The Bible and especially the New Testament are replete with examples of how we should treat one another. Let's examine these two concepts briefly before we get to the definition that we typically think applies. An essential aspect of biblical stewardship is looking after people and providing order over Creation. While the third definition is most in line with the term as the Bible uses it, we shouldn't ignore the first two. Defining Stewardship:Īccording to Webster's Dictionary, there are three definitions given to the English word steward:Ī person who looks after the passengers on a ship, aircraft, or train and brings them meals.Īn official appointed to supervise arrangements or keep order at a large public event, for example, a sporting event.Ī person employed to manage another's property, especially a large house or estate. A steward's role is central to who he is and what he's been called to accomplish in life and ministry. May we always cherish and protect God’s abundant gifts.ĭan Conway is a member of Holy Trinity Church, serves as a member of The Record’s editorial board and is a writer, consultant and stewardship educator.Biblical stewardship is a phrase we don't use too often in our daily vernacular, yet Jesus talks about being a steward over and over, as do the authors of the Bible. He embraced all God’s creatures with love, friendship and reverence.Īs stewards of creation, we are called to show reverence and respect for every good thing created by our good and gracious God. He called everything created by God his sisters and brothers. He refused to consider minerals, plants and animals as “things” to be used and then discarded by us. He did not regard the sun, moon or stars as distant objects in outer space. Similarly, when we affirm that everything God made is good and worthy of our reverence and respect, we look differently on all God’s creation.Īnother Francis, our current pope’s namesake, taught with his whole life the meaning of stewardship of God’s creation. When we affirm the sacredness of all human life, we acknowledge God’s plan for each human being, and we work to defend the gift of life from every form of abuse. We begin to exercise this responsibility when we defend human life - especially the unborn and the vulnerable. Pope Francis challenges us to be protectors of all creation, to be stewards of all God’s gifts. All creation is good, and everything that exists is our responsibility - to cherish, nurture, cultivate and generously share. Nothing that God made is inherently evil. We are called to care for the environment (especially air, water, land and the minerals, plants and animals that make up this wonderful planet - and whatever lies beyond!) As people of faith, we believe that the entire universe exists as a result of God’s wise and loving design. Thank God it has been restored by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and is now an essential element of Christian hope. That original paradise was lost - temporarily - as a consequence of sin. They were to be the guardians of the earthly paradise that God created out of sheer love and goodness for our benefit. God also commanded that our first parents “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gn 9:1). The stewardship responsibility given to our first parents was to “name” everything, which means to understand and give expression to its nature and purpose (cf. In publishing his encyclical, “Laudato Si’, on Care for Our Common Home,” Pope Francis joined recent popes and bishops in calling attention to care for our environment.Īll creation comes from God and is good - the material world, all plants and animals, and especially the first man and woman who are created in His divine image. The Church’s concern stems from our recognition that all creation is God’s gift to humankind - to be cherished, nurtured, developed and used wisely for the good of all and with profound respect for “the beauty of the created world.” Concern for the environment has been expressed by all recent popes and has been explicitly included in the Church’s social teaching because abuse of our natural resources has become so serious in modern times.
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