Expanding the Definition of Stewardship

Artwork: R. Stephenson

This week I received an email about stewardship that I want to share with you.

It reminds us that stewardship is not only about money. It is also about how we use our time, how we treat other people, and whether we are willing to speak up for our neighbors.

The email (below) is from the Rev. Tim Brown of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. I am sharing it in full because I think it is especially relevant right now.

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21).

When I talk to leaders and congregations about stewardship, one of the first things I try to impart is that my work isn’t just about financial stewardship.

Yes, Jesus mentions economics 288 times in the Gospels (roughly one out of every 10 verses), so that absolutely means finances and economics have an impact on our spiritual health.

But Jesus talked about other things too—and did other things too.

Jesus called the disciples toward stewardship in other ways, and we so often forget that (or simply ignore it) because, well, if I’m perfectly honest with you, seeing the totality of our life through a stewardship lens can be pretty inconvenient.

Jesus invited the disciples to steward their time and their anxiety (Luke 12:27), which calls me to reflect on how I use my time and monitor my worry. I can’t just do anything that I want to do and honestly try to keep my mind from being cluttered with anxiety.

Jesus invited the disciples to steward their egos (Luke 18:9-14) and to keep guard against looking down on others and elevating themselves. This means that, though I can be proud of what I do, I can never have my pride place me over others. Comparison and competition are the thieves of not only joy but of honor, and they betray a self-reliance that is just not possible in this imperfect world.

Jesus invited the disciples to steward their relationships, asking them to think deeply about not only who their neighbor is but to also think honestly about how they treat their neighbors and advocate for them (Luke 10:25-37). Remember, the Samaritan doesn’t just help the wounded victim but also advocates for them with the innkeeper to continue their care and heal them — and even offers compensation for that healing should it become a burden.

This, Beloved, is stewardship of voice and action. Or, in other words, advocacy.

And this kind of stewardship is at the forefront in these days as we hear our neighbors being demonized by powerful people and see images of them being harassed at gas stations, dragged in freezing temperatures from their homes and violently harmed.

And not just in Minnesota — this violence is happening all over.

In our Rite of Confession and Forgiveness we lament both the “things we have done, and the things we have left undone .…”

Advocacy is being vocal about not only our support for our neighbor but also acting on behalf of them. And while stewarding our voice is sometimes refraining from saying the thing we want to say, it is also the act of saying the thing that needs to be said, by God — and then acting on it.

Or, to quote St. Fred of the Rogers (who riffed off of Jesus), it’s being a “good neighbor.”

How is your community standing up for your neighbors in these days?

2026 has started with headline-grabbing alarm. Alarms are meant to call us to attention, Beloved.

How will we steward our voices? How can we resist the temptation to just hit snooze on the news?

One of the most frustrating things about Jesus is that while grace is always abundant, the call to steward our lives in light of Christ’s life is also always there. I’m not perfect at it — none of us are.

And yet, the call, the alarm, keeps sounding — every morning.

How will we steward our advocacy, our voice, our response? How are we being a neighbor?

Pax,

The Rev. Tim Brown

Director of Congregational Stewardship Support

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America