Stewardship of Resources

What is a steward according to the ancient world?

Thread must be at least 250 words, demonstrate course-related knowledge, and be supported with at least 2 citations AND 1 biblical reference with the verse in current APA format. Acceptable sources include the course textbook, scholarly journal articles, and the Bible. 

 

Topic: Stewardship of Resources

Thread: Owners, managers, and employees all are accountable to some extent for their use of resources owned by others. In light of what you have learned so far in this course and in your other business courses, how can you apply the concepts of biblical stewardship in your life and business? Read this excerpt from an article  by R. C. Sproul, then submit a response explaining your agreements, disagreements, and/or questions regarding the idea as well as any implications it may have in your life and business. 

 

Reply Instructions:

You are required to reply to 2 classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 100 words.  You are required to include at least 1 citation AND 1 biblical reference with the verse in EACH REPLY TO EACH STUDENT.

 

REPLY TO STUDENT #1

Nathan Lester 
DB 1: Stewardship
COLLAPSE
Back in the ancient world, being a steward meant having responsibility over the household. It was a name given to people who had authority over the land and people. A steward is very similar to a modern-day leader as they both have the responsibility of keeping things under control and running smoothly. However, a steward is nothing without having something to govern just as a leader cannot lead without a team working together. I believe that people are stewards in the sense of having dominion over all the animals. However, there are instances where I struggle on whether to believe people are stewards in cases of animal cruelty.

 

I had to make a presentation on a topic similar to this in high school and at the time, I believed that people can do whatever they want to animals because God gave us dominion over the animals. Back then, I did not consider how people ran various tests on animals which resulted in their deaths. This is where I am not sure what to believe because I like the idea of curing human diseases, but by means of killing to try to find a cure is inhuman in my opinion. During my research, I found an article that focused on the stewardship of nurses. It stated that as a Christian nurse, the nurses are responsible for using the resources that God has given them responsibly (Long, 2015).

 

This means making the best decisions for the organization itself, but also making moral decisions that are pleasing to God. Being a steward of this Creation is an enormous responsibility that involves working, guiding, and learning too. As a fellow steward, I believe we should all work together on perhaps the most important job we were given which is to spread the "good news." It is our duty to have fellowship with one another so that one day, we can all worship the Lord. 

 

REPLY TO STUDENT #2

Logan Doss 
Stewardship
COLLAPSE
Biblical Stewardship can be shown in many different ways. One way most people know the word steward from the Bible is when God tells us to be stewards of his creation and to take care of it rather than destroy it or let anything/anyone else destroy it. Basically, what we need to do is protect, care and nurture His creation, and that relates to business because that is how we should act to our own businesses. Creating a business is a tough thing to do when you do not know what you are doing, but that does not mean that you should not do it.

 

Everyone that has started a business has been confused or have not known how to do something at one point so learning and caring for your company is something you just have to do for yourself. We should want to watch our businesses grow and blossom and become bigger and better every day. Sometimes, bigger is not always better but at least watch the company grow and earn more and more revenue and increase profits as much as possible. I have recently been a part of a start-up company based out of Appomattox, Virginia and we have all been treating this company like our own kid and only want the best for it. That is exactly how God wants us to act when we are given things and opportunities.