The Religious Outlook

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 1 December 1945, Page 8

The Religious Outlook

STEWARDSHIP “Good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”— 1 Peter 4; 10. There is no subject on which more emphasis needs to be laid to-day than that of stewardship. It is the lack of a correct understanding of the duties and responsibilities of the Christian in this respect that is largely responsible for the low standard of Christian living we find all around us, and the lack of impress that the Church so often makes upon the life of the world. Stewardship, of course, implies responsibility for the use of another’s gifts to us, and that is what the Bible teaches with regard to all that we possess. Every good and every perfect gift is from above. God has given us all that we have'—strength, beauty, time, talents, substance—everything in the final analysis is from Him. A little reflection will show us how true this is. They are therefore to be used for Him. What have we that we did not receive? : That is what makes boastfulness, pridg anc * vanity the greatest of sins. Paul calls himself a “steward of the mysteries of God,” and all the ability of that brilliant mind he consecrated with on e whole-hearted, supreme 1 act of devotion to the service of God. 1 The pity of it is that so many Christians in the world seem to be des- ■ titute of any sense of stewardship for the gifts they have, and spend their days and the precious gifts of God labouring entirely for the things 1 that perish. Oh, the folly of it all! : The brilliant talents that Satan has enlisted so often in his service, the gifts that are devoted entirely to the acquisition of worldly advancement or wealth, with never a thought . of God’s plan or purpose for that life or the world. And every day 1 we are being reminded of the brevity of life as one and another is call- , ed away and then we ask, with melancholy reiteration, “whose shall 1 these things be.’ The call is to-day ; for men and women who Will conse- ■ crate their all to the Lord, not in any half-hearted surrender, but in one supreme, all-embracing act of faith ' will throw their soul and body down : “for God to plow them under.” This ■ is the first step in stewardship, and • once that is. taken all else will follow as the Lord shows what He ; would have us to do. In a reeent . issue of “The Witness” was this 11- [ lustration: Kreisler, perhaps the worlds great- . est violinist, is reported as saying, “I was born with music in my system. I knew musical scores instinc- , tively before I knew my ABC. It , was a gift: I did not acquire it, so i s do not even deserve thanks for the . music ... I never look upon the money I earn as my own. It is public money: it is only a fund entrusted to my care for proper dis- ; bursement. I am constantly en- . deavouring to reduce my needs to , the minimum. I feel morally guilty in ordering a costly meal, for it de- . prives someone else of a slice of bread—some child, perhaps, pf a bottle of milk. My beloved wife feels , exactly the same way about these [ things as I do. You know what I eat: you know what I wear. In all these years of my so-called success in music we have not built a home for ourselves. Between it and us stand all the homeless in the world.” We do not know where Kreisler , stands in relation to the claims of 1 Christ. It may be that altruistic i humanitarianism is the motive. But his sense of stewardship of his tal- . ent is a rebuke to multitudes of 1 Christians. 1 „. How few people even among Christians do we find who have such a keen sense of stewardship as this. How often have we longed for the tongue pf an angel or the pen of a ready writer that we might set forth m speech or writing the conviction that burns like a fire in our bones regarding the goodness of God, and the responsibility that we all have towards Him. There are men and women with money and with talent whose help in both spheres we eovet not for what they can give to the Lord, but for what He will give to them and to everyone who cares to bring all the tithes of time, talent and substance into the storehouse and partake of the Divine blessing that he is eager and anxious to outpour.—“ The Outlook."