Financial stewardship

STEWARDSHIP

STEWARDSHIP

Stewardship (Oxford Languages)

the job of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organization or property.

A steward is a manager of someone else’s property or business.

The Greek word “oikonomia” is at times translated “stewardship”

This is where we get the word “economy”.

It is the word for a household or the management of a household.

WE OWN NOTHING!

Here is the fundamental principle of biblical stewardship. We own nothing. God owns everything; we are simply managers.

Ps 24:1 (NIV) The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it …

Deut 8:17 (NIV) You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.

GOOD STEWARDS

God wants us to be good stewards of his property.

1 Pet 4:10 (ESV) As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace

1 Cor 4:2 (ESV) Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.

FINANCIAL STEWARDSHIP

God expects able-bodied people to work to support themselves.

2 Thess 3:10-12 (NIV) For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies.

Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat.

WORK

Paul does not say “if someone does not work” but “if someone is not willing to work.” There is a big difference.

There are those who want to work but have a hard time finding a job that lines up with their skills and training.

There are those who have a disability, or have done prison time, or do not interview well, or live in an area where there are few jobs to be found.

Some are blocked from jobs in South Africa because of their racial status (BEE policies). They are willing and competent to do the work, but they are the “wrong” colour, gender or age.

Paul is speaking of those who are able-bodied and could seek employment, but are unwilling to work.

Contrary to what some believe, work was not part of God’s curse on man. Before the Fall, God assigned duties and responsibilities to Adam as the caretaker of the Garden.

Gen 2:15 (NIV) The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

And when God instructed the Israelites to rest on the seventh day, he reminded them that they were to work on the other six days.

Ex 20:9 (NIV) Six days you shall labour and do all your work.

WHY WORK?

Enables us to provide for our family:

1 Tim 5:8 (NIV) Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

To be able to assist others. Christians “must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.” (Eph 4:28)

It also develops conscientious work habits which help build godly character.

To follow God’s example. Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” (John 5:17, NIV)

DON’T BE LAZY

Scripture promotes diligence in work and condemns laziness.

Prov 20:13 (NIV) Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.

Prov 10:4 (ESV) A slack hand causes poverty, but the hand of the diligent makes rich.

Prov 18:9 (NIV) One who is slack in his work is brother to one who destroys.

For some reason, we have gotten away from the idea that laziness is that bad. Historically speaking, however, sloth was listed as one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Solomon Schimmel points out that sloth is a uniquely Judeo-Christian sin – the only one of the seven not considered a vice by Greco-Roman standards. This is because the Judeo-Christian worldview understands human beings to be responsible to God. Our lives are not merely concerned with self-preservation and self-promotion; we are stewards of what God has given us. To fail in this is a form of stealing from God.

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Prov 24:30-34 (ESV) I passed by the field of a sluggard, by the vineyard of a man lacking sense, and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns; the ground was covered with nettles, and its stone wall was broken down.

Then I saw and considered it; I looked and received instruction. A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.

STOP TALKING AND WORK

Talk less and work more:

Prov 14:23 (ESV) In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty.

Prov 13:4 (ESV) The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is richly supplied.

Prov 21:25 (ESV) The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work.

BALANCE

However, we must be careful to avoid the danger of excessive work that upsets the balance of life’s priorities.

Spending too much time at our jobs will result in neglect of other areas, such as our relationship with Christ or our family.

From the beginning of creation, God’s design is that every seventh day should be a day without work (Exodus 34:21).

EARN YOUR MONEY LEGALLY AND HONESTLY

Lev 19:11 (NIV) Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another.

The Bible contains many verses about honesty. Honest behaviour must be a way of life, and not simply a decision that is made when an occasion arises.

Don’t lie

Don’t steal

Don’t cheat

Don’t engage in criminal activities

Don’t be corrupt or take bribes

Don’t associate with dishonest people

Pay your taxes

a) Don’t lie

Prov 21:6 Wealth created by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap.

Ps 101:7 I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house, and liars will not stay in my presence.

Col 3:9 Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.

Sometimes in a workplace a person offers to tell a lie to “assist” you. Remember that if a person is willing to lie for you, they will be equally willing to lie to you later, when the need arises. Such a person cannot be trusted.

Prov 12:22 The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in those who tell the truth.

Eph 4:25 So stop telling lies. Let us tell our neighbours the truth …

Zech 8:16 But this is what you must do: Tell the truth to each other…

A realchristianity.com article relates:

Many a time I have interviewed staff who have offered to pretend to be ill so that they can get time off from their current employer to come to a second interview. They somehow imagine that that will impress me.

The moment they offer to do that I cancel the second interview. If he is willing to lie to his current employer, then I know full well that he won’t hesitate to lie to me later.

And, if he’s as open as that about it, he obviously doesn’t even consider it to be wrong. That means his conscience is already badly seared. Therefore he will be dishonest across the board, not just in relation to lying to employers. *

* https:// realchristianity.com/ honesty-in-business-or-at-work/

Even haggling for a price can be taken too far.

Telling a seller all the problems about a thing to get the price reduced and then bragging to others about your great deal is a form of lying.

Prov 20:14 (NLT) The buyer haggles over the price, saying, “It’s worthless,” then brags about getting a bargain!

b) Don’t steal

Don’t take what is not yours.

Ex 20:15 (NIV) You shall not steal.

Don’t steal as an alternative to work.

Eph 4:28 Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands…

Don’t steal from your employer.

75% of employees have stolen at least once from their employer. (Source: CalRest.org) It may be a result of entitlement or just general dishonesty.

60% of employees would steal if they knew they wouldn’t get caught. (Source: FBI)

Cash theft is the top cause for over 20% of businesses. (Source: Balance Innovations)

90% of all significant theft losses come from employees. (Source: Willis North America)

More than 30% of business bankruptcies are due to employee theft. (Source: Service Management Group)

Thieves will not “inherit the Kingdom of God.” (1 Cor 6:9-10)

With money, nothing less than 100%, meticulous accuracy and honesty is needed. Resolve not to take anything that is not yours, however small. *

Don’t compromise, even at a microscopic level. If you do, you will inevitably find that the level of your dishonesty will start going up and up, until you are eventually embezzling large sums. *

* https:// realchristianity.com/ honesty-in-business-or-at-work/

Every embezzler always begins by taking little bits of money, here and there, never large sums. If you harden your heart repeatedly with the little amounts, your heart will, one day, let you down when it faces the temptation to take large sums. *

Therefore, win the honesty battle over the pennies, and there will never be any battles over major sums. *

* Ibid.

If you have wronged anyone or stolen from them – don’t just apologize; make restitution.

Luke 19:8 (NIV) But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

Restitution

Compensate for or replace things you borrow and lose or damage.

Ex 22:14 (ESV) If a man borrows anything of his neighbour, and it is injured or dies, the owner not being with it, he shall make full restitution.

c) Don’t cheat

Don’t steal from your clients.

In Solomon's day, a scale determined how much money you spent. So manipulating a scale to lie about its measurements is sinful.

Prov 20:23 The Lord detests double standards; he is not pleased by dishonest scales.

The general idea is that of a dishonest, deceitful practice meant to cheat someone.

You must be honest about the size, weight, or quality of what you sell.

Freight: In 1979, a GAO report found that household movers routinely inflated freight weights in a practice called “weight bumping.” *

Some teas that have been found to contain harmful materials such as graphite, gypsum, or soapstone – as well as re-used tea, which is dried and added to fresh tea. These additions to tea may contain chemicals or pesticides. **

One test revealed that some coffee producers mix in wheat, soybean, brown sugar, rye, barley, acai seeds, corn, twigs and even dirt. ***

* https:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Weight_fraud ** https:// factssa.com/ news/ are-you-drinking-adulterated-tea *** https:// livescience.com/ 47433-counterfeit-coffee-busted-by-chemists.html

Food Fraud: In retail food fraud, a product's packaging might state that it weighs more than it actually does, or a retail scale might be rigged to display an inflated weight. *

The product's packaging may be fraudulently included in the product's weight, or if negligible, may be increased in weight, such as adding ice to fish. **

Other common forms of short-weight include the injection of saltwater into meat. Plumped chicken commonly contains 15% of its total weight in saltwater, but in some cases can contain as much as 30%. **

* https:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Weight_fraud ** https:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Plumping

A 2013 BBC article relates that there's a fair share of fraudulent meat products on the South African market, according to a study by meat scientists from Stellenbosch University.

"Our study confirms that the mislabeling of processed meats is commonplace in South Africa and not only violates food labelling regulations, but also poses economic, religious, ethical and health impacts," one of the researchers, Louw Hoffman said.

"The study found that anything from soya, donkey, goat and water buffalo were to be found in up to 68% of the 139 minced meats, burger patties, deli meats, sausages and dried meats that were tested. In other cases, even undeclared plant matter was detected."

These ingredients were not declared on the products' packaging labels, it said.

https:// bbc.com/ news/ world-africa-21588575

In 2006, Albertsons was fined $2M for failing to subtract packaging from deli and bulk food items.

In 2015, Whole Foods in New York City was found to have routinely overstated the weight of prepackaged products.

In 2024, Walmart settled a class action lawsuit for $45 million due to weight fraud with bagged fruit and other sold-by-weight groceries.

https:// en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Weight_fraud

God is displeased with dishonest business dealings.

Prov 11:1 The Lord detests the use of dishonest scales, but he delights in accurate weights.

Micah 6:11 Can I tolerate wicked scales and a bag of cheating weights?

Any manipulation of the truth for financial gain equates to using dishonest scales. E.g. manipulating financial reports, industry collusion, cooking the books, inflating attendance figures at events, or listenership and viewership numbers on media platforms.

d) Don’t engage in criminal activities

Ps 62:10 Do not trust in extortion or put vain hope in stolen goods; though your riches increase, do not set your heart on them.

Prov 10:2 Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value…

Prov 20:17 (NIV) Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel.

In a one-bedroom flat in Germiston, a hidden camera captures an unusual plea to God. It reveals four people holding hands in a circle, praying. The camera doesn't catch what is said. 

 But later the woman in the prayer circle (a police informant), holding hands with the two Nigerian drug dealers, will tell a court that it went like this: “Help us God with our trip to Sao Paulo and help us bring back the cocaine.”

Another undercover policeman said of this drug dealer, “He believed he was a child of God, that he was doing nothing wrong.” *

* https:// timeslive.co.za/ news/ south-africa/ 2014-12-15-series-on-the-tail-of-a-lion-chapter-1/

e) Don’t be corrupt or take bribes

Bribery is associated with sinners:

Psalm 26:10 (NLT) Their hands are dirty with evil schemes, and they constantly take bribes.

Eccl 7:7 (NLT) Extortion turns wise people into fools, and bribes corrupt the heart.

Isaiah 1:23 (NLT) Your leaders are rebels, the companions of thieves. All of them love bribes and demand payoffs…

Some gifts can be acceptable business costs, such as taking a client to dinner. However, there is a line that you shouldn’t cross.

A gift is something of value given without the expectation of return. A bribe is the same thing given in the hope of influence or benefit.

A gift can be to reward good performance, therefore the favourable business decision has already happened. A bribe has the intended purpose of influencing someone to get a favourable business decision.

Examples of bribery include:

Bribing a member of staff of higher authority to gain a pay rise or promotion.

Bribing a public official to circumvent local laws.

Wanting to cover-up a business mistake by offering gifts.

A public official or client requesting luxury accommodation in return for favourable treatment.

An executive accepting a bribe to provide contract specifications in a tender ahead of time.

A bank or security employee accepting a gift and giving the briber access to company databases or confidential details.

Godly people should neither accept nor give bribes:

Ex 23:8 (NLT) Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see. A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth.

Deut 16:19 (NLT) … Never accept a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the godly.

Ex 18:21 (NLT) But select from all the people some capable, honest men who fear God and hate bribes …

Bribery and corruption will result in God’s righteous judgment:

Job 15:34 (NLT) For the godless are barren. Their homes, enriched through bribery, will burn.

2 Chron 19:7 (NLT) … the Lord our God does not tolerate perverted justice, partiality, or the taking of bribes.

Rev 21:8 (NIV) … the corrupt… and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur ...

Prov 15:27 (NLT) Greed brings grief to the whole family, but those who hate bribes will live.

Prov 15:27 (ESV) Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live.

f) Don’t associate with dishonest people

Peer pressure is a strong influence whether for good or bad.

You can avoid temptations to be dishonest simply by not keeping company with dishonest people.

Prov 13:20 Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm.

1 Cor 15:33 (NIV) Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”

At times we may not be able to avoid the company of dishonest people, but we certainly should consider honesty when we choose our close friends and business associates.

2 Cor 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?

1 Cor 5:11 … you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is … greedy… a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people.

Ps 1:1 (ESV) Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers…

g) Pay your taxes

It seems there is an endless amount of the types of taxes to which citizens and participants in the local and global economy are subjected. *

Taxes are unpopular, and sometimes the government agencies in charge of collecting those taxes are thought of with disgust, whether they are corrupt or not. *

* https:// gotquestions.org/ taxes-Bible.html

This is not a new phenomenon. Tax collectors were despised in Biblical times as well and grouped with prostitutes as “sinners” (Matt 11:19; 21:31–32; Luke 3:12–13) e.g. Zacchaeus, Matthew and his associates.

Luke 18 :11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.’

As much as we hate taxes, as much as any tax system can be corrupt and unfair, as much as we believe there are far better things our money could go toward—the Bible commands us to pay our taxes. *

Rom 13:5-7 (NIV) Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes …

The only instance in which we are allowed to disobey the government is when it tells us to do something the Bible forbids. The Bible does not forbid paying taxes. In fact, the Bible encourages us to pay taxes. Therefore, we must submit to God and His Word—and pay our taxes. *

* Ibid.

Paying taxes is the duty of a citizen, and Christians are called to be good citizens.

Matt 22:16-21 (ESV) And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher… Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”

But Jesus… said, “… Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?”

They said, “Caesar's.”

Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.”

Generally speaking, taxes are intended to enable the beneficial running of society.

Depending on one’s priorities, tax revenue is not always put to the best use.

The most frequent objection to paying taxes is that the money is being misused by the government or even used for evil purposes by the government. *

* Ibid.

That, however, is not our concern. When Jesus said, "Give to Caesar...," the Roman government was by no means a righteous government.

When Paul instructed us to pay taxes, Nero, one of the most evil Roman emperors in history, was the head of the government. We are to pay our taxes even when the government is not God-honouring. *

* Ibid.

Tax Avoidance vs Tax Evasion

We are free to take every legal tax deduction available. We do not have to pay the maximum amount of taxes possible. *

If the government allows you a tax break, you are free to take it. If there is a legal way you can shelter some of your money from being taxed, you are free to shelter it. *

Illegal and/or dishonest methods of evading taxes must be rejected. *

Rom 13:2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

* Ibid.

HOW TO AVOID GETTING INTO DEBT

Coveting is wanting to have what someone else has.

Ex 20:17 (NIV) “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house; you shall not covet your neighbour’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbour’s.”

a) Avoid envy (covetousness)

Luke 12:15 (ESV) And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

Paul specifically warned the Corinthians against comparison using human measurements.

2 Cor 10:12 (NIV) … But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

Resist conforming to the world. Paul warned us: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world” (Rom 12:2, NIV). The word “conform” implies being poured into a mold. Our culture worships an affluent, free-spending, expensive lifestyle.

b) Refrain from comparison to others

Some get into financial difficulty while trying to “keep up with the Joneses.”

They get into debt by trying to keep up with other people who already are in debt.

People often get into debt by buying things they don’t need - with money they don’t have - to keep up with people they don’t like.

Strive to please God, not to impress others. Live according to God’s definition of “success.”

While the world has various definitions of success, God has only one: following his ways.

Josh 1:8 (NIV) Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

A life of service to Jesus is more valuable than the pursuit of wealth.

Moses “regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.” (Heb 11:26, NIV).

c) Learn contentment

Be content with what you have

Heb 13:5 (ESV) Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Contentment is learned.

Phil 4:11-13 (NIV) … for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

God is not opposed to our enjoying a comfortable lifestyle, as long as we adhere to the principles in his Word that give guidance and warn against excess.

1 Tim 6:8 (NIV) But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.

Eternity provides a valuable lens through which we can handle our resources wisely. Scripture reminds us we are aliens, strangers, and pilgrims as we travel through this world.

Heb 13:14 (NLT) For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.

d) Keep a heavenly perspective

As travelers, we are hindered in our journey by the accumulation of excess material possessions; we need only enough to provide for ourselves and our families, to serve God, and to facilitate the journey to our destination.

1 Pet 1:17 (NIV) Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.

AUTHOR: Gavin Paynter

For more sermon downloads: https:// agfbrakpan.com

For more sermon downloads by Gavin Paynter: https:// agfbrakpan.com/ free-sermon-downloads-by-speaker/ Gavin%20Paynter

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