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. ³ I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God. (1 Corinthians 4:1-5)

************************

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Thanks for tuning in to GLOBAL REACHOUT. I am Sister Angelie, and starting from November, we have launched the program called the "Kingdom Business Culture". This program is based on the workplace training course by GLOBAL JIREH entitled, "Christ-centred Entrepreneurship". This course was compiled by Pastor Tony TAY Meng Hiang to help brothers and sisters live out Christ in the workplace.

We encourage brothers and sisters to sign up for this course, so that they will not only have the opportunity to communicate directly with the instructors, but also establish long-term and close contacts with the kingdom business operators in the group, learn from each other and encourage one another, and put the theory into practice. Living out Christ in the workplace. For those who are interested, you can refer to the end of the manuscript and register by email.

In today's program, we're going to take a look at what a discerning, loyal and kind business steward should look like.

For every Christian, after receiving salvation, our lives should be gradually transformed according to Christ's pattern. From the perspective of priesthood, we need to “renew”—a person who has God in his heart aspires to establish a close relationship with the Lord, so that he can be used by the Lord, become His representative on earth, and have the authority he has given. From a prophetic point of view, we need a "redirection"—with the truth in our minds, we are willing to embrace God's point of view, so that we can grasp the test of truth and have the courage to hold each other accountable. From the point of view of kingship, we need a "remodel" - a strong hand, so that we can fulfill our mission, implement the plan in the most effective way, and fulfill our responsibilities.

Yes friends, we need to open up our lives to allow Christ's salvation to transform our lives in all aspects. This transformation gives us authority from God to govern the earth according to biblical principles, knowing that we ultimately need to give an account to God.

In the Bible, the Greek word for "steward" is "Oikonomos", and what we call "economy" today is "Oikonomia" in Greek. The two are closely related. From this we can also see that, as stewards, we are part of the economy of the kingdom of God, and God will praise or degrade us according to the effect of our management.

After receiving the stewardship, we need to participate in the Lord’s work according to four principles. The first principle is "responsibility," which reflects the kingship of stewardship—God has given stewards a mission, and stewards have a responsibility to fulfill that mission. The second principle is "ownership", which reflects the prophetic nature of stewardship. Everything we manage belongs to God, we are trustees, not owners. Therefore, we should cooperate according to how God wants us to use it. The third principle is "accountability," which also reflects the prophetic nature of stewardship. Everything we do must be accountable to our Master (our God), and therefore must walk in accordance with His commands. The fourth principle is "reward," which reflects the priesthood of stewardship. God will reward our efforts, and we will not fail in serving the Lord, so no matter how hard we work, we don’t need to feel wronged—what we do for the Lord will be remembered by the Lord.

Next, let us analyze these principles in more depth.

First, we serve the Lord in accordance with the principles of "ownership" and "accountability," aligning ourselves prophetically with God and becoming God's faithful stewards. The first condition a steward must have is loyalty to his master (1 Corinthians 4:2), and we should do what the master says—not blind obedience, but faith. In order to do this, we need wisdom and understanding from the Lord so that we can understand the truth and base our faith on the truth. In short, faithfulness comes from faith, and faith comes from truth. We must understand the truth of the Lord, respond with faith, and then faithfully fulfill the Lord’s entrustment.

Through the Bible, we can see that the depth of a person's understanding of the truth often depends on the degree of his loyalty to the Lord. It is written: "For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them." (Matthew 25:29; Luke 19:26) We If we thirst for the truth because we are loyal to the Lord Jesus, we will be able to understand more truth, and our faith will be rooted and grounded, which in turn will make us more faithful to the Lord.

In order to become faithful stewards, all we need to do is to stand firm (2 Chronicles 20:17), fully committed to God's calling for each of us, and to work together in partnership with one another. Identify trends in the work of the Holy Spirit and follow the Holy Spirit. In the process of coordinating with each other, each member must remember that it is not our job to judge others, it is the job of the master (1 Corinthians 4:3-5).

Next, we serve the Lord according to the "reward" principle, so that we can align ourselves with God on a priestly level and be stewards of God's goodness.

When we are faithful to God's command and willing to implement the true way into our work and life, the Spirit of the Lord will make us love to pursue knowledge because we fear the Lord, so that we can become a good steward. In Matthew 25:14-30, the Lord Jesus told a parable that he was entrusted with. The wicked and lazy servant was rebuked by the Lord because he did not consider the interests of his master—this is evil; at the same time, he also not obeying the master's orders - this is laziness. This parable reminds us that in order to be faithful and good servants, we must be willing to obey our master's commands, and at the same time, we must act kindly to the master. This parable also shows us that God does not want us to compare ourselves with others or to be jealous of what others have earned, because God will give us a fair evaluation. A good servant does not need to be afraid. When we treat our master with love and kindness, this love can drive away the fear in our hearts; a good servant also does not need to worry about his lack of talents, as long as he makes good use of the talents given by God and fulfills the destiny given by God. This is enough.

Finally, we must also serve the Lord according to the principle of "responsibility", so that we can align ourselves with God on a kingly level and become God's discerning stewards. When we are faithful to God's command and are willing to implement the conceptual word into our work and life, God's Spirit will give us the ability to strategize and execute plans, making us discerning stewards. Luke 19:11-27 recorded the parable of the Lord Jesus about ten pieces of silver—the master handed ten pieces of silver to ten servants, and each received one piece. The more they earned, the greater the reward. This parable shows that God requires us not only to be good servants, but also to be discerning servants, wisely managing the resources He has given us, and distributing food at the right time so that our servants will not be in need.

To summarize the above message: The salvation of Christ transforms our relationship with God, not only our perspective but also our mission. We should serve the Lord according to the four principles of responsibility, ownership, accountability, and reward, and be faithful, good, and discerning stewards.

Dear friends, this is where we end today's episode. I hope to see you again on the next episode of Kingdom Business Culture!

************************

Discussion 

1. What kind of person do you think can be called "God's Kingdom Steward"?

2. Do you consider yourself a faithful, kind and discerning steward? Why?

3. As a manager, how should we implement the four principles of responsibility, ownership, accountability and reward in our work?