Randy Alcorn, May 2013. In Touch.

As I read this article, The Word Within by Randy Alcorn, I thought I would share some of Randy’s thoughts on being a steward. I believe it weighs in a little on the increasing rate of fraud, five percent, when it addresses who is a steward and the role of a steward.

A question posed to Randy by Tricia Mayer, a Microsoft executive was to define stewardship. Randy writes, “Stewardship is the Christian life and it is about what we do with the resources given to us every day we walk the earth, every relationship we have. The difficult task of stewardship is mustering the discipline and will to manage the problem child called money.”

Randy goes on to elaborate on who is considered a steward. “A steward is someone entrusted with wealth or property that does not belong to him. It is his responsibility to manage that wealth in the best interest, and according to the stated wishes, of the true owner. The steward is granted by the owner sufficient resources and the authority to carry out his designated responsibilities.” With this in mind, Randy states that if we think about what it means to be a steward in every aspect of our lives, we must recognize that this entails being entrusted with, “time, talents, money, possessions and relationships.” Once we have considered these factors, we might approach stewardship a bit differently.

Randy provided an example of what he considered one of the most remarkable pieces of writing on the subject of giving by the novelist, Stephen King:

A couple of years ago I found out what “you can’t take it with you” means. I found out while I was lying in a ditch at the side of a country road, covered with mud and blood and with the tibia of my right leg poking out the side of my jeans like a branch of a tree taken down in a thunder storm. I had a MasterCard in my wallet, but when you’re lying in a ditch with broken glass in your hair, no one accepts MasterCard…We come in naked and broke. We may be dressed when we go out, but we’re just as broke. All the money you earn, all the stocks you buy, all the mutual funds you trade-all of that is mostly smoke and mirrors. So I want you to consider your life as one long gift to others. And why not? All you have is on loan, anyway. All that lasts is what you pass on.