WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:02.740 I was still in high school the first time I watched 00:00:02.740 --> 00:00:05.259 my oldest nephew, Hunter, completely online. 00:00:05.839 --> 00:00:09.099 He was old enough to mostly feed himself, but 00:00:09.099 --> 00:00:12.160 young enough that babysitting him felt less like 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:14.500 hanging out and more like a high -stakes survival 00:00:14.500 --> 00:00:18.660 mission. Every sharp corner suddenly looked like 00:00:18.660 --> 00:00:21.440 a hazard. Every small object on the floor looked 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:23.980 like an emergency area visit waiting to happen. 00:00:24.489 --> 00:00:27.230 And every unexpected thump from the other room 00:00:27.230 --> 00:00:29.649 made me wonder if my sister was going to be... 00:00:29.649 --> 00:00:34.789 I love Hunter. But there was a very specific 00:00:34.789 --> 00:00:38.549 reason I was being so ridiculously careful. He 00:00:38.549 --> 00:00:43.310 is someone else's child, placed in my care. I 00:00:43.310 --> 00:00:45.369 had a real responsibility for his well -being, 00:00:45.429 --> 00:00:48.710 but I had zero ownership of his life. I could 00:00:48.710 --> 00:00:51.409 not rewrite his parents' bedtime rules because 00:00:51.409 --> 00:00:53.750 I thought... They were too strict. I could not 00:00:53.750 --> 00:00:59.329 be careless because I was tired. Loving him did 00:00:59.329 --> 00:01:03.750 not make him mine. That is the heart of stewardship. 00:01:04.769 --> 00:01:07.989 Carrying real responsibility for something or 00:01:07.989 --> 00:01:12.730 someone that belongs entirely to another. And 00:01:12.730 --> 00:01:16.909 that is the position every single one of us holds 00:01:16.909 --> 00:01:20.790 in Christ's church. Welcome to an extra shot. 00:01:21.049 --> 00:01:22.689 of Grace and the Grind, part of the podcast where 00:01:22.689 --> 00:01:23.829 the mic probably should have been turned off, 00:01:23.930 --> 00:01:26.969 but we kept talking anyways. This is a bonus 00:01:26.969 --> 00:01:29.810 space for deeper theology, honest stories, fewer 00:01:29.810 --> 00:01:31.750 filters, and a level of caffeinated commentary 00:01:31.750 --> 00:01:34.870 I should probably apologize for in advance. So 00:01:34.870 --> 00:01:37.370 grab your coffee, take a breath, and settle in 00:01:37.370 --> 00:01:41.170 for this extra shot. In the main episode, we 00:01:41.170 --> 00:01:43.390 establish that the church belongs exclusively 00:01:43.390 --> 00:01:48.290 to Jesus. He bought her with his blood. He rules 00:01:48.290 --> 00:01:51.459 his head. and we serve under his delegated authority. 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:54.560 The New Testament often describes this responsibility 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:59.640 with the Greek word oikonomos, a household manager 00:01:59.640 --> 00:02:05.659 or steward. In the ancient world, oikonomos could 00:02:05.659 --> 00:02:09.219 manage the estate, oversee resources, direct 00:02:09.219 --> 00:02:12.639 servants, and make significant decisions. To 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:15.479 an outsider, the steward may have looked like 00:02:15.479 --> 00:02:18.099 the boss, but there was an absolute boundary 00:02:18.099 --> 00:02:22.620 line. The steward owned nothing. Jesus illustrates 00:02:22.620 --> 00:02:26.740 this principle in Matthew 25. For it will be 00:02:26.740 --> 00:02:29.479 like a man going on a journey who called his 00:02:29.479 --> 00:02:32.460 servants and trusted them to his property. Matthew 00:02:32.460 --> 00:02:37.740 25, 14. Notice the length. The master entrusted 00:02:37.740 --> 00:02:41.039 them with his property. The servant's management 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:44.759 did not change the master's ownership. And their 00:02:44.759 --> 00:02:49.840 final evaluation did not come down. merely how 00:02:49.840 --> 00:02:52.800 creative or impressive they had been. It came 00:02:52.800 --> 00:02:57.240 down to a day of accounting. This is where the 00:02:57.240 --> 00:03:01.199 doctrine becomes deeply practical. Owner acts 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:04.840 according to his own will. Steward acts according 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:08.759 to the will of the owner. That means we do not 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:12.259 have the authority to redefine faithfulness according 00:03:12.259 --> 00:03:15.830 to our culture's preferred measurements. A church 00:03:15.830 --> 00:03:19.610 can grow weekend attendance while drifting from 00:03:19.610 --> 00:03:23.069 the text of scripture. A ministry can look widely 00:03:23.069 --> 00:03:28.289 successful online while being built on fragile 00:03:28.289 --> 00:03:32.509 foundations of human personality. We can plan 00:03:32.509 --> 00:03:35.129 the service, organize the calendar, manage the 00:03:35.129 --> 00:03:37.770 budget, and build the brand. And somewhere in 00:03:37.770 --> 00:03:40.689 the grind, completely forget whose church it 00:03:40.689 --> 00:03:44.979 is. But pragmatism is not an exemption from accountability. 00:03:46.180 --> 00:03:49.259 The definitive question cannot merely be, did 00:03:49.259 --> 00:03:53.719 it work? It must be, was it faithful to the will 00:03:53.719 --> 00:03:56.560 of the owner? When we forget that we are stewards, 00:03:56.780 --> 00:03:59.620 our care for the flock can quietly mutate into 00:03:59.620 --> 00:04:04.020 control. And let's be honest, adults are masters 00:04:04.020 --> 00:04:07.819 at disguising ownership as holy affection. We 00:04:07.819 --> 00:04:09.960 guard the youth group budget like somebody is 00:04:09.960 --> 00:04:12.590 trying to acquire it. in a hostile takeover. 00:04:12.889 --> 00:04:16.129 We treat our preferred volunteer slot like inherited 00:04:16.129 --> 00:04:19.689 real estate. Nothing reveals our hidden sense 00:04:19.689 --> 00:04:23.990 of ownership, quiet like panic that sets in when 00:04:23.990 --> 00:04:27.370 someone shifts our usual seat or changes the 00:04:27.370 --> 00:04:31.310 opening song. But this is not always driven by 00:04:31.310 --> 00:04:34.790 pride or a hunger for power. Many pastors and 00:04:34.790 --> 00:04:38.149 church leaders carry an exhausting burden because 00:04:38.149 --> 00:04:41.480 they are trapped in survival panic. They believe 00:04:41.480 --> 00:04:44.139 everything will collapse if they are not in every 00:04:44.139 --> 00:04:47.480 room, fixing every problem, and managing every 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:50.620 personality. That pressure is often a symptom 00:04:50.620 --> 00:04:54.240 of confused identity. Paul speaks directly to 00:04:54.240 --> 00:04:57.279 the elders in Acts 20. Pay careful attention 00:04:57.279 --> 00:05:00.480 to yourselves and to all the flock, in which 00:05:00.480 --> 00:05:03.879 the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care 00:05:03.879 --> 00:05:07.040 for the church of God, which he obtained with 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:11.269 his own blood. The Holy Spirit made them overseers. 00:05:12.009 --> 00:05:14.949 They had real responsibility, but the church 00:05:14.949 --> 00:05:18.029 still belonged to God. She had been purchased 00:05:18.029 --> 00:05:21.730 with His blood. They were called to care for 00:05:21.730 --> 00:05:24.649 the flock. They were never given ownership of 00:05:24.649 --> 00:05:28.970 it. Pastor, team leader, volunteer, you are a 00:05:28.970 --> 00:05:32.310 steward, but you are not the Savior. You cannot 00:05:32.310 --> 00:05:35.189 save the church. You cannot sustain her future. 00:05:35.670 --> 00:05:38.879 You are called to serve faithfully. under the 00:05:38.879 --> 00:05:42.279 chief shepherd. But the sheep belong to Jesus. 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:47.480 Lich fists will destroy your peace. Open hands 00:05:47.480 --> 00:05:51.899 will give you freedom. This week, sit with two 00:05:51.899 --> 00:05:56.139 simple and humbling questions. First, what have 00:05:56.139 --> 00:05:59.199 I started to treat like mine? Is there a role, 00:05:59.399 --> 00:06:03.300 title, legacy, tradition, or ministry environment 00:06:03.300 --> 00:06:07.160 that I'm clutching like personal property? Second, 00:06:07.759 --> 00:06:11.199 Am I pointing people to the master or making 00:06:11.199 --> 00:06:14.839 myself necessary? Am I keeping responsibilities 00:06:14.839 --> 00:06:20.199 close because I need to feel indispensable? Am 00:06:20.199 --> 00:06:23.740 I serving the mission, quietly building my identity 00:06:23.740 --> 00:06:28.019 around being needed? A good steward takes the 00:06:28.019 --> 00:06:31.899 work seriously, but never forgets who holds the 00:06:31.899 --> 00:06:36.430 title. The flock belongs to Jesus. The mission 00:06:36.430 --> 00:06:40.089 belongs to Jesus. The final outcome belongs to 00:06:40.089 --> 00:06:44.750 Jesus. We teach, we guard, we care, we serve, 00:06:44.990 --> 00:06:49.110 but we do it all with open hands because stewards 00:06:49.110 --> 00:06:54.009 do not own the flock. The shepherd does. Before 00:06:54.009 --> 00:06:56.209 we close, if Grace on the Grind has been helpful 00:06:56.209 --> 00:06:58.790 to you, one of the simplest ways to support the 00:06:58.790 --> 00:07:00.550 show is by grabbing a bag of coffee from our 00:07:00.550 --> 00:07:03.709 own Roots Coffee Cup. You get genuinely good 00:07:03.709 --> 00:07:06.149 coffee. And it keeps these conversations going. 00:07:06.290 --> 00:07:09.329 You can find the link in the show notes. In our 00:07:09.329 --> 00:07:12.490 next MaidenCup, we're going to keep letting scripture 00:07:12.490 --> 00:07:15.350 reshape our expectations by looking at a phrase 00:07:15.350 --> 00:07:18.509 many of us say, do not always live as though 00:07:18.509 --> 00:07:22.050 we believe. The church is a people, not a place. 00:07:23.350 --> 00:07:26.350 We'll talk about why attendance is not the same 00:07:26.350 --> 00:07:28.490 thing as belonging and why the New Testament 00:07:28.490 --> 00:07:31.350 leaves no room for individualistic Christianity. 00:07:32.850 --> 00:07:34.810 Thank you for joining me for this extra shot 00:07:34.810 --> 00:07:36.329 of Grace on the Grind brought to you by Arrow 00:07:36.329 --> 00:07:38.329 & Roots Coffee Company. Until next time, keep 00:07:38.329 --> 00:07:40.009 your coffee strong, keep your faith strong.