Trusted With

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much,
and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." Luke 16:10


Christ talks about stewardship and its value - the more a steward can be trusted, the more highly valued he is. God gives all believers the same level of starting ground, and then we all, from there, work our way up to be better stewards. No one can boast of a more superior faith than others, because we are saved not by works, but by faith (Romans 10:10). What is meant by being a better steward is to develop our new, Christian life so that it may be more fitting to the calling to salvation that we have received.

In the case of the Thessalonian believers, they were greater stewards of the Gospel, because their acts of love and longsuffering were exemplary and became a model for believers everywhere (I Thessalonians 1:8). Imagine if any church in say, Singapore, alone could bear so distinct and bright a testimony, like the Thessalonian church, that Paul says their faith grew 'exceedingly' (II Thessalonians 1:3, AKJV). In the Bible, this is the only place where a faith has been described as being exceeding, overflowing with abundance, surpassing others. Acts 17 records that Paul was only at Thessalonia for 3 weeks before the believers' escorted him out of the city in view of the violent riot that grew from jealousy. Who else would the hardhearted, jealous Jews persecute now that the preacher of the Gospel was gone? It was under these kinds of harsh conditions that the Thessalonian church was prematurely formed, and yet it grew and instead became an example for other places, some of which were not in as life-endangering places as it. It is without doubt that there was a lot of labour and perseverance required, and because they have been patient and glorified God through it, Paul praises them for exemplary faith, in a sense, a greater, stronger manifestation of the Christian faith. And the Thessalonian Christians suffered because they preserved and protected the Gospel and the faith, according the stewardship they saw they had, not to compromise in face of persecution.

Christ places a test, that the determinant of the value of stewardship is faithfulness. As we have learnt from the Parable of the Talents, faithfulness is the integrity and loyalty to fulfill one's duties, especially the inconspicuous ones, the ones that men cannot or seldom see. In John MacArthur's Twelve Ordinary Men(2002), Andrew is seen, from what is available in the Gospel books, as a quiet servant who saw the value of inconspicuous service. He was the brother of who MacArthur calls, 'the apostle with the foot-shaped mouth', Simon Peter. In the foursome together with the Sons of Thunder, John and James, they were the closest among the Twelve to Jesus. Peter, John and James were recorded as having vied for superiority, or debated over who was greater. As MacArthur has portrayed, Andrew stands in stark contrast with his loud brother, Peter. I was reminded of how these brothers are like the personifications of inconspicuous responsibilities and the otherwise.

We all know what conspicuous responsibilities are - they are the ones that often have an institutionalised ministry for us to serve the Lord. One of the most conspicuous ones, I'd say, is to serve in the music ministry. Be one in the choir, lead the worship or play the piano, for example, during service, serving in the music ministry is often a front-stage service, and it is easy to grow arrogant and forget that the eyes of the audience are not what is important. But I've been thinking more about what the 'little' that we are entrusted with is, and they are definitely not little in value, as the Lord says and judging from the many books written on these little things. The 'little' is the inconspicuous service. I refuse to describe them as being minor or secondary.

Firstly, we are all given stewardship of common grace, things that are given to everyone on Earth, which means both the evil and the good, the righteous and the otherwise (cf Matthew 5:45). Common grace includes time, resources, energy, affluence and health. Take time for example. Even Moses, the meekest man ever, the leader that led the entire Hebrew population on their exodus from Pharaoh Land, prayed, So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. (Psalm 90:12).


Procrastination is something that hits us straight in the guilt spot. I don't believe that all non-work time is consists of laziness. We definitely need to rest, on Sabbaths, as God has overtly ordained us to rest after six days of labour, and also every day after the ever-increasing long hours of work. Taking a nap, watching television, or using the computer are all in themselves normative, or in Paul's words, lawful unto the believer. So when do we cross the line between rejuvenation and procrastination? When the things become our lords and control us, making us committing idolatry to God Almighty.

All things are lawful unto me, but not all things are expedient:
all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. I Corinthians 6:12 (AKJV)

And so I think the same goes for everything given to us under God's common grace to all. Got a lot of money to spend? God wants us to be faithful unto our one-tenth as tithes, and not be unfaithful to the Lord as Ananias and Sapphira had been, which led them to immediate death. Will God one day reprimand us, that we have stolen His things? Many centuries ago, God asked His people the same question, and they denied having been thieves of God's blessings. Will we deny as they did too, in purposeful oblivion? If we cannot take care of the things that are so often taken for granted, and available to all, how can we be entrusted with the stewardship of Christian callings?


Secondly we are entrusted with common Christian duties - to pray in the way that pleases God (as revealed by the best Teacher on prayer in the Lord's Prayer), to fulfil the Great Commission, to be holy, to have quiet time, to be in pursuit of learning God's Word, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and might and love our neighbours...ways that God wants us to take so as allow us to live according to His Will. I find that this is the most challenging stewardship for the Christian. Because it is inconspicuous, it is in nature, not accountable to any person who could exert pressure on us if it were otherwise. Because these are the true actions that believers ought to have in accordance with being Christ-ians, to be changed inside out and thus become a personal witness. And most importantly, because this is the bulk of the spiritual food that we need, spiritual babies and adults alike, that which gives us most spiritual growth and strength, the world opposes it most greatly. Wayne Mack writes in Reaching The Ear of God (2004:34),

...the closer we get to what is most important - what brings us most spiritual power, the more opposition we are going to get from the devil, the world, and our own flesh.

I don't think the right way to approach God's Commandments is to see it through Pharisaic lenses, but to have the wisdom and practice to understand the moral behind it, like how Jesus summarised the greatest of the Law in Matthew 22. I find myself lacking in evangelism and prayer, especially. I know of people who are strong in evangelism and prayer, and others who are equally weak as I am in them. Nonetheless, God answers prayers, and whatever we are lacking in to fulfil our Christians-specific stewardship - be it courage, wisdom, love, intellectual capacity - the Lord gives freely in abundance to the willing steward.

And that would be when the one who is trusted with little, is trusted with much.