by Rev. Dr. Travis Guse 

When most people hear the word “stewardship” in church, what’s the first thing that comes to mind? 

You guessed it: “Here comes the money talk.” 

And let’s be honest – it’s often true. The word stewardship gets dusted off around budget season or when giving is down. The pressure mounts, and the pastor is asked to “preach a stewardship sermon” (aka “help us fix the budget deficit”). No wonder it makes people squirm in the pews. It’s hard for visitors, and it’s even harder for the preacher. 

But here’s the thing: We’ve sold stewardship short. 

We’ve reduced a deeply biblical, kingdom-centered calling into a once-a-year giving campaign. That’s not just unhelpful – it’s unfaithful to the richness of what Jesus actually taught. 

What if stewardship wasn’t about guilt, but about purpose? 

In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the Parable of the Talents. The master entrusts his servants with bags of gold – his own resources – before going away. Upon returning, he sees who invested those resources and who simply buried them in the ground. The story isn’t just about money. It’s about entrustment. It’s about calling. It’s about partnership with the Master. 

“Here God is not working outside of us, for a regeneration has taken place, that He may work in us and we work together with Him; through us He preaches, has pity on the poor, and comforts the faint-hearted.” (Martin Luther in Bondage of the Will) 

This is the heart of stewardship. Not a fundraising pitch. A co-laboring invitation.
We are stewards because we have been called as co-workers with Christ in the fields of His Kingdom. 

“For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3:9) 

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10), to redeem all things (Colossians 1:20-22), and now He says to you and me who were lost but now are found: Come, join Me. 

That’s the Missio Dei—the Mission of God. He’s not just saving you from something – He’s saving you for something. That’s stewardship. 

Stewardship is about partnership. 

It’s about seeing your time, talents, and treasure not as your own, but as tools entrusted to you to join the Master’s work. That job you go to every day? That conversation you had over coffee? That creative idea burning in your heart? That moment you said yes to helping a neighbor in need? 

That’s stewardship. That’s building up the Body of Christ. 

“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10) 

We ascend by faith, trusting in Jesus who has saved us, and we descend in love to serve the world He loves as co-laborers with Christ. Your life is not a waiting room for heaven. It’s a workshop for the Kingdom. 

In your calling – your vocation – God is actively working through you. He is serving, creating, healing, leading, restoring, and building through your life. The time you give. The skills you share. The resources you offer. It all becomes part of His redeeming work. 

You’re not just “volunteering at church.” You’re joining Jesus in His mission. 

So let’s change the conversation. Let’s build up the Body of Christ by talking about stewardship, not as a money message, but as a missional invitation. 

Because when we see our time, talents, and treasure as sacred trust from God, we stop asking, “How much should I give?” And start asking, “Lord, how do You want to use me today?” 

That’s the kind of Body Building the Church needs. And that’s what you were called to be. 

Wellness in your calling begins when you see your life as a holy trust. Stewardship is the rhythm of grace-filled responsibility, where we respond to God’s gifts with open hands, ready hearts, and a passion to be part of something bigger than ourselves. 

Let’s talk about that kind of stewardship and let’s live it!