Ours is a society which would have us believe that whatever we possess is truly our own, to do with it as we will. In this article I want to weigh this con­cept on the scales of holy Scripture. I think it necessary to do so because the love of money and the pleasures of this life beckon as warmly to Christian hearts as they do to the hearts of the unbelievers around us.

The Earth is the Lord’s⤒🔗

The very first verse of the Bible declares God to be the Maker of heaven and earth, and we know that what you make is yours. Various passages underline the point that God owns all.

Deuteronomy 10:14:

Indeed heaven and the highest heaven be­long to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it.

Psalm 24:1 repeats it:

The earth is the Lord's, and all its fulness, The world and those who dwell therein.

So does Psalm 50:10f,

...every beast of the forest is Mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.
I know all the birds of the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.

In a word,

...the world is Mine, and all its fullness (vs 12).

The trees of the Australian bush, then, and the kangaroos of the paddock belong to God. So do the cars in our drive ways and the shoes on our feet. Yes, we ourselves are not our own but belong to God, belong to Him because He created us: "the earth is the Lord's, and all its fulness, the world and those who dwell therein."

It has pleased the Lord God to entrust His creation to the care of mankind. It's what God said in the very beginning:

Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have domin­ion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.Genesis 1:26

So David was moved by the Lord's Holy Spirit to say this:

...You have made (man) a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor.
You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet,
All sheep and oxen –
Even the beasts of the field,
The birds of the air,
And the fish of the sea...       Psalm 8:5ff

The trees of the Australian bush, then, and the kangaroos of the paddock have been placed under man's dominion. So have the cars in our drive ways and the shoes on our feet. Everything created by God has been given to us, placed under man's control.

This does not mean, though, that God has made us absolute owners over what He has given to us. Nowhere do the Scriptures say that the Lord has given up claim to any part of His handiwork, nowhere do the Scriptures say that the Lord has given away some of His creation to one of His creatures. Instead, the Bible continues to insist that "The earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness, The World and those who dwell in it" (Psalm 24:1). Though it's all entrusted to us, yet all remains the Lord's.

The World, Entrusted into Our Care←⤒🔗

Here is, then, a tension. How are we to un­derstand that all is given to us and yet all remains the Lord's? The Biblical answer to this question revolves around the notion of stewardship. Scripture would have us know that God created people to be stewards over His property.

Jesus' parable in Luke 12 tells us of a master who took one of his servants and made him "ruler over his household": steward. Abra­ham's servant Eliezer was a steward; here was a servant "who ruled over all that (Abra­ham) had" (Genesis 24:2). The slave Joseph was steward of the household of Potiphar; Potiphar "made him overseer of his house, and all that he had he put in his hand" (Genesis 39:4). A steward, then, owns nothing, yet governs everything.¹

Such, now is the Biblical picture of our posi­tion in this world. In the final analysis, God owns all and so we own nothing; we ourselves are in fact His possession. Yet by God's de­cree all the world is laid under our feet; though we own nothing, we yet govern every­thing. For the duration of the three score years and ten that we live on earth (more or less as the case may be), it's stewards that we are over the world God Almighty has en­trusted into our care.

The bike the child has, the car of the teen­ager, the house of the married man, the busi­ness of the 50 year old: all belong to God, and all are graciously given by God to the child, the teenager, the man – why? – in order that the child, the teenager, the man may rule over those parts of God's property, rule over them for God. But what if we were to treat that bike, that car, that house, that business as it were fully our own? Given that all be­longs ultimately to God, it follows that treat­ing what we have as if it were our own is to steal. No, it's not to steal from our neighbour beside us, but it's rather to steal from God.

Had Joseph of old drawn from Potiphar's bank account for personal benefit, had he instructed Potiphar's servants to labour for Joseph's comfort instead of for Potiphar's benefit, we understand readily enough that he would have been guilty of theft, of stealing from Potiphar. The steward of Jesus' parable of Luke 12 squandered and abused his mas­ter's property by using it to party, to eat and drink and get drunk. We understand that that was theft, was using the property of another as if it were his own. So too we: when we use the goods God has entrusted to us for personal pleasure and comfort, we are guilty of theft, of stealing from God what is His. In all his dealings as steward over Potiphar's house, Joseph was obliged to keep Potiphar in mind. In all his dealings, the steward of Luke 12 had to remember that he himself owned nothing, had to remember that he was accountable to his master for what he did with his master's property. So took we: in all our dealings with the possessions God has given to us, we are to remember that we own nothing ourselves, that we have to give ac­count to The Owner – God – for what we've done with His property.

As to what God thinks of those who abuse His property, we receive some indication from the parable of Luke 12. Jesus tells us of the penalty awaiting the squandering stew­ard:

the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers (vs 46).

The apostle Paul records the implication for us: amongst those who will not inherit the kingdom of heaven are also the thieves (1 Corinthians 6:90). To steal from God, to treat His property – the bike, the clothes, the house, the busi­ness entrusted into our care – to treat His property as our own costs us our place in heaven, earns us hell. How very much have we all need of the forgiveness of sins Jesus obtained for us on the cross!

"With these We Shall be Content"←⤒🔗

We all, without exception, are stewards of parts of God's creation. What, then, are we to do with what the Lord has given to us? Squander it, use it for ourselves we may not. What then? Says Paul somewhere:

...whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31

That's it, dear reader. What we have isn't ours, but God's. Consequently we're to use all we receive not for our benefit but rather for God's glory. So the drink God gives I'm to consume not in order to get drunk, but rather in order to have strength to do the tasks God has given. Indeed, I am to use whatever I have, be it money, be material goods, be it my body, my talents, my energy in God's king­dom, for His praise.

In the kingdom of God, we have all received a task, be it as parent, be it as builder, be it as salesman, be it as teacher. To do that task we need clothes, we need a house, we need tools, we need a vehicle, and in its time also a holiday to renew energy. So with the money God gives to us we buy the needed clothes, tools, vehicle, home, holiday. That is proper use of the money God as Owner entrusts to us His stewards. But most of us don't need eight pairs of shoes in order to do our task in God's kingdom. Nor do most of us need two houses or a holiday in Hawaii or $4000 stereo system. In the words of Paul to Timothy:

And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.1 Timothy 6:8

Let Us Do Good to All←⤒🔗

What, then, are we to do with the money that's left over after we have the clothes, the house, the tools, the car needed for our task in God's kingdom? We understand: this extra money is as much God's property as anything else in this world. So it's not for us to do with it as we see fit. What the Owner would have us to do with the access we don't really need for daily living? Said God to Israel long ago:

The Lord your God...loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore [you] love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt.Deuteronomy 10:17ff

That's what we of the NT dispensation are to do too: show love to the stranger (as God showed love to us), and demonstrate that love by giving him food and clothing – even as God does. Jesus repeated the point in Luke 6:

... love your enemies, do good and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your re­ward will be great, and you will be sons of the Highest. For He is kind to the unthank­ful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful  (vs 35f).

On the basis of these instructions from God, Paul can confidently direct the Galatians with these words:

... let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not loose heart. Therefore, as we have opportu­nity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith  (6:9f).

And James says:

Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble... (1:27).

And "visit" in this context involves more than picking up a cup of coffee at the widow's home; it involves helping, giving of one's means for the benefit of those who need.

Giving Freely←⤒🔗

Of the access we have, then, we do well to give freely to various needs in God's king­dom. The church has needs, the school has needs, and so many other organisations that play a role in the kingdom of God have needs. More, we do well to cast about for other needs in God's kingdom where the money God has given to us can bear rich fruit for God. The world knows many poor people, spiritually poor in as much as they don't know Jesus Christ. So there's need in God's kingdom for missionaries, and that takes money. The world also knows the physically poor, the hungry, the homeless. As God has shown mercy to us in giving us an abundance, so we're to show mercy to others and give them an abundance.

This, then, is the conclusion of Scripture: it is not for us to keep what we receive, for our enjoyment and benefit. Our society says that what is yours is yours; you've earned it and you can do with it what you will. The Lord does not agree. What I have is not mine, but remains His. So I'm not meant to hang on to it for myself, not meant to use it to feather my own nest, not meant to spend it on pleas­ures for the sake of pleasure. But I'm meant to use it for God, for His glory, and that means that I freely give away what I don't need to fulfil my God-given task in His king­dom.

"Green" Stewardship←⤒🔗

That there is need for so many of us to be more careful with God's property is pointed up too by the environmental considerations of our age. It's a fact that pollution is a prob­lem, and so is the wasting of the country's natural resources. Since we know the land and its resources to belong to God, Christians should be examples of what careful steward­ship over God's world really means. How we drive our cars and how much we drive them, what we throw away and what we recycle, how elaborate our wardrobes and our pan­tries are: all should reflect our conviction that we are stewards of property not ours, should reflect the doctrine that God is still Lord of all.