Stewardship

APAD DAY 17

by Daniel Owino Ogweno
03/05/17
Not For Sale
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Kicking Stones With New Nice Shoes? 

Is it really a challenge to use things that have been given to us for personal use? It may look easy to use what is meant for our personal utilization. We have to remember that we are not supposed to just use what belongs to us, we have to correctly and responsibly use them. 

A friend of ours bought some very nice shoes for our daughter as a gift. Our daughter did not take good care of the shoes. It looked like she was kicking stones with them. In less than a month, the shoes were torn and tattered. We are very sure that if our friend who bought the shoes would have seen them after less than a month, she would have been disappointed. 

We may say, “thank you!” after receiving something, but a practical way of appreciating what we have been given is by taking good care of it. Even after something is handed to us for personal use, we will still give an account. This accounting is done by the way we use or treat what we have been given. We shouldn’t be deceived. Even if someone gives us something and says: ‘This is for you, do whatever you like with it,’ we would be naïve to think that the person will not turn around to watch what we are doing with what he gave us and how we are using it. It satisfies the giver to see the keen care we accord what he has given us. 

The care we accord the gift we got shows the value we attach to it—the more we care for it, the more the giver knows that we appreciate what we got. Many people are not good at taking care of “free things.” The fact that something is given free doesn’t mean that it is cheap or worthless. 

More often, we remove the price tag of a gift so that the recipient doesn’t know how much we paid for it. And because certain things may deceivingly look cheap, we can extremely hurt the person who gave us an expensive gift if we carelessly handle it. The result is that we may not get more from that person. 

When We Have More and When We Have Less 

As I was writing under this subheading, Baraka, my nine-year-old daughter at the time, was sitting next to me. I casually asked her: “What will you do if you have more than you need or need more than you have?” It is obvious she didn’t get the second part of the question for she answered: “I just throw it and then I will be happy!” I wonder why she added, “… and then I will be happy!” Perhaps we can say that many people are ‘happy’ to throw things when they have more then they need. 

Apart from appropriate use, challenges of stewardship over things meant for personal consumption manifest when we need more than we have or have more than we need. The attitude we cultivate regardless of our situation will help us be either good or bad stewards depending on what kind of attitude it is. An excellent attitude worthy of emulation is that of the apostle Paul. Consider what he says: 

“Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”—Philippians 4:11-12. 

Look also at what John the Baptist told the people who went to listen to him in the wilderness: 

“Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.”—Luke 3:12-14. 

We have to learn to do with what is there and to do without what is not there. Except for food, clothes and shelter, regardless of how much we think we want something, if it is not within our reach, we need to learn to do without it. This, however, doesn’t mean that we don’t work towards getting what we lack if we have the means and the opportunity. 

We will talk about the challenges of stewardship in part 2 but I will mention that in times of abundance, we must not misuse, waste or greedily hoard what we have. And in times of need we must steer clear of covetousness. 

Reflections and Questions to Ponder 

1. When you lack, does it mean that God has not provided for you? 

2. When you have used what you believed God gave for your personal needs and you still have extra, what do you do with what remains? 

3. God has already provided for our personal needs. This must be paradoxical for people who are struggling and seem to have ‘nothing’. How do you explain this paradox? 

4. How do you differentiate between things that are meant for your personal use and those that are meant for other purposes? Does it matter how much you use on yourself? 

5. Must you be satisfied before you consider that perhaps what you have is not only meant for your consumption? 

6. What do you usually do when you need more than you have, or have more than you need? What is the right thing to do?