Stewardship doesn’t mean cutting corners. It also doesn’t necessarily mean cheap, fast or easy.
In the church world, perhaps few words are overused (and misused) more than the word “stewardship.”
Granted, I believe that none of this is for nefarious reasons. However, the idea of stewardship is such a common theme in the church (and rightly so), that I believe there are times that it’s greatly misinterpreted, especially when it comes to the church tech world.
I believe that stewardship is a critical concept that all churches should both understand and embrace. We are all called to be stewards (or managers) of the resources that God has entrusted to the care of our ministry.
But without a healthy perception of what stewardship really means and how it applies to us, it is easy for tech leaders to end up making poor decisions that can affect their ministries for years to come.
I believe there are three critical truths that every church tech should understand when it comes to stewardship.
1. Stewardship doesn’t equal “cheap.”
I bet that all of us have heard this line (or one similar) used in a church: “We can’t spend that much money on gear, because we need to be good stewards….”
There is a broken belief that in order to be good stewards, we have to be penny-pinchers. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
For one, many times you get what you pay for when you buy cheap equipment. So is it really being a “good steward” if you end up having to spend twice as much money (plus time and energy) to fix an issue multiple times, just because you didn’t do it the best way the first time?
Sometimes, the best way to be a good steward is to understand the responsibility you’ve been entrusted with, and know that in order to have a good result, it may require more of an investment on the front end.
In the parable of the talents in the Bible, the two stewards who were commended by the master (“Well done!”) were the ones who pushed all their chips to the center of the table and went all-in to reap a double return.
Stewardship doesn’t mean cutting corners. It also doesn’t necessarily mean cheap, fast or easy. Wisdom must be applied to every unique situation to determine what’s appropriate in order to achieve an acceptable end result.
Every leader must ask, “What level of investment is appropriate to achieve the greatest return?”
2. People are resources, too.
Most of the time, when we think of stewardship, we think of money. Sometimes we also think of time and energy. Very rarely do we think of people.
However, from a leadership standpoint, the people God has entrusted to our care can sometimes be the most important resource we can steward.
In Ephesians, Paul refers to us as God’s handiwork, or “masterpieces” (Eph. 2:10 NLT). We are the absolute pride and joy of our Creator. And knowing that God created all of us with unique gifts and talents to serve Him, He’s always looking for the best place that those masterpieces can get plugged into a spiritual family and find their ultimate fulfillment by serving Him.
For those who serve on our tech teams as volunteers, we carry the weight of expectation of effectively stewarding the people under our care.
Am I helping them find their purpose and grow and develop the skills and passions God placed inside them? Am I investing in them relationally and helping build a healthy team culture that provides affirmation and encouragement? Am I challenging them to grow spiritually?
Or am I just more interested in having them show up on time every week to fulfill the tasks I expect them to do?
And if my team isn’t growing the way I want it to, perhaps I’m not doing a good job managing the people I already have under my care.
Our teams are more than just button-pushers and role players. They are precious resources that I’m called to develop and multiply, just like any other resource.
And if my team isn’t growing in numbers the way I want it to, perhaps the problem is that I’m not doing a good enough job managing the people I already have under my care.
I once heard a pastor admonish a group of leaders like this: “Don’t worry about growing your team. Steward your team, and let God grow it.”
Indeed, he who has been faithful with a little will show himself worthy of being entrusted with more.
3. Where I am now determines where I will go next.
We all go through seasons of life and leadership where God uses challenges to help us grow, learn and mature. It’s important in each season to make sure I not only understand the lesson, but that I take steps to prepare myself for whatever season is coming next.
I think many of us in the church tech world are always wanting the next season and are always wanting more. More gear, more budgets, more teams, more campuses, more responsibilities, more influence, etc.
But maybe the reason why we don’t have “more” yet is because we still need to do more learning and growing in the season we’re currently in.
If all of my prayers for “more” were answered, would I be able to manage it?
If all of my prayers for “more” were answered, would I be able to manage it, or would the system collapse under its own weight?
I want more volunteers, but am I capable of managing a process to train all of them? If I can’t train two, then I can’t train 20.
I want more team members and volunteers, but am I able to manage my time effectively to properly invest in their relational development? If it’s not a priority to spend time each week investing in three people, there’s no way I can do it with 30.
I want to be in charge of more stuff and be able to lead more people, but have I effectively trained and developed a replacement for my current role? If I can’t find someone to do what I’m already doing, then I’ll never be ready to move into a different position or level of responsibility, because my transition will leave a massive hole on the team.
We all carry the burden of managing the expectations and responsibilities of every step we take in ministry leadership. Whether that is a decision we make about budgets and spending, or how we clean and maintain our equipment, or how we develop future leaders, we all are expected to effectively steward what God has placed under our care.
Our ministries can’t grow without us also doing the same individually. And how well I steward my current season serves as insight into how well I’ll do handling the expectations of the next season I face.
Effective stewardship is critical to helping myself, my team, and my church all reach our full potential.
