Berita NECF Newletters

Whole-Life Stewardship Needed For Asian Church

Description: Rev. Eddy Ho, NECF Malaysia Council Member, recently attended the EFA Theological Commission consultation on 'Biblical Stewardship' in Bangkok. He reports.

THERE is a need to awaken the Church in Asia on the biblical mandate on stewardship. In the Scriptures, stewardship is a very important subject and should encompass the whole life. Yet when it is mentioned, especially in the Western countries, it is usually referred to monetary giving such as tithing, fund-raising and annual budgets. Usually, when a minister preaches a sermon on stewardship, the congregation is immediately ready for an appeal for special offering or financial drive.

 

Is this what biblical stewardship is? Does stewardship always have to do with money? These are some of the key questions raised at the consultation on Biblical Stewardship held in Bangkok in early September organised by the Theological Commission of Evangelical Fellowship of Asia (EFA).

 

The objectives of the consultation (the first theological consultation sponsored by EFA) were to: Provide the Church in Asia with a biblically sound, theologically precise and contextually viable foundation for Christian stewardship; present a joint statement of findings on evangelical convictions regarding the many facets of stewardship; and produce a compendium of the proceedings in an edited volume for publication in 2001.

 

Twenty-two participants from 15 countries¾India, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, Japan and Malaysia¾attended the consultation.

 

At the consultation, they learned that in some regions, stewardship was seen mainly as a mobilisation of members for church ministry. For example, in South Korea, churches regularly hold ‘stewardship retreats,’ where they mobilise and train senior and new church officers to prepare them for the ministries of the church for the coming year. However, stewardship means more than just fund-raising and human resource mobilisation for Christian service. It should have broader implications for Christian responsibility in every aspect of our lives.

 

A model of this whole-life stewardship is the Myanmar Church. Myanmarese Christians practice 10 ways of giving¾tithing, freewill offerings, handful of rice offerings (where the Christian household saves a handful of rice whenever they cook their meals and gives it to the missionaries, pastors and the poor), grace box (or voluntary giving), seed faith box (to help poor families pay their children’s school fees), faith promise, first week Sunday donation, fasting day (where money saved from breakfast and lunch is given to the poor), love offerings for full-time ministers and benevolence fund.

 

Despite their poverty, the average Myanmarese Christian gives about 20 to 25 per cent of his income to God’s work. Most of the pastors do not get regular monthly salaries and live on the donations of farm produce of their church members. Elsewhere in Cambodia, the pastors normally get one bag of rice a month instead of monetary remuneration.

 

Christians also have to live responsible lives and not over-indulge in luxuries. An example was mentioned of a country where churches wasted a lot of money to rebuild their churches and decorate them. The issue was not the renovation per se, but that the money used for the beautification work could have been used more profitably for missions which was greatly in need of funds.

 

Participants spent considerable time discussing the concept of living a responsible lifestyle. Does it mean living a simple lifestyle? Ultimately, one has to decide for himself what a responsible lifestyle is, be sensitive to those around them and above all, set a good testimony.

 

In the area of time, the participants found that the attitude towards time differ from place to place. In societies which have adopted the Western perception, time is very precious and people value punctuality. However, in countries such as the Philippines, time is approached with a lax attitude. Punctuality is well tolerated and generally, a simple goodbye can start from the house and continue all the way to the bus stop.

 

Christians also have a responsibility to the environment, which is God’s creation. The cultural mandate, which was given to man at the creation, was never withdrawn, although the world was marred by the fall of man. In view of this Christians should take care of the earth. As Dr Rodrigo Tano said in his paper, although man is to have dominion over nature, he is not to be a ruthless ruler or harsh conqueror.

 

In view of this, man should also have a right attitude towards work. Man’s work bears the mark of his personality and is an extension of himself. The way a man works reflects his mental, psychological and moral faculties.

 

Christians also have to maintain an exemplary family life. However, this matter is very sensitive in some cultures. For example in Nepal, it is not appropriate to preach or discuss about the family or how one should deal with it. As reported in a paper, “It is common practice in Nepali churches to preach or teach about stewardship of time, treasure and talent but not on the stewardship of the family.” This does not absolve the church from being responsible in family life and to set an example for the society at large. Generally in Nepal, women have no status or rights and they are often the victims of domestic violence. It is therefore the responsibility of the church to ensure that there is a proper focus on family life. “The church also should initiate to uplift the status of the wives as co-heirs in Jesus Christ with men,” the paper rightly said.

 

Stewardship also extends to the area of leadership development, perhaps a more complex area of stewardship. While leadership development must take into consideration the on-going changes in the world, it also has to be sensitive to the cultural uniqueness of Asians. The Church has a responsibility to develop responsible leadership that is respectable and credible to society.

 

Earlier, Commission Chairman Dr Chris Marantika (from Indonesia) gave the keynote address on ‘Empowering God’s People through Biblical Stewardship.’ Introductory papers on the meaning of stewardship, such as the Old and New Testament understanding on the subject, were presented. Other papers discussed biblical teachings on stewardship of work, God’s creation, God’s gifts and talents, time, our being, leadership and money. Several participants also gave case studies on stewardship from the contexts of their countries in each of the areas discussed.



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