Leadership as stewardship
“This is our church! We’re not going to let them…”
“I don’t like what’s happening in my church!”
“I’ve got to protect this church from…”
When serving as a leader in the church, have you ever heard any of these phrases? Worse, have you ever said any of these phrases? Even if these statements aren’t explicitly said out loud, the reality is that these thoughts live in the heart of every person in the church, whether you’re in leadership or not. Deep down, we all have a tendency toward the desire to be in control. It’s part of the original sin of Adam and Eve. “You can be ‘like’ God. Take his place and take his kingdom.”
An “attitude of ownership”
We all struggle with it. One problem with the human heart is that it rarely operates out of completely pure motives. We are fallen creatures living in a fallen world. Most of the time, our motives are a mix of pure and selfish at the same time. We may want good things for the church and for others, but we are simultaneously getting tripped up by our fleshly wants and desires.
This attitude of ownership can subtly creep into the church and disguise itself as a virtue. “We’re guarding the flock.” “We’re protecting the vision.” “We’re confronting divisiveness.”
So the next time you hear some of these phrases, or start to feel defensive of your decisions as a leader, here are some good questions to ask yourself.
Am I afraid of losing something? If so, what specific thing am I afraid of losing?
What would it look like if I had absolutely no control in this situation?
Do I trust that God is at work even if things don’t go my way?
How does God feel about the way I’m viewing people in this moment?
It’s not “my/our church”
The questions listed above are aimed at helping move our hearts back into a posture of stewardship. Stewardship is when we recognize that we don’t actually own anything or anyone at all. We are not the creator. We are creatures made in the image of God. Yes, we have the ability to rule and cultivate. However, we are only temporary managers and caretakers of the people and resources surrounding us.
Along these lines, there is a really disconcerting teaching of Jesus in Matthew 21:33-46. Jesus tells the story of a vineyard owner who creates and cultivates a beautiful vineyard with everything it needs to be fruitful. It just needs to be maintained. So the owner hires some “servants” to work the vineyard and help it produce fruit. Over time, the servants begin to act like they own the vineyard. They quit acting like stewards.
The time comes for harvest and the owner sent messengers out to collect the fruit that rightfully belonged to him. The servants heard this message and were outraged. “Who does he think he is? This is “our” vineyard.” “I’m not going to let him get away with this.” The servants end up murdering the messengers. They even end up murdering the owner’s son. The owner then asked the religious leaders what should happen to the wicked servants? The leaders respond that the servants deserve to be punished.
This parable was directed toward the religious leaders. Jesus was confronting an owner mindset that existed in the leaders of God’s people!
Jesus strongly warns all people, but especially leaders, that they must not try to steal what belongs to him!
The religious leaders of the time didn’t see themselves or their actions this way. They thought they were protecting God’s people and were leading them in a way that honored God. However, the way they responded to a challenge of their power and authority revealed their hearts.
“When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.” (Matthew 21:45-46)
A telltale sign of whether our motives are pure is how we respond to comments and criticism. We can be fairly certain that if we get defensive or go on the offensive when our leadership is questioned, that a attitude of ownership is playing role.
The owner’s messengers
What if the person asking questions or raising concerns is a messenger from the owner? What if the owner of the vineyard (church) is using this messenger to remind us he’s coming and wants what belongs to him? Even if the messenger himself is acting in a way that is difficult, or downright sinful, could God still be using him to reveal to us a sinful attitude of ownership over what is his?
We know the story well enough to say, “I would never have killed the owner’s son! I know better. We’re told that how we treat other brothers and sisters in Christ is how we’re actually treating Jesus himself.” (Refer to Matthew 25:40) Jesus also tells us that it’s possible to murder people in our hearts. (Matthew 5:21-22)
Think about that person who disagrees with us or who questions our decisions. Deep down in our hearts, we wish we didn’t have to deal with him, or that he would just go away and disappear. We harbor feelings of anger. We’re in the process of murdering him in our hearts. The way we treat him is the way we’re treating Jesus.
This person is the very body of Christ, a son or daughter of God.
Are we that far removed from the servants who murdered the owner’s son?
God uses sinful people to confront other sinful people about their attitude of ownership.
When “that person” walks into the room and the difficult conversation begins, we must stop and ask ourselves the following questions:
How might God be using this person to reveal my heart and grow me in Christlikeness?
What does it look like to treat this person as if they were Jesus in flesh?
Everything I have said up to this point has been aimed at leaders, but it doesn’t just apply to them. The ownership problem happens with everyone. Everyone in the body of Christ struggles with the sin of Adam and Eve.
It reminds me of the seagulls in the movie “Finding Nemo”. All they can say is “Mine, mine, mine, mine.” That is the problem of the human heart when it harbors the attitude of ownership.
The point is to recognize this attitude and ask the Spirit to help us repent and surrender!
We all know that the Church belongs to Christ. It is his, but when the heat rises, we have to examine our hearts to see if we’re actually living that truth. Or are we subconsciously acting like owners?
