To put it very simply let’s just say that if you are a Christian, not one in name only, which is the definition of a nominal Christian, but an authentic born again, regenerated person in whom the Spirit of God dwells, then everything you think is yours is really God’s. You don’t own a thing. In the system of the world you may have legal rights to those things which God has entrusted to your care, but make no mistake about it, you don’t own them, God owns them and can demonstrate that ownership at any time.

Jesus makes this point very clear in Luke 12:16-21 when He told the parable of the rich fool. You remember the story, “Then He told them a parable: ‘A rich man’s land was very productive. He thought to himself,’ ‘What should I do since I don’t have anywhere to store my crops? I will do this, he said, I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones and store all my grain and my goods there. Then I’ll say to myself,’ ‘You have many goods stored up for many years. Take it easy; eat, drink and enjoy yourself.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared – whose will they be?’ That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich towards God.”

So God owns it all and has entrusted what is His to you. This means that you are a trustee or a steward of that which belongs to someone else; He has left it in your care, but He has retained ownership. I mean, if you have been bought with a price, namely His blood, and you belong to Him, then it stands to reason that everything you have belongs to Him as well.

Now mind you, this idea that God owns all things stands in stark opposition to the secular thought of our day which tells us that we are self sufficient, self-made men and women who have pulled ourselves up by our bootstraps.

But we must ever be mindful of the truth that Christians walk by faith, not by sight. We live, not by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds forth from the mouth of God. God’s word is very clear that He owns it all, irrespective of what we may feel and of what the world around us may say. He owns it and has entrusted it to our care.

When Jesus taught about stewardship in Matthew 25, in the parable of the talents, He placed this parable right in the middle of His teaching about the second coming. The point He was making was that when He comes back He is going to hold us accountable for that which He has entrusted to our care. He will call us to account to see if we have been faithful or faithless stewards.

Luke 12:42-48. Listen to the words of Jesus.

“And the Lord said, who then is the faithful and sensible manager his master will put in charge of his household servants to give them their allotted food at the proper time? That slave whose master finds him working when he comes will be rewarded. I tell you the truth: he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and starts to beat the male and female slaves, and to eat and drink and get drunk, that slave’s master will come on a day he does not expect him and at ah hour he does not know. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew his master’s will and didn’t prepare himself or do it will be severely beaten.

But the one who did not know and did things deserving blows will be beaten lightly. Much will be required of everyone who has been given much. And even more will be expected of the one who has been entrusted with more.”

All of us will stand before Jesus someday and answer as to whether or not we used His resources to accomplish His purposes.

So, God owns it all, and He will hold us accountable for how we use it. Let me give you the third practical implication of stewardship. This is the diagnostic element of stewardship. Jesus tells us that how we use that which is temporal will reveal the true nature of that which is eternal, namely our hearts.

In Matthew chapter 6:24-34, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches about the Christian and riches. He starts by telling us that you cannot serve God and riches. You cannot spend your life in love with God and in pursuit of material things, merely for the sake of gaining material possessions. While there are those who will tell you otherwise, Jesus says it simply is not so.

He tells us that we should not spend our lives pursuing material things, like those who have no Father in heaven, but instead, because we have a Father who knows what we need, and who will care for us, we should, instead, spend our lives in pursuit of the spiritual things, eternal things, we should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all of these other things will come our way as we need them.

He says in verse 21 that where our treasure is, there will our heart be also. In other words, whatever is of greatest value to us, whatever captivates us so that we spend our lives pursuing it will have the affection and devotion of our entire being. It is here that how we view and use financial resources demonstrates the true nature of our hearts.

This is where stewardship crosses over into the realm of discipleship. If you are truly a disciple of Jesus Christ, a follower of His who has taken up your cross and are following Him, than that will be evidenced in that a) you acknowledge that it is all His, b) you live in light of the reality that he will hold you accountable and expects you to use it to accomplish His desires, and c) you will demonstrate your devotion to Christ by the way you use that which He has entrusted to your care.

Simply put, stewardship is a measure of true discipleship at its most tangible and visible level. Living with a biblical view of stewardship, by itself will not make you a good Christian, but if you are a good Christian you cannot help but live with a biblical view a stewardship that translates into how you spend your time, talents and treasure. The person who is not a good steward cannot call themselves a good disciple or a good Christian. Jesus Himself makes this clear.

What? Are you saying that if I don’t devote my time, talents and financial resources to further the kingdom of God that I am not a good Christian? No, I’m not saying that, Jesus says that, and that’s what makes it authoritative.

Many Christians have never come to realize that God owns it all. You cannot give your life to Jesus and keep any part of it back for yourself. That’s not surrender. Surrendering your life to Jesus, taking up your cross and following Him means giving it all, time, talents, treasures, everything. That’s the picture of stewardship the scripture paints for us: One where He gave His all for us and we give our all for Him.

Look around you and you will see people who do not know God who are prospering. The Psalmist said this in Psalm 73:2-3, when he says, “But as for me, my feet almost slipped; my steps nearly went astray. For I envied the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”

How easy it is, especially in this area of stewardship, to walk by sight and not by faith! But the psalmist comes back in verse 17 and says, “Until I entered God’s sanctuary, then I understood their destiny.”.You see, it is easy to be tempted by the prosperity of the wicked, till we come into God’s presence and recognize that eternity is reality and that this life is temporal.