I was still in high school the first time I watched
my oldest nephew, Hunter, completely online.
He was old enough to mostly feed himself, but
young enough that babysitting him felt less like
hanging out and more like a high -stakes survival
mission. Every sharp corner suddenly looked like
a hazard. Every small object on the floor looked
like an emergency area visit waiting to happen.
And every unexpected thump from the other room
made me wonder if my sister was going to be...
I love Hunter. But there was a very specific
reason I was being so ridiculously careful. He
is someone else's child, placed in my care. I
had a real responsibility for his well -being,
but I had zero ownership of his life. I could
not rewrite his parents' bedtime rules because
I thought... They were too strict. I could not
be careless because I was tired. Loving him did
not make him mine. That is the heart of stewardship.
Carrying real responsibility for something or
someone that belongs entirely to another. And
that is the position every single one of us holds
in Christ's church. Welcome to an extra shot.
of Grace and the Grind, part of the podcast where
the mic probably should have been turned off,
but we kept talking anyways. This is a bonus
space for deeper theology, honest stories, fewer
filters, and a level of caffeinated commentary
I should probably apologize for in advance. So
grab your coffee, take a breath, and settle in
for this extra shot. In the main episode, we
establish that the church belongs exclusively
to Jesus. He bought her with his blood. He rules
his head. and we serve under his delegated authority.
The New Testament often describes this responsibility
with the Greek word oikonomos, a household manager
or steward. In the ancient world, oikonomos could
manage the estate, oversee resources, direct
servants, and make significant decisions. To
an outsider, the steward may have looked like
the boss, but there was an absolute boundary
line. The steward owned nothing. Jesus illustrates
this principle in Matthew 25. For it will be
like a man going on a journey who called his
servants and trusted them to his property. Matthew
25, 14. Notice the length. The master entrusted
them with his property. The servant's management
did not change the master's ownership. And their
final evaluation did not come down. merely how
creative or impressive they had been. It came
down to a day of accounting. This is where the
doctrine becomes deeply practical. Owner acts
according to his own will. Steward acts according
to the will of the owner. That means we do not
have the authority to redefine faithfulness according
to our culture's preferred measurements. A church
can grow weekend attendance while drifting from
the text of scripture. A ministry can look widely
successful online while being built on fragile
foundations of human personality. We can plan
the service, organize the calendar, manage the
budget, and build the brand. And somewhere in
the grind, completely forget whose church it
is. But pragmatism is not an exemption from accountability.
The definitive question cannot merely be, did
it work? It must be, was it faithful to the will
of the owner? When we forget that we are stewards,
our care for the flock can quietly mutate into
control. And let's be honest, adults are masters
at disguising ownership as holy affection. We
guard the youth group budget like somebody is
trying to acquire it. in a hostile takeover.
We treat our preferred volunteer slot like inherited
real estate. Nothing reveals our hidden sense
of ownership, quiet like panic that sets in when
someone shifts our usual seat or changes the
opening song. But this is not always driven by
pride or a hunger for power. Many pastors and
church leaders carry an exhausting burden because
they are trapped in survival panic. They believe
everything will collapse if they are not in every
room, fixing every problem, and managing every
personality. That pressure is often a symptom
of confused identity. Paul speaks directly to
the elders in Acts 20. Pay careful attention
to yourselves and to all the flock, in which
the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care
for the church of God, which he obtained with
his own blood. The Holy Spirit made them overseers.
They had real responsibility, but the church
still belonged to God. She had been purchased
with His blood. They were called to care for
the flock. They were never given ownership of
it. Pastor, team leader, volunteer, you are a
steward, but you are not the Savior. You cannot
save the church. You cannot sustain her future.
You are called to serve faithfully. under the
chief shepherd. But the sheep belong to Jesus.
Lich fists will destroy your peace. Open hands
will give you freedom. This week, sit with two
simple and humbling questions. First, what have
I started to treat like mine? Is there a role,
title, legacy, tradition, or ministry environment
that I'm clutching like personal property? Second,
Am I pointing people to the master or making
myself necessary? Am I keeping responsibilities
close because I need to feel indispensable? Am
I serving the mission, quietly building my identity
around being needed? A good steward takes the
work seriously, but never forgets who holds the
title. The flock belongs to Jesus. The mission
belongs to Jesus. The final outcome belongs to
Jesus. We teach, we guard, we care, we serve,
but we do it all with open hands because stewards
do not own the flock. The shepherd does. Before
we close, if Grace on the Grind has been helpful
to you, one of the simplest ways to support the
show is by grabbing a bag of coffee from our
own Roots Coffee Cup. You get genuinely good
coffee. And it keeps these conversations going.
You can find the link in the show notes. In our
next MaidenCup, we're going to keep letting scripture
reshape our expectations by looking at a phrase
many of us say, do not always live as though
we believe. The church is a people, not a place.
We'll talk about why attendance is not the same
thing as belonging and why the New Testament
leaves no room for individualistic Christianity.
Thank you for joining me for this extra shot
of Grace on the Grind brought to you by Arrow
& Roots Coffee Company. Until next time, keep
your coffee strong, keep your faith strong.