A close look at the absence of stewardship in American life, the problems from that absence, and a solution
America has a serious stewardship problem.
Many do not know what stewardship is. Most of the people I speak to automatically say that stewardship is about handling money wisely. That is only partly true, because money is only a small part of stewardship. Saying “stewardship is about money” omits the many aspects of stewardship that include the use of our time, our skills, our spiritual gifts, our health, and even our love. Real stewardship is a whole-life concept and is vastly greater than money.
To adequately describe the breadth of the word “stewardship,” I prefer to call it an ethic, or perhaps a Godly responsibility we have. Maybe best of all, stewardship can be called an opportunity to serve the Lord using what He has given to me as tools. For more detail on this, see What is Biblical Stewardship? and What About Stewardship?
The lack of real Biblical stewardship has had a negative impact on every aspect of American life. Let’s see the impact.
Are we good stewards of our money?
In America there are roughly 331 million people. The national debt at the end of fiscal 2021 was estimated at over $31 trillion. That makes the individual’s responsibility the hefty sum of 93,665.91$ or $280.997.73 for a family of only 3. Get your checkbook out! But you’d better deposit some extra money because the national debt if now over $36 trillion!
But that is hardly all of the debt. With 331 million people in the US, we reached over $14.56 trillion in household debt in 2020, which includes credit cards, loans, mortgages, etc. While that is trillions better than the national debt, only $43,987.91 per person, it adds over $131,963 for that check you need to be ready to write for your family of three.
The average family of three has a debt of a bit over $400,000. But it is really higher than that since during the pandemic household debt soared.
There is also more than $1 trillion in outstanding student loan debt despite the government reductions and payoffs. That has to be added to the total of our national debt. You also have to add more debt daily due to the rapidly rising deficit. Each day the government spends approximately $2.7 billion more than it takes in. There is even a site where you can watch the debt increase moment by moment. Click here. The debt appears to rise more than $31,000 each second, despite the efforts of the Department of Governmental Efficiency.
Is that all the debt? No, not even close because these amounts do not reflect the unfunded and underfunded state pension debts which exceed $8 trillion or a number of other significant debts owed in America.
Are we good stewards of our money? Not at all.
Are we good stewards of our time?
Americans have more technology and more tools to help us work better and faster, but the average work week has grown and grown. According to a study by the National Sleep Foundation, the average employed American works a 46.7 hour work week. 38% of the respondents in their study worked more than 50 hours per week. 18% work more than 60 hours each week.
To make matters worse, the average Facebook user is on it 50 minutes a day. That is below only TV which is at 2.8 hours per day. Reading books is at only 16 minutes. Exercise and sports use up only 14-24 minutes per day of the average person’s time.
Are we good stewards of our time? Hardly.
Are we good stewards of our health?
The average American is overweight. In fact, more than two-thirds of adult Americans are overweight. It’s bad enough that doctors say the Baby Boomers will not live as long or as well as their parents. Legal drug use is soaring at all age levels. So is illegal drug use. Seven out of 10 Americans take at least one prescription drug. The most commonly prescribed drug is antibiotics — taken by 17 percent of Americans — followed by antidepressants and opioids — each taken by 13 percent of Americans. More than half of Americans take 2 or more prescription medications, all ages.
27 % of Americans exercise very irregularly. Over 14 % do not exercise at all. Many of the rest lie about it. I am writing this article while I am on a cruise. The cruise director laughed (but was still serious) and said most people expect to gain a pound a day while on the cruise.
Are we good stewards of our health and bodies? Anything but that. In fact, it is difficult to find and area of American society where true Biblical stewardship is prominent. Since part of the problem is a lack of understanding of what true Biblical stewardship really is, it is time to look closely at stewardship and what it is.
Stewardship – a lifestyle and more
Stewardship is more than a word, far more than money handling – it really is an ethic, a guiding moral principle. It embodies the responsible planning and management of our God-given resources, all of them. The concepts of stewardship can be applied to many topics on all levels, including:
our environment,
nature,
your finances,
your health and fitness,
your property,
your time,
your talents, and
literally anything you have been given, anything you have, and all that you are.
Here is the definition of stewardship, straight from Merriam Webster’s dictionary:
1. the office, duties, and obligations of a steward
2. the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.
The concept of stewardship is built upon the reality that everything we have and even everything we are is “on loan” from God. You can’t take it with you, so it is true that all that you have, you only have for a short time. God, the Creator and Sustainer of all, made everything and owns everything. For just a few of the verses establishing His ownership and control, see:
Genesis 14:9
19 and he blessed Abram, saying,
“Blessed be Abram by God Most High,
Creator of heaven and earth.
Exodus 9:29
29 Moses replied, “When I have gone out of the city, I will spread out my hands in prayer to the LORD. The thunder will stop and there will be no more hail, so you may know that the earth is the LORD’s.
1 Chronicles 29:13-14
13 Now, our God, we give you thanks,
and praise your glorious name.
14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
Psalm 89:11
11 The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
you founded the world and all that is in it.
Acts 17:24-25
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.
25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
Revelation 4:11
11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”
It came from Him and will return to Him when our short lives have ended. It is all His. We are at most managers of God’s gifts to us during the days of our lives. We have been entrusted with much and have a duty to do well with what He has given to us.
1 Corinthians 4:1-2
1 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed.
2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
See also the parable of the talents or the bags of gold, Matthew 25:14-30.
Failing to recognize the scope of stewardship is only the first part of our failure. The rest of the failure is already evident, Americans overall don’t care about being good stewards of anything.
We don’t care
Of course, generalizations like “Americans overall” are unfair to those who are good stewards, but unfortunately, that is a relatively small percentage of Americans, even among the churchgoers. The prevailing thought appears to be “How can I possibly accumulate enough to outshine the Jones’ if I have to view what I have as being owned by God and to be given for His glory?”
Nationwide, more than one-third of adults who attend church an average of at least once a month, gave nothing to the church. The best estimates of George Barna in “How to Increase Giving in Your Church.”) is that the 63% who do give contribute only 2.5 percent of their income. Barna computes the average weekly donation at $10 and says that at most, only 3 to 5 percent of church donors actually tithe.
As attendance decreases (nationwide, church members’ average attendance is less than two Sundays a month and dropping fast) and those who do tithe go home to glory, it isn’t hard to see that the church faces a financial problem, one that is growing worse week by week.
Can a steward be generous?
There is the question on the issue of stewardship in America, and that is whether someone who is a steward and not an owner can and should give away the Master’s property. If something doesn’t belong to you, should you give it away?
That can be answered in many different ways, but perhaps the best is to note that giving away what God has allowed us to have is exactly what God wants us to do!
2 Corinthians 9:11
11 You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
There it is! God doesn’t just give to us, He enriches us in every way. Why? Not for our own blessing or benefit. Not for our financial security or so we can hoard it. He gives it to us so we can give it away on every occasion. Why? So that we can be generous for His glory. Our goal then is to be generous as He would be and in the way He would be.
I can also add that once I realize that none of what I have is really mine, it is actually easier to give it away; after all, it is easier to give away someone else’s stuff than my own!
Regardless, we still have a stewardship problem in America and in the American church. While the true solutions lie in God’s hands, no one should ever suggest that the church “keep on keeping on” with “business as usual” and make no effort to address the issue. God has never suggested that His people blindly march forward ignoring the cliff they are approaching.
Albert Einstein reportedly said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result. I am not sure I agree with that in every sense, but it seems obvious that what the American church is doing in the area of stewardship isn’t working – so let’s try something else.
I believe God has given us an answer for every problem. I also believe that each problem is an opportunity for a solution or solutions that will bring Him glory. Let’s find one or more answers to the current lack of engagement both in attendance and in financial commitment.
The answer is …
As with everything that is God-centered (and everything is God-centered), we need to start with prayer. My natural tendency is to jump in and start working, but prayer must come first. A.J. Gordon got it right when he said, “You can do more than pray after you have prayed … but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.” We need wisdom and James made it clear that:
James 1:5-6
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
After prayer, we find that the answer lies in God’s Word. All answers about the life and about the kingdom of God lie there, so why look elsewhere for a place to start? Has there ever been a time in Biblical history when people were joyfully giving and in community working for the kingdom? That is an easy question to answer and the answer is yes. There have been times when God’s people have gathered together, given freely and generously – and even joyfully. There are quite a few times we can see in the Bible, but in my mind, three stand out above the others.
Giving in Exodus
First, in the wilderness, Moses called the Israelites to give for the tabernacle and they did. God had ordered them to build a place of worship, or a Tabernacle. That Tabernacle was a visible emblem of God’s presence with His people. “They shall make Me a sanctuary and I will dwell in their midst ” were God’s words. God had asked them for voluntary contributions of gold, silver, bronze, fabrics, wood, and precious stones. In Exodus 25, Moses was told what offerings to seek. Although there were many intervening issues and delays, the offerings did come in from those willing. Exodus 35:20-29.
The isolation from the rest of the world and the closeness of the Jewish people to each other in the wilderness certainly contributed to their willingness to give. It is likely there was an element of peer pressure, although there is no suggestion of it in the text. What they brought was more than sufficient, Exodus 36:5, so much so that Moses asked them to stop! Exodus 36:6-7.
While there were likely millions of traveling Jews, they were in community and were under threat. They had left Egypt and there was no return possible after the tumultuous events of their departure.
Giving in Acts
Second, in the early New Testament church in Acts, people gathered, worked together in community and gave freely and joyfully. See Acts 2:42-47 and Acts 4:32-37.
Acts 2:44-47
44 All the believers were together and had everything in common.
45 They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.
46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,
47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
In Acts, special circumstances drove the people to become a close community. The new Jewish believers in Jesus as the Messiah were being ostracized from their Temple communities and even families. They were pushed from the world they had known into a relatively small community of like-minded people. Often, they lost everything they owned, so their dependence on each other was forced upon them. They also were under threat and constant danger.
The community effect of this can be seen in the language in Acts. They “all joined together in prayer” in Acts 1:14. In Acts 2:1 they were “all together.” Later in Acts 2 at verse 44 “All the believers were together” and in Acts 2:46 they “ate together,” and we can see they worshiped and shared together as well. In Acts 4:31 we see they were together praying as they were “all filled with the Holy Spirit” at the same time. There are numerous other examples in Acts showing the power of community in the early church’s explosive growth. This shows unity and an intimate community in this early church. No wonder joy and community like that caused their numbers to grow!
Giving in 2 Corinthians
Third, when the Jerusalem was in famine, the early church in Jerusalem was struggling. Paul took an offering for them and the people of the frequently carnal church of Corinth stepped forward and were generous even beyond Paul’s expectations.
See 2 Corinthians 8–9.
2 Corinthians 8:1-4
1 And now, brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches.
2 In the midst of a very severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity.
3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own,
4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the Lord’s people.
What these times have in common
By now it should be apparent that there are two elements of these times of radical and joyous giving that stand out, community and cause. Simply put, giving is easier when there is a worthy purpose such as the tabernacle in Exodus, a dire need such as people starving in a famine as in 2 Corinthians, or a cause such as brothers and sisters in Christ in need and in danger right beside you in the early church in Acts. And giving is far easier when the faith community is unified and living with a degree of separation from others.
The Christians in Jerusalem were the beneficiaries of the generosity of the Macedonian and Corinthian churches mentioned in 2 Corinthians 8-9. They had become more extremely isolated from the Jewish families and had likely lost their homes, families, possessions and businesses to the Jewish community. When the church in Antioch heard of the famine in Jerusalem, they responded immediately.
Acts 11:29
29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea.
One each of those occasions, God’s people, at least for a time, were a relatively tight-knit kingdom-focused community.
So where is the Christian church today?
Is the Christian church today a tight-knit kingdom-focused community? Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Christian church as a whole is fractious, looking and acting as carnal as the world, and far from kingdom-driven. Instead of being united, many churches and denominations consider themselves to be in competition for a limited pool of resources and believers.
More than ever, the church looks more like the world than anything identifiable in the books of Exodus or Acts. A new worship trend takes hold and people rush to the newest thing. However, that newest thing is nothing but a stylistic change. Many, perhaps even most, church attenders are overly focused on programs, people, places and personalities, they focus on the church building, the place, the church with the new entertainment offerings, the programs, their friends who are moving to that new church, the people, or the particular preaching or worship leader, the personalities. Will Mancini has noted that these are the people in the “lower room,” the people who at times miss what God is doing because all they see are what people are doing. See Future Church by Will Mancini for his additional ideas on this.
But so far we have seen where we are and where we should be. The real question is how to get to where we should be.
Where do we go from here?
One of the things that is evident is that the radical generosity of the early church was attractive and visible proof of the resurrected Savior. People saw the radical generosity and were curious and even attracted. When they asked why, the answer was “Jesus.”
Human curiosity hasn’t changed, nor has the visible power of Christ’s generosity and resurrection. A generous church will be attractive.
Interestingly, that is what many in the younger generations are seeking. They are not interested in the pomp, circumstance and formality of the “old” church. They are instead looking for action, for making a difference, for the reality of missions work changing and saving lives. They want to see Jesus at work, not at rest.
For a church to be at work, it must be a church with a generosity culture, a church where generosity is the norm and where generosity is celebrated. Not only must the church members be willing to give to the church, but they must want the church to give to the community. That takes regular, systematic, and generous giving. Regular and systematic giving starts with the tithe. But generous giving never ends with just the tithe.
Jesus heartily promoted the tithe but the tithe plus more. Matthew 23 is a favorite of mine because of the way Jesus skillfully used His tongue to skewer the Pharisees for their legalism.
Matthew 23:23
23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
Do you see it there? You should practice the tithe, but you should not neglect “the more important matters of the law – justice, mercy and faithfulness” (emphasis added). The tithe can become ritualistic, mechanical – legalistic – if justice, mercy and faithfulness are not added. Or, put differently, the tithe is the basic starting point. As one grows more mature as a believer, it is time grow beyond the basics, to go to the more important parts of the Christian walk.
No one supports this thought more than the apostle Paul.
Paul understood that the tithe and even more was essential. In 1 Corinthians 16:1-4, Paul teaches both systematic and proportional giving (“first day of every week,” and “to the extent that he prospers”).
1 Corinthians 16:1-4
1 Now about the collection for the Lord’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.
2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with your income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made.
3 Then, when I arrive, I will give letters of introduction to the men you approve and send them with your gift to Jerusalem.
4 If it seems advisable for me to go also, they will accompany me.
But Paul didn’t stop there. In 2 Corinthians 8:7 he promotes giving well beyond the tithe with what he calls “the grace of giving.” Then, in 2 Corinthians 9:7, he teaches “cheerful giving.” He even goes so far as to emphasize that “God loves a cheerful giver.” Giving pleases God because it reflects His own character manifest in His children.
The idea of grace giving was displayed in the giving of the Macedonian church. In the middle of their own great trial, they “gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability.”
Now put this idea into the framework of this article. Give graciously, cheerfully, as much as you are able, and even beyond your ability, and others will see Christ working in and through you. If this becomes the spirit of a church, there will be an overwhelming surge in giving, serving, impacting the community around them and making a difference in the lives and hearts of those who need it the most. That in turn would cause an overwhelming desire to be a part of that church and
join in that generous church’s spirit and that love.
This will never happen without prayer and fasting and without a recognition that the work of the spirit of God in church of modern America is at best a shadow compared to the early church. In other words, a revival is needed.
Here’s an idea.
Let’s not just move forward, let’s march forward. I love the song, “Onward Christian Soldiers.” That song is no longer popular, however, and I suspect that part of the reason is related to the stewardship problem of the church. If people really understood and believed they are in a battle for their own souls as well as for the souls of their family and friends, I believe attendance would be up and giving would be strong. The message of much of the modern American church is a “feel good” gospel watered down by a fear that the church is competing (poorly) against a pleasure-driven and sin-dominated world.
We are in a battle against a versatile and clever enemy, one who has convinced almost all of the world and even much of the church-world that he doesn’t exist. Americans want to have a “hands-on” experience before they will believe anything. Just put a wet paint sign up and watch to see if people check it out!
But satan is the last enemy with whom you want to get touchy-feely! Despite that reality, George Barna says that 32% of born-again believers do not believe the devil is anything but a “symbol of evil!” Another 11% said they did not know. Thus, almost half of born-again believers don’t believe the Word of God.
“God is the Great I Am. Satan is the great I Am Not; and he is never happier than when he has convinced people that he is non-existent.”
Vance Havner (1901 – 1986), Southern Baptist preacher and author
The truth is that we are in a battle for all that is good. This is a battle that needs to be taught, preached and even sung about.
No, we do not need to go back to fire and brimstone Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the hand of an angry God,” sermons, but the church as a whole needs to recognize that in its desire to be “seeker-friendly,” it risks watering down the gospel and the truth. Yes, the church wants to be welcoming. But no, the church does not want to be a comfortable welcoming place for unrepentant sinners.
And stewardship needs to be preached and taught. When Paul said “I am not ashamed of the gospel,” Romans 1:16, he also meant that he was not ashamed of the more than 2,300 verses in the Bible on the money, possessions and property.
About the Author
John Campbell has retired from a 40-year legal practice as a trial attorney in Tampa. He has served in multiple volunteer roles at Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, Florida, where he met Jesus. He began serving as the Executive Director of the Idlewild Foundation in 2016. He has been married to the love of his life, Mona Puckett Campbell, since 1972.