What if you already had the keys to unlock both financial abundance and spiritual wholeness? Introducing Radical Stewardship™, the blog that explores both spiritual and practical keys to steward your talents and resources to unlock the full richness of God’s abundance for you and those around you.

What the heck is Radical Stewardship™?

Ugh. It’s “Stewardship Sunday.” You know that Sunday. The one where they preach about tithing. Hold the annual meeting. Talk about missions. Ask you to make a written financial commitment for the whole year. You’re squirming in your seat. Slouching down lower. Wishing you had sat closer to the door today instead of in your usual seat. Or better yet, watched the service online from the safety of your couch at home. Maybe you even dare to ask God the uncomfortable question: “Is this really what stewardship is supposed to be all about?”

Heck, no!

Stewardship certainly has a financial component, and we’ll get to that, but stewardship is so much more than that! Stewardship is the understanding that:

1. Everything you have is actually owned by God.
2. God has invested in you, and He has entrusted you to manage His investment well.
3. If you manage God’s investment well, He has promised to increase your abundance.
4. God expects you to manage the increase well also.
5. Your rewards for how you manage the increase are both earthly and eternal.

Let’s break this down.

Everything you have is actually owned by God.

Yep, that’s right. One day, many years ago, your mom went into labor. Several hours later, out pops you. You show up in this world with nothing. No clothes, no skills, no 401(k), just a messy, hungry, crying, totally dependent little human. Everything you got after that, somebody gave you. Some of it was in exchange for work you did. Some of it was a gift. All of that stuff stays here when you leave.

But wait, that’s not 100% accurate. You actually did show up in this world with some things. A physical body. A personality. (Ask your mom, she’ll confirm that you showed up with that from day one.) Preferences. Aptitudes. And the uniquely human capacity to house the Holy Spirit. You didn’t earn any of that. All of those things are gifts. But you do have both the opportunity and the responsibility to develop them.

God has invested in you, and He has entrusted you to manage His investment well.

Have you ever noticed that there are certain things that you do really well, and certain things that, well, I’ll just say this gently, you’re not so good at. There are also certain things you really like, and other things that you simply can’t understand how anyone else could possibly ever like them. And then there’s that personality of yours. The one that your mom will swear you came with. All of those things make you uniquely you, and all of those things have a purpose. They’re clues to your calling. They perfectly position you to step into a role that is uniquely suited to you.

They can also get you in trouble.

Sometimes those things we’re good at cause us to get a little bit prideful. The things we like can tempt us to step out of bounds in order to get them. And that personality of ours is often the biggest troublemaker of all. But God gave us all those things anyway. Trusted us with them. You know what else He gave us? His Word. Holy Spirit. And a multitude of wise counselors. And He expects us to tap into all three of those to manage the rest of the gifts He gave us.

If you manage God’s investment well, He has promised to increase your abundance.

Pastors love to quote Malachi 3:10 on Stewardship Sunday. “Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.” The problem is, people get so hung up on the first half of the verse that they totally miss out on what’s going on in the second half. Read that second half again. God is laying down a dare! He is daring us to go ahead and test Him and see what happens!

Here’s the thing: In order to get the results of a test, you have to actually run the test. No test, no results. The test in the first part of the verse is “full tithe.” Not partial. Not “I can’t quite afford 10% this week, so I’ll just put a few dollars in the plate.” Full tithe. If you’re not sure what that means or what that applies to, do a study on “first fruits.” Pray. Talk to God. Ask Him to show you. And then put Him to the test. He will blow your mind. Don’t take my word for it, take His.

God expects you to manage the increase well also.

So, now here you are, with all of your shiny abundance. God passed the test! The results were better than you could imagine! You’ve got the dream job with the big paycheck. The beautiful house in a desirable neighborhood. An awesome car. A devoted spouse. Great kids. A good dog. You’re all set! Yet something still feels lacking. You still feel like something is missing from all of that abundance of yours. Why?

During those times when we were down and out, we talked with God all the time. “Please God, help me make rent. Help me not run out of paycheck before I run out of month. Help my car keep going just a little bit longer until I can fix it. Protect my kids from the perils of these streets. Don’t let me be one of the ones that gets laid off.” We talked God’s ear off in those times!

But then, once we get all the things that we ask for, we talk to God a whole lot less. Somehow, we just don’t seem to have as much time for Him as we used to. And we forget that He has blessed us with all of this abundance so we can be His hands to help out others who may be praying those exact same prayers that we ourselves were praying not that long ago.

Your rewards for how you manage the increase are both earthly and eternal.

We all know the parable of the talents in Matthew 25. (If you need a refresher, now is a good time to stop what you’re doing and go read it.) Do you remember what the master said to the servant who made the most of his master’s investment? I’ll help you out, here’s verse 23: “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’”

Did you notice that the good and faithful servant got two rewards? The first was being set over much. He got a promotion. A promotion tends to come with a bigger paycheck, but it also tends to come with a bigger job. God will absolutely reward your good stewardship with greater abundance. Just remember that with that greater abundance comes greater responsibility.

The other reward that the servant received: entering into the joy of his master! None of us knows exactly what all is included in eternal rewards. We know some of it experientially, because now is part of eternity. We also know some of it from the Bible. But there’s so much that we simply won’t find out until we get to the season of the new heaven and the new earth. However, this parable does tell us one thing: it will be joyful! There is joy in our rewards now, and there will be joy in our rewards for all eternity.

So, what is Radical Stewardship™?

Radical Stewardship™ is a movement! It’s moving beyond “Stewardship Sunday” and getting all wrapped around the axle about how to calculate your tithe. It’s an intentional lifestyle of stewarding every single thing that God gave you with full awareness that it’s not your own. It’s putting God to the test, taking Him up on His dare, and seeing what He will actually do. It’s stepping into promotion after promotion, taking on the increased responsibility with joy, and reaping God’s abundant rewards, both in this life and for all eternity.

If you’d like to incorporate Radical Stewardship™ into your life and lay the groundwork for your next promotion, I encourage you to check out my coaching page or connect with me directly. I’d love to talk with you!