Stewardship

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As Christians, we believe that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ we have been forgiven of our sins, and made right with God. This creed has, in its many forms, been echoed from countless pulpits across the globe. For many though, a question remains: What next? After placing my faith in Christ, and being set right with God, what do I do? Too often, this question is left unanswered.

The truth of the matter is, in fact, that although the Christian path begins with accepting Christ, it does not end there. Christianity is about change, it’s about being transformed from a creature of the world to a child of God; placing faith in Christ is but the first step. The catch is that God knows no limits; once you truly put your faith in him, he will transform you, he will make you his, even if it means stripping away everything in you that is not from God, even your earthly life. Once you full heartedly start down this path, nothing will stop you from becoming a slave of God.

This in it self may seem a great hurdle in accepting Christ, because it is easy to assume you will loose your identity: Why should you offer yourself up as a slave? The truth, however, is that you’re a slave already; a slave of the world. Your identity is a lie; the person you think you are, the traits you have, all those things that make you who you are, are false. These things aren’t you, God designed you to be a certain way, and you have failed, we have all failed. Being a slave of God in actuality means to be free, free from slavery to the world, free to be the person you were designed by Providence to be.

So, what do we do now, on our path of faith? We understand that God is working in the world, working in our lives, working to make us more like Him: What do we do? Do we wait; sit hopefully, anxiously awaiting the promised return of our Lord and Savior? Yes, yes; but no, this is not enough. If God thought the road ended once we accepted Christ, we would rise to glory and be with Him now; it is important to wait anxiously for His return, because His return gives us hope that God will prevail, but we can’t just sit back and wait. We, as Christians, have a duty while on this earth.

This duty is simple, yet infinitely challenging: Go unto all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is our duty while on this earth; to spread the gospel. The use of the word gospel is imperative here, because we are called to spread the good news. We are not called to judge, we are not called to point fingers, we are not called to condemn. Our Christian duty is to spread the gospel, to spread the good news: That God so loved the world he gave his only begotten son, so that all who believe in might not perish, but have eternal life. We are messengers, proclaiming that God sent us His Son as a sacrificial lamb, to take our shortcomings upon Himself.

There are a great many issues today (such as homosexuality and abortion, to name a few) that spark a great flame in the hearts of many Christians. Nothing is wrong with passion, nothing is wrong with believing something is wrong, nothing is wrong with speaking out against what you believe is wrong: There is something wrong with violence towards others, there is something wrong with dehumanizing others, there is something wrong with casting eternal judgment. Personally, I do not agree with homosexuality and abortion; but I understand one thing above all: I follow a belief which holds that all men have fallen short of the glory. No one is worthy of God, not a single one of us can claim righteousness. Can any among us claim to be without sin? If so, let them sell all their possession’s, give the money to the poor, and follow Christ. Who is left? The truth is that not even these are worthy, and most of us fall far short of even this. It is God’s job to cast judgment, it is God’s job to punish, and it is God’s job to reward: It is our job to spread the good news. No one can escape sin until first coming to Christ, but how can anyone come to Christ if they are cast out of His body?

We must build each other up.

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