A Theology of Stewardship

Right now I'm struggling a bit with what to spend on Christmas gifts this year. It is often interesting to hear how much people are spending, what they are buying, what they are not buying and ultimately their level of satisfaction with what they bought or received during the Christmas season. We can attribute many of these things to how we grew up and our parent's attitudes about money as well as on our own ideas about the purpose of money and material possessions. But, after all the discussion, it really comes down to our theology (as everything does!) to evaluate our motives and what we should celebrate or even condone.

What do I mean? I'm so glad that you asked!

There are three theological (or philosophical) positions regarding material possessions.These perspectives are not defined by how much we own or do not own, but rather by how we think about what we own (or what others own). I've outlined these in the table below but there are many other facets to these perspectives. It's also interesting that one person may have a perspective of poverty regarding work but another perspective when it comes to giving or buying. So we can see that people are not necessarily consistent in their application of these perspectives in every area or over the course of their lifetimes.

My intention should always be to adjust my thinking and practice toward having a stewardship perspective in every area of my life.

The basic premise here is that neither a poverty nor a prosperity perspective is really biblical and my intention should always be to adjust my thinking and practice toward having a stewardship perspective in every area of my life. This falls in line with God's original intention (and command) for humanity from the Garden of Eden, before the Fall. Our responsibility was and is to care for God's creation, knowing that all we have comes from Him and we are 'owners' only in the sense that we are personally responsible for how it is cared for under God's authority and direction. We will have to give Him an account for how we cared for creation, understanding that it was only placed in our care as a part of His gift to us. One aspect of our bearing of the Imago Dei is a deep desire to care for others, although this has been corrupted by sin to become a need for control, power over others, a consuming desire for comfort and safety, or a hoarding of resources for our personal benefit.

Here are some of the more basic perspectives:

	Poverty	Stewardship	Prosperity
Property is	A right for me regardless of my personal investment or the sacrifice of others	A blessing which demands my accountability to God and to others	What frees me from responsibility or accountability to others
I work to	Survive, often in pursuit of caring for my own material needs, comfort or safety	Serve God and to bless others	Consume, often in pursuit of status, position or influence
Spiritual people are	poor (free from material possessions)	faithful	rich (evidence of their faith)
Ungodly people are	rich (greedy and selfish)	disobedient	poor (evidence of their sin)
I give	Because I have to	Because I have been blessed by God (a reflection of His character)	Because I want to get something back
I buy	Anxiously, without joy, without thanking God	With discernment and after I have prayed	Spontaneously, selfishly and carelessly

When we look at Scripture we can see how these theologies played out in nearly every story. We can also look through history and see both the pain and the joy of these perspectives. The difficult part is to look at our own lives and understand that every time we have chosen a prosperity or a poverty perspective, it has damaged our own lives, our relationship with God and our witness to God's grace and goodness in the lives of others.

Every time we have chosen a prosperity or a poverty perspective, it has damaged our witness to God's grace and goodness.

Let me just give you one brief example. We can look at Solomon, the richest man in the history of the world. His original motivation was using his wealth to honor God and to make Israel the center of worship for God in the building of a beautiful temple. It is hard to guess his deeper motives, because they are not clearly defined in Scripture, but there appeared to be a shift in his thinking at some point. The book of Ecclesiastes tells us that as he looked for meaning in wealth, pleasure, power and even folly (or insanity?), he found that nothing satisfied his desires. My understanding is that he tried everything but did not truly understand his role as a steward of God's resources. Wealth did not make him an evil king, neither did it make him a good king. If he was a good king at any point, then it was because he took his responsibility to God and to his people (as a steward) seriously.

Jesus uses a parable that we call "The seed and the sower" (Matt. 13) while there are related ideas in many of His parables. This sets a biblical understanding of the concept of investment. Jesus explains this to His disciples in terms of the spiritual investment with the seed being the Word of God, which actually provides a foundation for the practicality of the principle in the physical realm...

1. God has invested in us, giving us knowledge, tools, skills and resources that can be used in many ways.
2. Our use of those resources can result in blessing (financially or otherwise) based on many variables.
3. Ultimately He is responsible for the growth (blessing), but this does not lower or negate our responsibility to use wisely what He has given, to discern wisely the circumstances which will result in potential growth and to base our investments on the correct motivation.
4. Our motivation should always be to serve God (the worship of God) and to bless others (also the worship of God). When this is done correctly, it takes the emphasis completely off of the resources (or personal benefit) as the motivation and places the emphasis correctly on the One who provides everything good in the first place.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7

Interpreting our Experiences

It is interesting to see the conclusions people draw these days from the news or from their own experiences and then, claiming to understand the motives of others, make broad generalizations and theories about society, culture and even history. This may be partially due to the immediate access most people have to the news and how that is shaped by the biases and perspectives of those channels we choose to use to receive that news.

Books are also being written at a furious pace about our personal experiences and how these have shaped our understanding of reality. And, of course, we can't deny the experiences of others because we have not walked in their shoes. We must be gracious and sympathize with the challenges they have faced, acknowledging their reality is not necessarily accepting their reality as mine. But, in the name of compassion, we must let it impact us at least at an emotional level and let it begin to shape our interactions with people who have experienced something similar. Are you struggling with keeping all this together? Are you trying to absorb all these experiences into your thinking and live in a manner that allows harmony and congruency between conflicting ideas and experiences? Really, I'm struggling with this myself.

I was reading a post the other day and comparing it to my current studies in 1st Timothy. You can read the post here: https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2021/08/dogma-drives-the-christian-life

But it is a good reminder of several things...

In 1 and 2 Corinthians, Paul shows us that his experiences (or testimony) do not provide the framework for understanding the faith. Rather, the faith provides the framework for understanding his own experience. The post-modern (or post-Christian) tendency is to interpret everything in terms of our personal (or our group’s) experiences. But this is folly and leaves us nearly blind to the realities of life and the bigger picture of Who God is and what He is doing. When I see myself first as an American man or first as a member of any group instead of first as an image bearer of God, fallen and yet redeemed by Christ, then I have made my experiences or my community more important than the reality of what God has established and what He has done in Christ. But when I honor who God is and what He has done first, then I find myself in the place He has put me for His purposes and for His glory, not mine. This then allows me to appreciate my suffering as a tool to learn dependence on Him, my work as an opportunity to participate in His redemptive purposes, my relationships as a molding process toward godliness, my physical and material blessings as a gift from His hand to in turn practice generosity with others.

Paul’s experiences do not provide the framework for understanding the faith. The faith provides the framework for understanding his experience.

Paul summarizes this well in his letter to Timothy. Even when Timothy was struggling to deal with false doctrine in the church in Ephesus, establishing godly leadership, programs to care for the needy, to develop focused vision and godly character in a dramatically secular culture, Paul reminded him of his overriding priority to honor God first. First Timothy 3:16 is a hymn to honor Christ’s identity and His work, the centerpiece of the faith, not our own experience.

My identity and faith must be first in Christ, anything else is insufficient for understanding who I am, why I am alive or how to live moment by moment.

Are you interpreting the faith (Christian life and practice) based on your experiences in life, your interactions with the church or individual Christians, your suffering or your disappointments? Or are you interpreting your experiences in light of who God is and what He has done in Christ for a world in desperate need of Him?

Society - 11 years later

A few days ago I found my notes on "A Healthy Society" which was the basis for many of the posts I wrote on this blog in 2010. You might read the original post titled Society part 1. But now, after 11 years, I see a much deeper application of these ideas which addresses the current trends in our society, the dangers of an unhealthy society and the potential for healing in broken societies.

The current challenges are very complex, but at the root it is essentially a breakdown in both the family and the church which has left the government (or the secular, non-familial community) as the primary building block for all of society. We can dig into this more and recognize that the family was the first to be attacked by our society, destroying the role of the father, then the mother and even the role of gender as a defining element of being human. So, for some, this means that the traditional family is only "a relic of an oppressive construct" even as studies show that children with both a mother and father have the highest potential for emotional, social and economic stability. Our deepest human desires center on fathers who are present and engaged at meaningful levels with our mothers and with us. And we know, looking at the spiritual impact of this shift, that our experience with our own fathers is one of the greatest influencers of our view of a heavenly Father. Does my father value me or not and why? This, above everything else, provides me with my identity as a person.

Of course the impact of these realities regarding the family have metastasized into a social and political nightmare that is not just unhealthy but incredibly destructive. In fact, now we are even encouraged to ignore the science which identifies the human distinctions between male and female and applaud those who have challenged and "overcome" these distinctions to become "something new". Those who are unwilling to recognize the "power and beauty of these transformations" are viewed as oppressive and unloving while those who suffer severely from these transformations (against all wisdom) are ignored.

In my original post, I noted that "there is no circle/community in a healthy society which primarily honors SELF. The individual is very important in a healthy society but he or she always exists in a community where God, parents/family and others are honored." The trend that is resulting in the destruction of the family and the church as primary building blocks of society seems to place self at the center, the place of utmost honor. However, it does this in a way which is quite deceptive because it provides no context for the individual apart from political connections. There are no meaningful relationships which give the self identity except those relationships outside the family or the church. This is furthered by new fissures and fractures within the church that serve to promote a new concept of the self outside the identity that God has given us or our shared identity in Christ.

Now, not only is honoring our parents (by honoring their role and responsibility) and honoring God (through the worship and service of the church) minimized, but also the societal and political constructs no longer protect the value of the individual and his or her foundational relationships which provide each one with identity and purpose. This essentially leaves us with no purpose at all except for trying to define ourselves or redefine ourselves and demanding that everyone recognize this self-imposed identity. Self has truly become the center but is now the center of an empty and meaningless universe because there are no meaningful connections.

But, there is always hope! Our first hope is forever in Christ, who is our peace. He is able and willing to address the deep needs of our heart for identity and purpose. He is able to heal the hurt that seems to consume us, even when no one else is willing to identify that hurt. The next step, however, is to restore the role of the family in our own relationships. How am I honoring my own parents, even with their faults, and recognizing the life and value they have given me? This can be very painful, but it is the first step to forgiveness and healing in my own life. How am I taking responsibility as a father for the spiritual and emotional health of my wife and my children? Am I doing this with the understanding that I am under the authority of Christ and must submit to Him in my own heart in order to care for those around me? Am I willing to do what is right and do I have the courage to stand for truth and address with grace the lies of the world in my own life, in my work and all my conversations? It is only when we address these issues that the church will have any hope of restoring its influence for good in our broken society. It can then defend and support the values of the family because the families within the church understand and live out the values that honor God and truly value others. When the family and church take again their proper role, society is transformed and government takes its proper place and influence for the good of every individual. It is at that point that society can again honor others, giving the individual the value that God has given them as made in His image, responsible to care for others and accountable to our Creator and the purpose He has given us.

Jesus' words in Matthew 22:37-39 again take a deeper meaning, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... Love your neighbor as yourself." These commands free us from the emptiness and slavery of self-definitions and establish meaningful relationships which give us both identity and purpose.

Meditate on it day and night

“Meditate on it day and night” (Psalm 1) - this is a reference to continual thinking, processing and discussion over a lifetime as you dig deeper into the symbolism and ambiguities of Scripture in light of the bigger picture of life. This means that any one part of Scripture, taken as a single entity, can lead us the wrong direction because it is so different from our current perspectives and cultural orientations. We tend to ask the wrong questions and come to the wrong conclusions because we are not thinking in the same direction, have not processed it adequately, want to fit it into our current theories or simply don’t have enough information. There is a compelling need to see the full scope of the Bible and its story of God in relationship with humanity in an intimate and personal way. This Story becomes my story because I see myself in the struggles, the failures, the rebellions of others. This is a very helpful, transformative and hopeful process when it develops in us a profound sense of humility, responsibility and fear of God.

But, this phenomenon of “letting this story become my story” is also happening in the postmodern, post-truth world. This extreme version is called “narratology” and can be a very powerful and sometimes very subversive tool for creating a new thought process in others. It began with Satan in the garden of Eden when he told Adam and Eve a story that they adopted as their own. But, as it was only part of the truth, it led them to disastrously wrong conclusions.

Which stories are you listening to these days? Are there cultural stories being told that are focussed primarily on emotional connections? Are there stories being told which are intended to make you feel guilt or shame? Are there stories that purposefully ignore the issue of original sin or emphasize our differences as the root source of conflict? Are there stories that blame certain groups of people instead of our individual (or humanity’s) rebellion against God? Are there stories which make God in man's image instead of man in God's image? Beware of these stories! These are usually meant to manipulate and always point us in the wrong direction even as they contain elements of truth. These stories lead us away from recognizing and honoring the image of God in every person. They lead us to think we have the answers ourselves apart from our repentance and God’s forgiveness. These stories lead us away from the sufficiency of Christ and into slavery and hatred. They lead us to depend on religious, philosophical, financial, works based or even political solutions to society’s struggles. They lead us to manipulation and fear-based control of others. But in the end, it is me who is deceived.

This brings us back to the original idea, “Meditate on it day and night.” Unless we let God’s Word impact every area of our thinking, asking to “be transformed by the renewing of our mind”, we may be trapped in the same way that Adam and Eve were trapped. Every morning my prayer is, “God, open my eyes to see as you see, to love others as you love me, to reject the lies of a broken world so that I can honor you and value others.” I don’t have all the answers, but I know where they can be found and they are not in the ideas of those who do not know God and have no desire to honor Him. Truth is always rooted first in God’s revelation through His Word and confirmed by the leading of His Spirit at work in my heart. “Your Word is truth.”

If you want to learn a bit more about Jewish Meditation Literature, see the Bible Project's video on this topic at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhmlJBUIoLk

Discrimination and gender identity

Ok, I know this is not in line with my usual topics! But it is an important issue because it is central to human rights, education and especially to viewing others with compassion and love. Everyone bears the Imago Dei whether they realize it or not. So, in that sense, it is very important to talk about.

In the US there is debate in 2021 about new proposed legislation, commonly termed the "Equality Act". You may or may not agree with the premise and I don't dismiss your opinion. But it is also important to think and discuss such things beyond the political or economic implications in order to think more deeply about how such ideas are good (in the deepest sense) and how they contribute to or detract from human flourishing in a global and timeless, universal sense.

I read recently a piece by the Washington Post titled "Dozens of LGBTQ students at Christian colleges sue the U.S. Education Dept., hoping to pressure Equality Act negotiations". You can find it here. This article provides a perspective on a situation where those outside of a biblical worldview might respond with “How can Christians possibly think that discrimination against those in the LGBT community is right or acceptable?” And, speaking from a biblical worldview, I completely agree. But there are at least 2 serious incoherencies that the article is unable to identify.

The first is that the so-called Equality Act ("equality" is another topic for another day) is purported to be the best solution because it would restrict or terminate state funding for any universities which hold to a biblical and historical view of marriage and sexuality. But in fact it is not the best solution. No law will terminate discrimination nor will it give people new values or motivation for caring for others or valuing people for who they are. Laws do not change beliefs, they simply reflect the beliefs of those who vote for them. (They may not even do this well because people may be uninformed or deceived regarding the intent or outcome of the law.) Of course this does not excuse those who have been cruel or uncaring to these students who felt discriminated against in these universities! Very few will nor have excused their unkind words or unhelpful actions. But we have to ask ourselves, “Are there individuals who have been discriminated against because of their views on gender or sexuality at non-Christian universities? Was that discrimination a result of government funding or the written policies on behavior or dress codes at those universities? Would limiting or terminating state funding at state institutions solve these cases of discrimination?” The answers are obvious. So, the only possible and logical conclusion is that financial or legal punishment of a university for its standards of behavior and stated views on marriage and sexuality does not benefit anyone who claims to be discriminated against because of their sexual views.

The second is that the Equality Act creates new victims of those who are trying to be a blessing and support to current victims of a destructive social narrative and furthers the damage to those currently victimized by this destructive narrative. Is it true that a man can be a woman? Is it true that the very nature of my identity can and should be changed by social constructs or by how I feel about myself today? If so, then we are living in a social mirage where nothing is real or as it seems. Is it fair that those most vulnerable in our society, those suffering from gender dysphoria, children and teenagers, those suffering from sexual or emotional abuse resulting from dysfunctional family contexts should be lied to about the value and the nature of being human? Our value does not lie in our sexual orientation, what we do or how we think. Our value lies completely in being made by our Creator who loves us and made us for a purpose. When we attempt to destroy or redefine our identity, the image of God in us, it only results in tragedy, unrealistic expectations of ourselves and others and, eventually, self-loathing. It also promotes a society which does not value human life, does not value the mothers and fathers responsible for creating human life or value the children who are best able to flourish in a home with both a mother and a father who love them most and know them best.

There is another issue that is less important but no less valid. Consider for a moment my options when choosing a university or a coffee shop or an online vender. It might be wise for me to do some investigation to see if their values agree with mine or if they don't. If I plan to spend money, especially several thousand dollars at a university, I would want to know who is benefiting from my investment and the educational philosophy that guides their teachers and course content. If I don't agree with their values or don't want to advance their values with my hard-earned dollars, then I will choose somewhere else to spend my money. There is always another option! Let me be clear that I still am not condoning anyone's unkind or discriminatory actions or attitudes as individuals. But I am always discriminating against certain businesses or organizations because either I refuse to read their material, promote their ideas or buy their products. Is this wrong? Absolutely not. Did these students have a choice about where to go to school? They are free to choose just as they might choose to go to McDonalds or to Chick-fil-A. So I am a bit confused as to why, when they knew the values of their chosen institution, they are not abiding by the agreements they signed to honor those values before they spent their money there. This is similar to nearly every other case of supposed gender identity discrimination when trying to place blame on institutions and not on individuals.

Is it right to deny valid funding or accreditation status for those universities whose values and programs are in line with and serving the needs of thousands of students and American citizens? I don't believe so. All organizations have values and they are entitled to those values when they are not purposefully destructive, promoting hatred or violence against a group of people. When we assume that value statements promote hatred, we are actually doing ourselves a disservice by intentionally or unintentionally interpreting beliefs as aggressive when they simply define boundaries. When I say "You are not my wife" I mean this as a boundary which defines reality, not as an aggression against anyone who is not my wife. If they misinterpret this as hatred, the problem lies with them and not with me. Of course, truth can be communicated in unloving or harsh ways, but truth is always the most loving and helpful for us because it helps us truly understand ourselves and the world around us.

I am currently on the board of an international organization and helped to develop recent additions to their Statement of Values. All board members, staff and volunteers must sign off on this every year, which is a normal procedure to ensure that the values of the organization are understood and will guide beliefs and actions within the organization. I should also mention that this is an organization that serves the educational needs of Christian families in a global context, so everyone involved already has an understanding of these truths. Here are the 2 statements:

• The Bible upholds the value of the individual as well as biological gender, both male and female, as stewards of the image of God. We hold to the biblical and historical definitions of gender as essential to a healthy understanding of our God-given identity (Genesis 1:27).
• The biblical definition of marriage, exclusively between one man and one woman in a committed, lifelong relationship, is the only relationship within which the gift of sexual intimacy is properly expressed and where children are best nurtured and prepared for life (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-6, Hebrews 13:4, Ephesians 6:1-4).

If you want a statement from me, I will provide it here. But I warn you that taking it out of context is lying to yourself and lying to others about what I have said. Here it is:

• I am unwilling to sign any document or knowingly support any project or organization that promotes the fallacy that men can be women or women can be men. I will not lie to myself, our society, our children or further complicate the suffering of those with true gender dysphoria by claiming otherwise.

One more thought for us. Relationships can be difficult, irregardless of our values. Christians are called to the 'ministry of reconciliation' as described in II Corinthians 5:17-20. This is not an easy calling but it is essential for me to understand this as it relates both to those within the church and outside of it. Sometimes reconciliation is really hard in my own house between my wife and me because we are so different but have most of the same values. Sometimes reconciliation is really hard with those who have no idea of their value in God's eyes because our values are so different. But working in both these settings and everything in between is a moment by moment task that brings glory to God and a deeper purpose to my life as a follower of Christ. "We love because He first loved us." (I John 4:19)

If you are interested, you can find a good article on other potential impacts of the Equality Act here.