Luke 16:3 Then steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord takes away from me stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

Luke 16:8 And lord commended unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for children of this world are in their generation wiser than children of light.

Titus 1:7 For a bishop must be blameless, as steward of God; not self willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

In all 8 uses of word "Steward" given in New Testament, meaning of word is "Care Taker" of something. It is indicated as this person's secular job. The only verse in which a steward is stated in a doctrine concerning Church of Jesus Christ is in Titus 1:7, where Bishop is described as one who posses these traits, please note that one of those traits is, "not given to filthy lucre;" (as described in "The Investing Christian" article). Most of scriptures above were part of a parable, where Jesus was teaching a principle of our faith, but "items" described in those parables were not point, we will discuss this further later in this article.

There are three appearances of word "stewardship" in New Testament, and they are found in following versus, 2 of them were above...

Luke 16:2-4 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou may be no longer steward. Then steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord takes away from me stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. 

Brothers and Sisters, "Stewardship", as a doctrine from God that orders us to grow our money, make it increase, and spend our lives, and we might add a HUGE portion of our time, dedication, and strength doing, is not in line with things that Jesus taught us about a life that is pleasing to him. These scriptures do in fact teach a "principle" of faithfulness, but when taken in context of ALL of Jesus' other teachings, they can not possibly be intended to refer to our constantly increasing wealth, especially when Jesus spent a very significant portion of his time condemning riches. Some would then ask "Then, what is meant by this scripture"...

Matthew 25: 14-28 For kingdom of heaven is as a man traveling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey. Then he that had received five talents went and traded with same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went and dug in earth, and hid his lord's money. After a long time lord of those servants cometh, and reckoned with them. And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou delivered unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into joy of thy lord. He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou delivered unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into joy of thy lord. Then he which had received one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strewed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knew that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strewed: Thou aught therefore to have put my money to exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents...

We would contend, that like other scripture verses that we have discussed here, Jesus is teaching principle of faithfulness in this Parable. Often times in Parables of Jesus, examples given are used to teach a principle, not give a teaching on exact items in parable. When taken in context of Jesus' teaching one would need to say that Jesus contradicted himself, if he was teaching here about how we need to expand our wealth, since he utterly condemned wealth everywhere he went. Would Jesus teach in one city that riches are evil, and of devil, and in another city, that you must make your money grow and grow faithfully? We think not. All of Jesus' parables used earthly things to illustrate his point. This parable is no exception to that rule. The parable is not about money. Here are a few examples of what we are saying...

PLease join us in a discussion on Christian's relationship to money and wealth, and resulting consequences of living for wealth. See full Article here...

"The Blessings Of God"

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Writer for 11th Hour Ministries

It is this spirit in which this article is written, and for this purpose I believe God has inspired us to open this site, and to speak out in name of Jesus to anyone that he may direct to this site. A "voice crying in wilderness of internet" as it were, to anyone who will hear, and turn from deceitfulness of unrighteousness...  2 Thessalonians 2: 8-12 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom Lord shall consume with spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with brightness of his coming.  Even him, whose coming is after working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not love of truth, that they might be saved.  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:  That they all might be damned who believed not truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.   The context of this scripture, is of time of end of age, as Jesus is about to come, and it describes a state of affairs in world and among people of our world and work of Satan to deceive them, and lead them to destruction. Paul is discussing time when one we know as Antichrist will appear on earth, and will deceive world, including as many of people of God as possible. I believe that as you read these words, this scripture is being fulfilled in world today.

I think most Christians would agree, that deception spoken of by Apostles, concerning "Last Days", is deception that will be directed at true believers of God's word, and in his Son Jesus Christ, not at "world", as world was already deceived, there is no need to bother with them. The evil one's target? I believe target can only be evangelical church of Jesus Christ. Therefore, I believe it is necessary to take a close look at how Devil could possibly have worked a deception into that body of believers at this time, (we believe time of end). What is/are these deceptions, and how do they add up to "Strong Delusion" spoken of by Paul? They would have to be ones that our Lord warned us about throughout his entire ministry, #1, love of money, #2 love of this world, and #3 love of darkness.

COMMENTS:

We believe that a time has come when Devil, "as a roaring lion going about seeking whom he may devour" has resulted in a plethora of deceptions running freely in Christian doctrine today, and we can not help but speak out, sound trumpet as it where, as parable of "the watchman" commands us! See full Article here...

"The Gospel Of Convenience"

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"The Graphics enhanced version" (for fast connections)

Writer for 11th Hour Ministries