N OT C PY D O STEWARDSHIP N T What I Do with What God Gave Me · The People’s Bible Teachings STEWARDSHIP What I Do with What God Gave Me Arno J. Wolfgramm • D O N O T C P Y •

The People’s Bible Teachings

STEWARDSHIP

What I Do with What God Gave Me

Arno J. Wolfgramm

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All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permis-sion of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise—except for brief quotations in reviews, without prior permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Card 96-71904Library of Congress Control Number: 99-080082

Northwestern Publishing House1250 N. 113th St., Milwaukee, WI 53226-3284

© 2001 by Northwestern Publishing HousePublished 2001

Printed in the United States of AmericaISBN 978-0-8100-1222-6

ISBN 978-0-8100-2611-7 (e-book)

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Table of ContentsEditor’s Preface ............................................................. 5

Introduction ................................................................. 7

1. God—The Creator and Owner of All ................ 9

2. God Has Made Me a Part of His Plan.................. 23

3. God Has Entrusted to My Carea Body and Life..................................................... 37

4. God Has Entrusted Spiritual Gifts to Me ............ 53

5. God Has Entrusted His Earthly Gifts to Me ........ 77

6. God Has Given Me Examples for My Learning... 93

7. God Will Call Me to Account ............................. 113

8. God’s Answers to Practical Questions ................. 125

9. Conclusion ........................................................... 145

For Further Reading ..................................................... 147

Scripture Index ............................................................ 149

Subject Index ............................................................... 155


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Editor’s Preface

The People’s Bible Teachings is a series of books on allof the main doctrinal teachings of the Bible.

Following the pattern set by The People’s Bible series,these books are written especially for laypeople. Theo-logical terms, when used, are explained in everyday lan-guage so that people can understand them. The authorsshow how Christian doctrine is drawn directly from clearpassages of Scripture and then how those doctrines applyto people’s faith and life. Most importantly, these booksshow how every teaching of Scripture points to Christ, ouronly Savior.

The authors of The People’s Bible Teachings are parishpastors and professors who have had years of experienceteaching the Bible. They are men of scholarship and prac-tical insight.

We take this opportunity to express our gratitude toProfessor Leroy Dobberstein of Wisconsin Lutheran Semi-nary, Mequon, Wisconsin, and Professor Thomas Nass ofMartin Luther College, New Ulm, Minnesota, for servingas consultants for this series. Their insights and assistancehave been invaluable.

We pray that the Lord will use these volumes to helphis people grow in their faith, knowledge, and understand-ing of his saving teachings, which he has revealed to us inthe Bible. To God alone be the glory.

Curtis A. JahnSeries Editor

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Introduction

What is “stewardship”? What pictures come to mindwhen you hear that word?

In Lutheran churches, some people think of the boardfor stewardship in their congregations. Others think oftheir church’s annual stewardship program. Still othersthink of the weekly announcement in the bulletin, theone that talks about offerings.

Many think that stewardship always involves money—dollars and deficits, commitment forms and offeringenvelopes.

Many Lutherans have negative feelings about “steward-ship.” They hope no one from the stewardship committeewill knock on their door. They would never consider serv-ing on the board for stewardship. A few have even askedtheir pastor to “preach more about Jesus and not so muchabout stewardship.”

The book you are holding is about stewardship. But it isnot about money. It deals with issues much bigger thanmoney.

I once saw a plaque with the following inscription:“What you have is God’s gift to you. What you do withwhat you have is your gift to God.” “What I do with whatGod has given to me”—those words are a good workingdefinition of stewardship. The word steward actuallymeans “manager.” In the Bible, a steward is someone whomanages a household for an owner, often while the owneris gone. My stewardship, then, is my management of whatGod in heaven has given to me on earth.

Stewardship is a personal, practical matter. It involvesGod and me. It involves what I did with my life yesterday,

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8 STEWARDSHIP

as well as my plans for tomorrow. It involves the way I amspending my time right now.

Stewardship is an especially practical matter for theChristian. We Christians are not at all like unbelievers.We know the God who has given us what we have. Weknow the Savior who bought us with his blood. Becausewe are Christians, we have a desire to serve our Lord andSavior with all that we have.

In this book we hope to magnify God and the gifts hehas given to us. In doing so, we hope to fill the hearts ofGod’s people with a stronger desire to serve him.

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1

God—The Creator and Owner of All

It happened to several of my friends: they failed theirdriver’s test even before getting onto the road.

How could that happen? Simple. They forgot one basicrule: Cars must stop before crossing a pedestrian sidewalk.

There was a parking lot near the door of the motorvehicle department. As I recall it, there was no stop signat the parking lot exit. But the rule was clearly written inthe book. Unfortunately, some forgot the rule. Perhapsthey were nervous. Perhaps they thought the rule wasunimportant. But the examiner noted the violation andannounced at the end of the road test that the driver hadfailed. The student’s driving ability may have been flaw-less, but even the best performance on the road could noterase the blunder made at the beginning.


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10 STEWARDSHIP

The same thing can happen when we discuss steward-ship. Many in this world are wise stewards. They are goodmanagers, administrators, caretakers, and conservationists.But many fail at the very beginning. They fail becausethey do not correctly answer the first and most basic ques-tion, Where did property come from? The wrong answerhere will lead to wrong conclusions later.

Nature tells us that God created all thingsWhere did everything come from? Here is where we

“drive out of the parking lot.” It is essential that we stopto learn the correct answer. The answer is evident toeveryone who has eyes. The things we possess—yes, allthe things that we see—proclaim a message. They shout,“There is a God! This almighty God is the Creator ofall things!”

King David wrote, “The heavens declare the glory ofGod; the skies proclaim the work of his hands” (Psalm19:1). The magnificent array of stars and planets in thenight sky preaches a powerful sermon. It tells all peoplethat there is a God and that this God is the Creator.

Even the Gentiles, those who have never seen a Bible,can know from the plants and animals, the lakes andforests that there is a God and that this God created allthings. These facts, Paul says, have been clearly evident“since the creation of the world” (Romans 1:20).

Therefore, God will not accept any excuses. He will notexcuse the person who says, “God, I didn’t know that youexisted. I didn’t know that you were the Creator and that Iwas the caretaker.” Those who deny things that are per-fectly obvious make fools of themselves.


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GOD—THE CREATOR AND OWNER OF ALL 11

God gives us details in Genesis chapter 1No human being was there to see how the world

began. Only God was present. Only God can tell us whathappened. In his inspired Word, God tells us exactly howhe did it.

“In the beginning,” Moses writes, “God created theheavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). There was anabsolute beginning, a point when no created thingexisted. At that point there was no time, no human race,and nothing to care for. There was no stewardship. OnlyGod was there. This God is the Lord, the God whoreveals himself to us in the Bible. He is the triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is “fromeverlasting to everlasting” and was present “before themountains were born” (Psalm 90:2).

At this absolute beginning of time, God acted. He cre-ated the heavens and the earth. There were no materialthings from which God could fashion the things hemade. Therefore, in this case the word create means “tomake something out of nothing.”

He made “the heavens and the earth.” God’s prophetuses words that even a child can understand. “The heav-ens” are what we see when we look up; “the earth” iswhat we see when we look down. “The heavens and theearth” simply means “all things.”

In the remaining verses of Genesis chapter 1, Mosesreveals more details. He tells us that God chose to makeall things in six days.

• On day one God created the “stuff” out of which hewould build his creation. He also created light.

• On day two God created the sky, the firmament, thevault above the earth.


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• On day three God caused the water to flow into lakesand oceans. In this way he created dry land, whichhe then proceeded to cover with all kinds of plants.

• On day four God created the heavenly bodies, thesun, moon, and stars.

• On day five God created fish to swim in the waterand birds to fly in the air.

• On day six God finished his creation by making allthe other animals and by creating the first twohuman beings.

Everything in our universe was made during these sixdays. God made nothing before day number 1. He madenothing in the original creation after day number 6.

God Almighty could have made all things in six hoursor in six seconds. But he chose to make all things in sixdays. Moses tells us that each of these six days had anevening and a morning. Therefore, we can be certain thatthe six days of creation were ordinary days of approxi-mately 24 hours.

How did God make all things? By his powerful, creativeword. God spoke, and suddenly things that had notexisted came into being. The worlds were “formed atGod’s command” (Hebrews 11:3).

At the end of those six days everything was perfect.Moses tells us that “God saw all that he had made, and itwas very good” (Genesis 1:31). Everything worked per-fectly. The entire creation was just the way God wanted it.

Creator and ownerHuman beings spend their lives obtaining parts and

pieces of what God created. Those who have wealth are

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considered successful. Those who do not have wealth arelooked upon as failures. Poor individuals are jealous of therich. The poorer nations of the world envy the richernations.

Many people like to display their wealth. They live inbeautiful houses, they drive new cars, they wear expensiveclothes. Many feel that their houses, their cars, and theirclothes make a public statement. Their possessions are aproclamation that they are successful.

At times human beings behave as though they wereengaged in a real-life game of Monopoly. They act asthough the winner of this life is the one who dies with thebiggest fistful of money.

When it comes right down to it, the pride of the richand the jealousy of the poor are a bit silly. Such individu-als are, as one man put it, like two fleas arguing over whoowns the dog. Those who live as though life were a gameof Monopoly are acting foolishly. As a matter of fact, wedo not really own the things we claim to own. The Godwho created all things is and remains the real ownerof everything.

Humanly speaking you and I are, as another man put it,nothing more than “a blip on the timeline of world his-tory.” Our ownership of property is only a temporaryarrangement. Soon we die, and another boasts of beingthe owner. We are like little children who enter their par-ents’ bedroom, dress themselves in their parents’ bestclothing, and then strut into the living room so that allcan admire them. The rich (as well as the poor) have anduse property that really belongs to God.

By contrast, our sovereign God is eternal. He receivedhis property from no one. Nor will he die and pass hisproperty on to another. “The earth is the LORD’s, and


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everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm24:1). Those words of King David are eternally true. Theywere true when God rested on the seventh day. They weretrue when David ruled in Jerusalem. They are true today.When God looks down from his throne in heaven, heannounces, “Every animal of the forest is mine, and thecattle on a thousand hills” (Psalm 50:10).

We view the creation with awe and respectThe Bible’s account of creation is more than a dry state-

ment of fact. It is something that fills our hearts with awe.In the Old Testament we read the story of a man named

Job. For his own good reasons, God took away Job’s prop-erty, Job’s children, and even Job’s health. Throughout 35chapters of the Bible, Job and his three friends arguedamong themselves as they tried to determine why Godhad done this.

At the end of the book, God himself spoke. Godanswered Job by pointing to his majestic creation. Godasked Job, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foun-dation? . . . when I said [to the sea], ‘This far you maycome and no farther; here is where your proud waveshalt’?” (Job 38:4,11).

God continued by asking Job, “Can you raise yourvoice to the clouds and cover yourself with a flood ofwater? Do you know when the mountain goats givebirth?” (Job 38:34; 39:1).

When we look at God’s creation, we appear small bycomparison. Our wisdom is nothing compared to the wis-dom of God. When we Christians survey God’s creation,our hearts are filled with awe and respect. For the thingswe see come from the hand of God himself. We are likepaupers who have been invited into a king’s palace. When

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we look at his treasures, our mouths hang open in amaze-ment. We keep our hands behind us and touch nothingunless the king invites us to do so.

All of creation responds with praiseThose who work in the field of science see the magnifi-

cence of God’s creation firsthand and describe it for therest of us.

We marvel when we look at the tiniest things God hasmade. When my parents were in high school, they learnedthat the atom is so small that it cannot be divided. Onegeneration later we were taught that the atom is made upof parts—protons, neutrons, and electrons—and that itcan be split, releasing tremendous amounts of energy. Mychildren are learning that there are still other smaller par-ticles and rays within these atoms. God alone knows whatthings scientists will discover next year as they lookthrough their microscopes.

We marvel again when we look through a telescope.God promised Abraham that his offspring would be asnumerous as the stars. Just as Abraham had difficultycounting the stars in the sky, so he would find it difficultalso to count all his offspring. Now the astronomers havelaunched their telescopes into space on the back of asatellite and have learned that there are millions of galax-ies out there that are not even visible from earth.

Whether we look up at “the heavens” or look downat “the earth,” there seems to be no end to what Godhas created.

When we read about these marvelous discoveries, wesmile and sing with the hymn writer, “Praise to the Lord,the Almighty, the King of creation!” (Christian Worship: A



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Lutheran Hymnal [CW] 234:1). That is the response Goddesires. God wants his creation to praise him. Thepsalmist writes,

Praise the LORD from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths,

lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding,

you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars,

wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds.

(Psalm 148:7-10)

That is the purpose of our lives also, to praise the greatGod who made all things. “Let everything that has breathpraise the LORD” (Psalm 150:6).

“Subdue it”The man and woman whom God created were not

identical. Their bodies were shaped differently, for onething. In addition, God, at the time of the creation,established a role relationship between the male sex andthe female sex. In the Bible, God explains how that rolerelationship will show itself in the home, in the church,and in society.

But there are other ways in which the man and thewoman were exactly alike. God made both in his image.God said to both, “Be fruitful and increase in number”(Genesis 1:28). And God commanded both to “fill theearth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and thebirds of the air and over every living creature that moveson the ground” (verse 28).

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That last command is important for our discussion.With these words God gave to the man and woman unre-stricted rulership over the earth and all it contains. All ofthe earth’s powers and resources were placed at their dis-posal and under their authority.

The Hebrew word subdue literally means “bring intobondage” and “make to serve, by force if necessary.” TheHebrew word rule pictures the way in which a king rulesover people whom he has conquered.

Here is where stewardship began. God wanted Adamand Eve to care for the creation he had made.

Now the creation cries out in painAs long as the man and woman were in God’s image,

there was no possibility that they would abuse theirauthority. But then something happened. Adam and Evesinned against God. By that one act of disobedience, theyruined everything.

When they sinned, Adam and Eve lost God’s imageand earned eternal death for themselves. Adam and Eve’schildren would be born spiritually dead. The generationsto follow would be, by nature, God’s spiritual enemies.

By their one act of disobedience, Adam and Eve alsospoiled God’s perfect creation. Paul tells us that “the cre-ation was subjected to frustration” (Romans 8:20). God’shuman creatures would continue to rule over the cre-ation. But now the fine things God created would moanand groan as they were used and misused by people whoare by nature God’s enemies.

For example:

• God’s good trees would be turned into paper. Chris-tians would use that paper to publish the truth and to


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print Bibles. Unbelievers would use it to publish liesand filth.

• The metal that God placed into the earth would beturned into cars and trucks. Christians would usethose vehicles for necessary transportation in theirlives of service to God. Unbelievers would use carsand trucks to advance their greedy desires and evento commit crimes.

• The stone that God created would be turned intobuilding blocks. Believers would use that stone tobuild temples to God. Unbelievers would use thestone to build temples for their worship of idols.

Because they have sinful hearts, even Christians donot use God’s creation perfectly. Because of its misuse atthe hands of godless men, “the whole creation has beengroaning as in the pains of childbirth” (Romans 8:22)and is, together with us, eagerly looking forward to theday when it “will be liberated from its bondage to decayand brought into the glorious freedom of the children ofGod” (verse 21).

Life will be filled with trouble until that day when weenter the new heaven and earth, which God has preparedfor us.

Opinions differPerhaps we cannot hear the moans and groans of the

creation. But we can hear the moans and groans of peopleas they discuss the proper use of the creation. What is thedifference between using God’s creation and abusing it?What is the difference between ruling God’s creation andruining it? In a world spoiled by sin, these questions willalways ignite a debate.

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One person says, “I want to cut down these trees, sellthe wood, and build houses. This is good stewardship. ForGod has commanded us to rule over the creation.”Another person says, “No, this is not good stewardship. Ifyou cut down this forest, you will destroy the homes ofendangered animals, cause erosion, and even upset theweather pattern.” Who is right? Who is wrong? And why?

One person says, “I want to take iron ore out of theground. Therefore, I will set up a mining operation righthere. I also want to manufacture cars. Therefore, I willbuild a factory right next to the mine. This is good stew-ardship. God wants us to use the creation he has given tous.” Another says, “No, this is not good stewardship. Ifyou open a mine right here, if you build a factory rightthere, you will poison the water and kill the fish. Youwill pollute the air and kill the birds.” Which personis right?

Perhaps neither is right. If both are unbelievers, if thehearts of both are governed by greed and self-interest, ifboth have no desire to serve the Lord Jesus, then both ofthem are wrong. For “without faith it is impossible toplease God” (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith no one canbegin to make God-pleasing decisions about stewardship.

On the other hand, both individuals may be Chris-tians, people who honestly want to serve their Lord.Since the Bible does not give specific answers to the situ-ations we described, two Christians may disagree. In thatcase, they will need to do what two Christians always do.They will sit down together and discuss the matter inChristian love. Possibly they can come to a mutual agree-ment. Certainly they will respect each other’s opinions asthey both seek to do what is God-pleasing.


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Many choose to rejectUnfortunately, many reject what the Bible says. They

even choose to reject what is evident to their own eyes.Many choose to believe in some kind of evolution. Theybelieve that our property—yes, the entire universe—cameinto being by itself or through some accident.

Some of the ancient Greeks believed that from eternitythere was a continual falling of atoms, something like agentle shower of rain. All of these particles were fallingpeacefully in straight lines. But one day one of those atomsswerved just a bit and struck another atom. This set off achain reaction, and billions of other atoms collided withone another. These ancient Greeks believed that the won-derful universe we see today is the result.

Today’s evolutionists have refined that theory andchanged it. Many today speak about a “big bang.” Theybelieve that an extremely compact ball of particlesexploded in the distant past and that the orderly universewe have today is the result.

We are not surprised that the world’s atheists rejectGod’s account of creation. What disappoints us is thatmany who call themselves Christians also reject the Bibleand either accept evolution or attempt to compromise withits teachings.

Conclusions: one or the otherThose who reject what the Bible says are like the stu-

dent taking the driver’s test who did not stop when leav-ing the parking lot. They fail before they begin.

Christians begin with God, the God of the Bible.Atheists, humanists, evolutionists, those involved in theNew Age movement, as well as other unbelievers begin

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someplace else. They begin either without God or with afalse god.

Believers and unbelievers have nothing in common inthese matters. They begin in different places, and theyreach different conclusions.

Many evolutionists tell us that matter is eternal. Indoing so, these individuals assign to matter a quality thatbelongs only to God. Others assert that, given enoughtime, anything is possible. They argue that matter, whenit is granted an unlimited amount of time, can changeitself from chaos into the orderly universe we see today.In effect they are saying that matter can perform creativeacts, work which the Bible ascribes only to God.

The unbelievers then proceed to serve the gods theyhave created. They speak of “mother earth” and “fathertime.” They serve the god of materialism. They evenmake a god of themselves, permit greed to govern theirlives, and say that they are responsible to no one. Theynever acknowledge that what they have is God’s gift tothem; therefore, they never ask the question, “How will Inow serve God with what I have?” Christian stewardshipis foreign to their thought.

Christians, by contrast, begin a discussion of steward-ship by talking about God. God is the active party, thedoer, the giver. Human beings are the unworthy recipi-ents of God’s grace.

We Christians believe from the Bible that there is aGod who created us and all things. We stand in awe ofthe world he made. We believe that the property we ownis a gracious gift from God and continues to belong toGod. We believe that we are responsible to God for theway in which we use our property. We desire to serve thegracious God who made us and gives us all things.


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Because we hold to what God says in the Bible, wereject those teachings that differ from the Bible. In partic-ular, we “reject all theories of evolution as an explanationof the origin of the universe and the human race.”* Theseteachings are not only false. They also destroy the veryfoundation of Christian stewardship.

The words of Martin Luther, written almost five hun-dred years ago, sum up all that this author has written sofar. In his explanation to the First Article of the Apostles’Creed, Luther wrote, “I believe that God created me andall that exists. . . . For all this I ought to thank and praise,to serve and obey him. This is most certainly true.” Here isthe basis of Christian stewardship.

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*This We Believe: A Statement of Belief of the Wisconsin EvangelicalLutheran Synod (Milwaukee: Northwestern Publishing House,1999), p. 10.


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N OT C PY D O STEWARDSHIP N T What I Do with What God Gave Me · The People’s Bible Teachings STEWARDSHIP What I Do with What God Gave Me Arno J. Wolfgramm • D O N O T C P Y •