On this page you will find:
Stewardship
Stewardship
The very first law given to humanity, as soon as the first human was created in the image of God (as the Bible tells us) was that they should be 'stewards' of the Earth. A steward is someone who acts in a care-taking role, for instance a steward at a music festival might show people where to park their cars. So being a steward involves working on behalf of the owners/organisers, serving others, representing the interests of the most vulnerable, making sure that everything stays as it should be and does not get out of hand; keeping things safe.
When humans are made stewards of the earth, they are given the same care-taking role:
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, [a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground." 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." 29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food." And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
Genesis 1:26-31
People are in charge of all living things that have been made on the earth - but they do not own them. They have to look after God's belongings.
In another of the Psalms, the writer expresses a sense of wonder when looking at the night sky, and thinks about the enormous privilege and responsibility stewardship is:
O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens....
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:
Psalm 8:1, 3-6
Some of the rules in the Old Testament are about good stewardship, for example rules are given about harvesting. In Old Testament times, 'gleaning' was a common practice. After a field had been harvested, any grain which had fallen on the ground or which had been missed by the harvesters would be left for the poor to come and gather up. the book of Ruth gives an example of this - the widow Ruth, who was caring for her mother-in-law Naomi in a time of famine, went to glean in Bethlehem after the barley harvest and it was here that she met her second husband, Boaz. Boaz is shown as being a good man, because he allowed the gleaners onto his land.
