By Mark Allen Powell
Financial stewardship is not only a matter of faithful giving but of faithful living. In response to the Gospel, we submit our lives to the rule of God, to the lordship of Christ, and to the direction of the Holy Spirit, so that we may be the people God wants us to be and have the lives God wants us to have.
Concerning financial stewardship, faithful living entails at least four things:
1) We acquire our money in God-pleasing ways.
2) We regard our money in God-pleasing ways.
3) We manage our money in God-pleasing ways.
4) We spend our money in God-pleasing ways.
If you are one of those persons who likes nifty acronyms, the key words here can be associated with the word arms:
A – Acquire
R – Regard
M – Manage
S – Spend
How we acquire money
When we are faithful stewards, we acquire our money in God-pleasing ways. The Bible often shows concern for such matters.
To start with, scripture offers no commendation for those who don’t do any work at all. Everyone should “earn their own living,” one text maintains, and “anyone unwilling to work should not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12). The point here is not to commend starvation for the unemployed or to put a scriptural pause on government-sponsored welfare programs.
In fact, these words may have been intended as a condemnation of the idle rich: well-to-do persons who do not need to work for a living will not be welcome at the church’s community meals unless they start devoting themselves to some sort of worthwhile labour. Work is good, the Bible maintains, and even people who don’t need to work for a paycheck ought to take jobs that will allow them to contribute to society and prevent them from turning into “mere busybodies” (2 Thessalonians 3:11).
Assuming that people are working for a living, the law of Moses provides details for honest business dealings (Leviticus 19:35-36, Deuteronomy 25:13-15), maintaining that “all who act dishonestly are abhorrent to the Lord” (Deuteronomy 25:16). The prophet Amos cries out against merchants who bring a caveat emptor code to the marketplace by practicing “deceit with false balances” or by “selling the sweepings of the wheat” (Amos 8:5-6; cf. Leviticus 19:35).
In the New Testament, John the Baptist tells soldiers not to supplement their wages by extorting money or accepting bribes (Luke 3:14), and he instructs tax-collectors to gather no more than the prescribed amount (Luke 3:13). Thus, scrupulous honesty is intended to typify persons who are faithful stewards of God (see also Jeremiah 17:11 Proverbs 10:2).
The Bible further indicates that money ought not be earned in ways that create hardships for those who can least afford them. God forbids the Israelites from taking advantage of those who “have fallen into difficulty,” saying, “Do not take interest in advance or otherwise make a profit from them” (Leviticus 25:35-37, see also Exodus 22:25-27).
Amos also rails against those who gain wealth at the expense of the poor (Amos 2:6-7; 5:11). In the New Testament, Jesus castigates religious leaders who have become rich by confiscating the homes of widows (Luke 20:47), and his brother James has some choice words for wealthy landowners who fail to pay their field hands a decent wage (James 5:1-6).
