We have not linked the stewardship of property with the consecration of the stewardship of life. A widespread revival of the teachings of Christian stewardship will not only insure an adequate support of the cause of Christ, but will bring about a deepening of the spiritual life of the church as its principal result. This is what Horace Bushnell meant in his oft repeated but never trite prophecy --
“One more revival, only one more is needed; the revival of Christian stewardship, the consecration of the money power to God. When that revival comes, the kingdom of God will come in a day.”Finney goes into details --
God is, in an infinitely higher sense, the Owner of all, than any employer can be said to be the owner of what he has. The Church of Christ never will be disentangled from the world, never will be able to go forward without these continual declines and backslidings, until Christians, and churches generally, hold the ground that it is just as much a matter of discipline for a church member to deny his stewardship by his practise as to deny the deity of Christ, and that covetousness, fairly proved, shall just as soon exclude a person from the Communion as adultery. - Charles FinneyOnce, a distraught man rode his horse up to John Wesley, shouting, "Mr. Wesley, something terrible happened! Your house... it's burned to the ground!" Wesley weighed the news, then calmly replied, "No. The Lord's house burned to the ground. That means one less responsibility for me." God is the owner of all things, and we are simply his stewards.
Wesley's words sprang from life's most basic reality - that God is the owner of all things, and we are simply His stewards.
After successfully establishing a restaurant chain, two banks, a ranch, farm and real estate ventures, Jerry Caven says that’s when the real fun started. At age 59, Jerry and his wife Muriel were headed into retirement, looking for a nice lake home. Then God changed their plans and led them to put their money and time overseas. “It’s been exciting. Before we gave token amounts, now we put substantial money into missions. Our hearts are in India now. We visit and minister there often.” What changed the Cavens’ attitude toward giving was realising God’s ownership. “Once we understood we were giving away God’s money to God’s work, we had a peace and joy we never had back when we thought it was our money! After seeing the way poor Christians in India trust Him, we’ve asked God if he wants us to give away all of ‘our’ money. He hasn’t led us to do that yet. But we’ve meant it when we asked.” Jerry says, “A non-christian couple saw us giving, and saw how much it excited and changed us. Then they started giving too, even before knowing Christ. They saw the joy and they wanted in on it!” When we give an offering with that attitude, people will see our joy and desire to be “in on it!” Perhaps that is the best reason to give an offering.
the master plan
