Stewardship has often been the overlooked section of The Baptist Faith and Message. Though stewardship is listed between "Education" and "Cooperation" in TBFAM, Southern Baptists have historically done little about educating our people as to God's plan for the acquisition, use or distribution of material possessions. Our emphases have essentially been on giving and when the level of money given to the Lord's work is up we have equated this with being successful stewards.

God's Word reminds us that it is important to God how we earn our living. We are to be good stewards of the environment as we work taking care of the earth with the realization that it belongs to God, not us. The way we make our living should be an extension of our witness that Jesus is Lord of all.

Lifestyle is not an easy subject for the Christian. What is considered to
be a basic lifestyle in the United States could be considered extravagant in many parts of the world. Jesus said, "Take heed, beware of covetousness:
for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of things which he
possesseth" Luke 12:15. In asking what lifestyle uniquely fits the
Christian, one finds several questions surface. Cecil Ray in his book
Living the Responsible Life, suggests the right questions should be: Should the standard of living the Christian adopts be set only by his economic ability? Will the Christian allow his life-style to be determined more by his community and friends or by his Christian faith? To what extent should the Christian allow the claims of the kingdom of God to affect his standard of living? How much is enough?

"Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine
increase: So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall
burst out with new wine" (Prov. 3:9-10) Even as we acknowledge that
everything ultimately belongs to God, we must consider our individual
responsibility as the one who is charge during our lifetime. Using material possessions for God's glory should be the objective of the Christian's lifestyle.

We are to be stewards in every area of life. As important as it is to God
how we spend our money, it is of equal importance how we spend our time.
Many consider time, not money, to be the medium of exchange in the new millennium. While one might regain money that was foolishly spent, time can never be replaced. Good stewardship of time includes growing into Christlikeness. The Bible reminds us that we are to be good managers of our time. The Psalmist wrote, " Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom" (Psa. 90:12 NIV). The good steward sees time as a gift from God and uses it wisely.

At the heart of Christian stewardship is the act of giving to the Lord. In
Jesus' teaching he stated, " For where your treasure is, there will your
heart be also" Luke 12:34. In seeking to be close to the Lord one finds
the path made plainer as he gives lovingly to the Lord. How we are to give is taught by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the church at Corinth. "On every Lord's Day each of you should put aside something from what you have earned during the week, and use it for this offering. The amount depends on how much the Lord has helped you earn" (I Cor. 16:2 TLB). He taught to give regularly, on the Lord's Day and proportionately. This was not an attempt to replace the tithe, rather to help the Christian learn to take responsibility in growing in the grace of giving. For the growing Christian the tithe is the beginning of the stewardship journey, not the final destination.

Our gifts are to be given to the Lord and in His Word he tells us that the" storehouse" for our tithes and offering is His Church. Without credible debate, the church has been designated as the recipient of our gifts to the Lord. The church then has the enormous task of overseeing the distribution to those in need. Our gifts are to be used for God's glory and to meet the needs of the poor, hungry, homeless, orphaned, sick and less fortunate. In our lost world the gifts we bring to the Lord should promote the cause of Christ and show our faithful response to God's Word as we seek to bring all people to Jesus Christ.

In Living the Responsible Life Cecil Ray states the "top ten" instructions
for giving as taught in the New Testament:
1) The individual's gift is to begin with self giving (II Cor 8:5;12:14)
2) The gift is to be a personal response to God-voluntary, not forced
     (II  Cor 8:5-7)
3) The believer is to reflect a response to the grace of God working in
     his life (II Cor 8:9)
4) The example of Christ's giving is to be the guide for the Christian
     (II Cor 8:9, 14)
5) The giver is to show a concern for human needs (II Cor 8:14)
6) The giver is to express thanksgiving to God (II Cor 9:12)
7) The gift is to be a concrete proof of love (II Cor 8:8,24)
8) The giver is to be cheerful (II Cor 9:7)
9) The gift should be proportionate to God's blessings of material
     possessions (I Cor 16:2; II Cor 8:12)
10) The giving should be systematic and regular (I Cor 16:1-3)

Stewardship and Cooperation go hand in hand. We realize some have been given more than others and with those increased gifts from God comes responsibility to share. Southern Baptists have the unique opportunity to share through the genius of the Cooperative Program. As we give to the Lord through our local church we can be helping the cause of Christ and those in need around the world through the Cooperative Program.

Jesus established the standard for the Christian's life when he said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" (Acts 20:35). As stewards we give our time, talents and possessions to the glory of God.

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