1 Coríntios 4

1 Coríntios 4

Clarke says the steward "was the master’s deputy in regulating the concerns of the family, providing food for the household, seeing it served out at proper times and seasons, and in proper quantities. He received all the cash, expended what was necessary for the support of the family, and kept exact accounts, for which he was obliged at certain times to lay before the master.” Zodhiates has an interesting comment on stewards - What this implies is that none of us who proclaim the gospel are actually owners of what we manage....Just as our orders as servants of Christ are received directly from Christ, so our stewardship is directly reportable to Christ. Daily accounting to Him is necessary. Paul speaks later on of our accounting to Him in that day when all our work will be made manifest, but there must also be a daily accounting to see whether we are daily pleasing to Him.....Every Christian should daily come to Christ to give an account and to take orders. We should not hesitate to bring to Him in detail what has transpired. Sometimes we will have to confess, "Lord, there were many minutes and hours when I goofed and wasted time when I should have been working." Though we might never think of stealing money, we often waste time and miss opportunities that should uplift Christ (see C. H. Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry, pp. 252-81)....Paul wants to remind us by this expression that we are accountable. He has just finished speaking of that day when the work of each one will be made manifest. Just imagine how careless a treasurer might be if he knew that he would never have to give an accounting of the funds entrusted to him. As Christians, we are to live constantly in view of the day of accounting that is coming. We will have to give an accounting for everything God has given us. Glenn Spencer - Stewardship is the management of affairs entrusted to one by another. A biblical steward is a servant who faithfully manages his Master’s affairs. God is the creator and owner of everything and if we have possession of anything, it is because God has entrusted it to our stewardship. Stewardship involves using all that God has entrusted to us in a way that will please Him. Whatever our possessions, whether it be a weekly paycheck, a car, a home to live in, our health or even the very air we breathe, whatever it may be we have it because of the goodness of God. Just like this servant’s master made him steward over all his household, God has given every believe and area of service. What a great responsibility it is to be a steward of God. May we do our work with the realization that it is the Lord God of Heaven that we serve. Jack Arnold - Every Greek knew what a steward was. He was a privileged slave, picked out and set apart from the other slaves by the master of the household to oversee the household. He was a slave who was elevated above the other slaves and given the responsibility of dispensing to the members of the household the provisions and the stores of the master. A steward was not the master but a slave of the master. Today the nearest equivalent would be an administrator. The steward was entrusted with certain valuable commodities which he was responsible to dispense. The minister is called by God, in a special sense from other saints, to dispense “the secret things of God.” The “secret things” or “mysteries” are the truths of the gospel and the whole counsel of God as found in the Bible and which cannot be known by any human reasoning. Ministers are primarily dispensers of truth. The Lord Jesus, the Master, has entrusted His ministers with His truth and they are to faithfully preserve it and dispense this truth as preachers and teachers of the Word of God. The ministers must not teach human, worldly wisdom to the flock but divine, godly wisdom which is found only in the Bible and nowhere else. Ministers are to dispense divine truth so that lives are changed and lived on the basis of divine wisdom, revealed truth as found in the Bible. God’s ministers have no authority of their own. They have authority but it comes to them by Christ. They are subordinate to Christ. They merely handle truth. Therefore, Christians ought to exalt the originator of truth, Christ, and not the handlers of the truth, God’s ministers. (1 Corinthians 3:18-4:5 Stewards Of The Gospel) Stewards (manager) (3623)(oikonomos from oíkos = house + némo = manage, distribute, dispense) (see related oikonomia) is literally the manager or superintendent of a household or estate. The steward was accountable to the owner (which even involved a presentation and examination of records, receipts, disbursements, cash on hand and the settlement of accounts [cf 1 Cor 4:5] - our English words "economy", "economic" are derived from oikonomia and this background helps one see some association) BDAG - one who is entrusted with management in connection with transcendent matters (1 Cor 4:1, Titus 1:7, 1 Pe 4:10)