is caught as much as it is taught. As you, the steward leader, reflect Jesus and His faithfulness, those under your care will see a pattern of faithful stewardship that they, too, may follow. And in this, others will see Jesus. This is managing all of life and life’s resources for God’s purposes.

LCMS Stewardship ministry features may be reprinted with acknowledgment given to The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod.