“Who then is that faithful and wise steward? . . . “asked Jesus. Stewardship involves responsibility, in fact a steward is a person who has been entrusted with the responsible management of the affairs and property of a superior.
Because none of us can possibly live alone, or wants to live alone, in this world, and because our very life and being was given to us by others and is sustained by the power of God , we all have responsibilities. Unfortunately man is selfish and often tries to evade or escape from those responsibilities. It is the mark of a man of God that he accepts them gladly and carries them out prayerfully and to the est of his ability.
Some responsibilities are universal. “If anyone does not provide for his relatives and especially for his own family, he has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (I Timothy 5:8) There is nothing more pathetic in human relations than lack of responsibility towards members of one’s own home circle. There are far too many parents and far too many children who lack any real sense of responsibility or obligation to each other. It is sad when the begetting of children is engaged in as a means of “proving” the manhood or womanhood of the parent rather than from any real desire to cherish the child.
Other responsibilities arise out of our commitment to the gospel. We are all then “members one of another” as Paul declares to the Romans. If one member suffers, the rest have a responsibility to share the burden. If an ecclesia is to be a true lampstand, every able-bodied member has a responsibility to assist in supplying the fuel for the light to burn. Every serving, presiding, speaking, door-keeping, arranging or recording brother is a steward. Indeed we are told that all such will be called upon to give account of the manner of their stewardship and service. They are called in Hebrews “men who will have to give account” ,13: 17).
How important then it is that responsibility should be our watchword and constant standard in every duty we are called upon to perform!
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One