Today, we continue our study of I Timothy by noting Paul’s teaching that genuine Christian leaders are focused not on philosophical speculation or useless theological debate but upon being faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us. He instructed Timothy, Charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the STEWARDSHIP from God that is by faith. This term, stewardship, is a very rich word, with an enormous biblical theme behind it to describe our mission as Christ-followers. In fact, Jesus taught that it is being faithful stewards that leads to hearing “well done” from the Master.
From the first page of Genesis to the closing pages of Revelation, the mission of God’s people has been to steward Kingdom Earth for God as his future dwelling place. We are to order our world, following the paradigm of righteousness, for the Glory of God. Here are just some of the texts that overwhelmingly demonstrate this truth.
A. Man is created in God’s image. Let us make man in our image, after our likeness (Gen 1:26). God is the GREAT ORDERER. The very creation account that precedes this text shows God moving in creation from the unformed “stuff” of creation to greater order and complexity. Repeatedly, God separates and divides—the light from the darkness, the waters under the expanse from the waters above the expanse, dry land from water. He brought order out of the undifferentiated stuff of Genesis 1:2 The earth was without form and void. “The book of Genesis opens with a majestic description of how God first created the heavens and earth and then how he ordered the earth to become his dwelling place” (ESV Study Notes). As those who bear his image, we also were created to be orderers.
B. Genesis 1:26 continues And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Following immediately upon explaining our identity as his image bearers, God says we are to rule, i.e. exercise dominion. OT scholar Bruce Waltke suggests an obvious connection in Genesis 1:26—that being an image bearer means “ruling on behalf of.” Waltke observes that in the Ancient Near East it was widely believed that a god’s spirit lived in any statue or image of the god, with the result that the image could function as a kind of representative of the god wherever it was placed. It was also common in the ANE to think of a king as a representative of a god. The king ruled but the god was the ultimate ruler, so the king was seen to be ruling on God’s behalf. The text is saying that exercising royal dominion over the earth as God’s representative is the basic purpose for which God created man.
C. God continues to explain our creation assignment in Genesis 1: 28: Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and SUBDUE it. Again, the ESV Study Note scholars observe, “The term ‘subdue’ (Heb KABASH) elsewhere means to bring a people or a land into subjection so that it will yield service to the one subduing it. Here, the idea is that the man and woman are to make the earth’s resources beneficial.”
Adam continues God’s creative work of ordering, i.e. shaping the material of creation by subduing the earth. To subdue the earth is to explore the created world and harness its laws for the good of mankind. From police officers who keep order in civil society to engineers who harness the laws of creation in order to solve human problems to scientists who discover those laws, the human concept of vocation is rooted in God’s call to mankind to subdue the earth. God places creation in the care of people who are to develop it.
The commands to populate the earth and to subdue it are called the cultural mandate. Richard Mouw says the cultural mandate is “God’s charge to our first parents to ‘transform untamed nature into a social environment’ by cultural formation that fit’s God’s design” (When the King Comes Marching In). We are to rule FOR God. Not only is Adam to exercise dominion by creatively harnessing the laws of nature for the good of mankind but he is to exercise dominion over the society that grows as the population expands. He is to order civilization FOR God.
“God’s good creation includes not only earth and its creatures, but also an array of cultural gifts, such as marriage, family, art, language, commerce,… government… tent-making, musicianship, and metalworking. All of these unfold the built-in potential of God’s creation.” (Cornelius Plantinga Engaging God’s World.)
As the image bearers of God, humans are charged not only with caring for what God has already created but also with developing and ordering culture FOR God. Humans know what pleases God because God wrote his moral law on our hearts.
D. When Adam and Eve rebel, the consequence is that the kingdom they were to rule righteously FOR God is surrendered to the triumvirate, Satan, (the Prince of the Power of the Air), sin, and the consequence of sin—death, which rule Kingdom Earth. But the messianic seed of the woman is promised—a second Adam who would defeat Satan, sin, and death—taking back Earth’s throne. After the resurrection proved his victory over Satan, sin, and death, the Second Adam ascended to takeover earth’s throne and do what Adam was supposed to do—order every sphere of life FOR God—spreading Christ’s rule (called his kingdom of righteousness) over the earth. All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:18-19a).
E. To follow Jesus, the Second Adam, is to recover the original call of Adam to order every aspect of the kingdom entrusted to him by God according to righteousness. “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” as scholar Herman Ridderboss argues means grammatically “spreading the righteous rule of Christ” over the earth. (The Coming Kingdom). The top priority of my followers,” says Jesus, “is ordering every aspect of their lives according to My agenda of righteousness.” Our mission is to order our heart loyalties, our heart attitudes, and every sphere of our lives by Christ’s agenda of righteousness. The paradigm that we are to follow, as we seek to order our lives, is Christ’s kingdom of restoration and righteousness. We are to pray, “may your kingdom come. i.e. may your righteous will be done in the second Adam’s kingdom, Earth, as it is in heaven.”
Jesus has begun restoring everything broken by sin and we are the firstfruits of that process. Paul explained, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. James says we are the firstfruits of the restoration yet to come. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures (1:18). We are the new order and have the privilege of putting on display Christ’s new order, his kingdom of righteousness transforming our heart attitudes and behavior, and impacting the world around us as salt and light.
F. Behind Paul’s teaching to Timothy about false teachers was the recognition that the true gospel always brings about a re-ordering of human life The invading kingdom of righteousness overthrows the kingdom of darkness. The word Paul used for this re-ordering was OIKONOMIAN, the word from which we get economy. It is usually translated as stewardship. It comes from OIKOS a house and NEMO to arrange or order. It usually denotes the management of a household or estate. Once again, we see the consistent theme of our mission—being given our very lives, time, energy, number of days, gifts, resources, relationships—by God, we are to steward them well. We are to order our lives, putting on display the new order for our LORD’s pleasure and glory, spreading kingdom righteousness.
G. Finally, this call to order every part of our lives for our King is clearly evident from Jesus’ parable of the faithful steward, which explains that the phrase seeking the kingdom of God means “faithfully stewarding our lives—all we have been given by God—to implement his agenda of righteousness and restoration.”
The kingdom of heaven… will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant…And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me two talents; here, I have made two talents more.’ His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant…He also who had received the one talent came forward…But his master answered (the unfaithful steward), ‘You wicked and slothful servant! (Mt 25:14f).
In the NT era, one talent would have been equal to $600,000.00. Notice that the contrast is between being intentional to act to bear fruit from the resources entrusted to us and doing nothing, being lazy, being passive. It is noteworthy that unlike the prodigal son, this unfaithful servant did not spend the resources entrusted to him doing evil. Nevertheless, he was so ungrateful for the enormous blessing bestowed upon him that he didn’t care whether what he did with his resource was pleasing to his master or not. Of those to whom much is given, much is required. You and I have been given new life in Christ. How can we not take charge of our lives and order them for God’s glory? How can we deny Jesus’ command to be intentional about seeking to spread Christ’s righteous agenda into our heart loyalties, heart attitudes, every sphere of our lives, and over every square inch the world where we have influence?
Jesus—The Faithful Steward Who Ordered His Life
If we are to faithfully steward our lives for Jesus, Gordon Macdonald writes:
We must come to see ourselves as living in two very different worlds. Our outer or public world is easier to deal with. It is much more measurable, visible, and expandable. Our outer world consists of work, play, possessions, and a host of acquaintances that make up a social network. It is the part of our existence that is easiest to evaluate in terms of success, popularity, wealth, and beauty. But our inner world is more spiritual in nature. Here is a center in which choices and values can be determined, where solitude and reflection might be pursued. It is a place for conducting worship and confession, a spot where the moral and spiritual pollution of the times need not penetrate. (Ordering Your Private World)
MacDonald continues, “Our public worlds are filled with a seeming infinity of demands upon our time, our loyalties, our money, and our energies. And because these outer worlds of ours are so visible, so real, we have to struggle to ignore all their seductions and demands. They scream for our attention and action (Ibid).
When life got hectic for Jesus, he displayed an incredible determination to retreat to his inner world to ensure that his outer world was being guided by it. Luke notes, what happened when Jesus’ fame explodes after healing a leper. Now even more the report about him went abroad, and great crowds gathered to hear him and to be healed of their infirmities. But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray (Lk 5:15-16). Here is the lesson Jesus’ example teaches us.
Memo to the Disorganized: If my outer world is in order, it will be because I am convinced that the inner world of the spiritual must govern the outer world of activity (Ibid pa 1). That is a perfect description of the way Jesus lived. So must we if we want to hear “Well done” whispered into our ear at the end of our race.
Enabling the Inner World of the Spiritual to Order the Outer World of Activity
Step #1. Reject rudderless living. God created US to rule our lives not circumstances. Many of us are going through life like a raft rushing down a white-water river, careening off of whatever gets in the way, with no rudder or paddle. That is not the way David, for example, lived. While on a raid, he had left too few guards home to protect his city, leading to catastrophe in his outer world. We read
And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to wee…. And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters (Vs3-6a
The anguish of this moment was severe. So crushing was David’s mistake of leaving two few guards at his camp that his band of brothers—poster children for extreme loyalty—were on the verge of mutiny. David’s outer world is falling apart. So, what does he do? He withdraws to his inner world. The next verse says, But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God. He asked God what do. God said, track down the Amalekites. They did that and rescued their families unharmed.
Memo to the Disorganized: If my outer world is in order, it will be because, having faced up to what drives me, I listen quietly for the call of Christ (Ibid p. 50).
Step #2. Catalogue biblical data that reveals God’s agenda for each sphere of your life. Someone has said, “God forgive us for aiming too low and hitting the mark every time.” But what is worse is not aiming at all because we have no target on the wall. This step maps out the ground that Jesus wants taken as you seek to overpower the kingdom of darkness in your own life and replace it with righteousness. Forming your battle plan requires data about each target:
- List sinful attitudes that must be replaced and godly attitudes built. Study them by knowing synonyms for them and their opposites.
- List what Scripture says about a wife’s needs, e.g. to be cherished, to be understood, to be honored, to be praised, to be treated as joint heirs, etc.
- Identify biblical principles for financial management, e.g.
--Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit (Prov 10:2),-- Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine (Prov 3:9-10).-- Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it (Prov 3:27).
- Catalogue other verses about Christ’s agenda for you, personal growth, being a godly employee or employer, discovering and using your spiritual gifts, etc.
Memo to the Disorganized: If my outer world is in order, it will be because I have begun to pursue the discipline of seeing events and people through the eyes of Christ so that my prayers reflect my desire to be in alignment with his purposes. (Ibid p. 219).
Step # 3. Escape often to your inner world to talk about your mission w/ your CO. When Sauls troops invaded David’s home, and he narrowly escaped with his wife, Michal’s help, David retreated to his private world and penned Psalm 59. When David miraculously escaped from King Achish, he wrote Psalm 34. After Nathan confronted David with his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of her husband, David wrote Psalm 51. Is there a pattern here? The man after God’s own heart often retreated to his private world. So, did Jesus. A pattern that I have tried to follow for years is to find time to retreat each Sunday afternoon, evening, or Monday morning into my private world with my CO to recover focus on my mission. It is impossible for me to express how much this habit has shaped my life.
Memo to the Disorganized: If my outer world is in order, it will be because I make a daily. or at least weekly) choice to monitor its state of orderliness (Ibid p. 11).
Step # 4. Formulate your plan. Accomplishing nearly anything requires a plan—going to the grocery store, buying gifts for the family, leading a meeting, winning a ball game, even getting ready to go to bed. So why would we ever think that we could please Christ in stewarding our lives—without ever making a plan? I fear that laziness as a follower of King Jesus has been excused because intentional, planned efforts to pursue righteousness are misidentified as works-righteousness. May I remind us all the justification by faith alone through grace alone does NOT lead to passivity, it leads to intentionally seeking first the spread of Christ’s righteousness over every square inch of the planet. THAT REQUIRES A PLAN. There is great, biblical wisdom in the saying, “If you fail to plan, plan to fail.” God never intended his followers to fly by the seat of their pants but to exercise dominion over their lives.
Memo to the Disorganized. If my outer world is in order it will be because I have made a daily determination to see time as God’s gift and worthy of careful investment (Ibid p. 88).
Step # 5. Abide in Jesus for the power you need. Apart from Jesus’ power at work in us we can not order our lives according to righteousness. His promise: I am the vine; you are the branches. If you abide in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (Jn 15:5).
Memo to the Disorganized: If my outer world is in order, it will be because I regularly choose to enlarge the spiritual center of my life (Ibid p.172).
The mark of orthodox teaching and genuine godly leadership in the church is that both are permeated with the call to be faithful stewards of the lives and resources God has entrusted to us, ordering their use according to the paradigm of kingdom righteousness, which is Jesus’ agenda. Let me close with these final words.
Memo to the disorganized: If my outer world is in order, it will be because I have made a deliberate decision to begin the “ordering” process now.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- Which aspects of being made in God’s image most point to us being made to order every aspect of human life FOR the king, in your opinion?
- How would you support the idea that the Great Commission, “Go and make disciples of the nations,” is a renewal of Adam’s original commission, “Be fruitful, fill the earth and subdue it?”
- How would you defend the idea that if our outer world is ever going to be ordered for God, the reason will be that we’ve become convinced that the inner world of the spiritual must govern the outer world of activity?
- Which of the 5 steps given to govern our outer world from the inner world do you most want to remember?
