Steward

Definition and Meaning

A steward is a person entrusted with managing a master's household affairs and property. The Korean word cheongjigi originally referred to a servant in a yangban (aristocratic) household who oversaw domestic affairs and miscellaneous tasks. Korean Bibles use this word to translate the Greek oikonomos (household manager). In theology, "stewardship" is the teaching that a person's life, time, talents, and material possessions all belong to God. People manage these things for a time and will give an account of them before God.

Biblical and Historical Background

In the Old Testament, the steward appears as an actual office, as with the man who managed Joseph's house (Genesis 43:16). As a theological foundation, the creation account, in which humanity is given dominion over the earth and charged to keep Eden (Genesis 1:28, 2:15), is frequently cited.

Key New Testament passages include the following:

• "that faithful and wise steward" in Luke 12:42
• the parable of the unjust steward in Luke 16
• Titus 1:7, which calls a bishop "the steward of God"
• 1 Peter 4:10, which exhorts believers to minister to one another "as good stewards of the manifold grace of God"

The parable of the talents in Matthew 25, in which entrusted property must be accounted for, is also read alongside these passages.

After the Reformation, Protestantism regarded everyday work as a calling entrusted by God and, in connection with this, emphasized the concept of stewardship. John Wesley is known for teaching in his sermon "The Use of Money": "Gain all you can, save all you can, give all you can." As environmental issues have come to the fore, the meaning has broadened to include "stewardship of creation," the responsibility to care for the natural world.

Practice in the Korean Church

In the Korean church, the term steward is used mainly in teaching on offerings and the tithe. A typical explanation is that "God is the owner of material possessions, and believers are those entrusted with them." Expressions such as stewardship of time, talents, and health are also common. Some churches give the name "steward" to groups responsible for finances or service.

The emphasis varies by tradition:

• Presbyterian churches in the Reformed tradition tend to emphasize that the whole of life is entrusted to people under God's sovereignty and providence.
• Methodist and Holiness churches following Wesleyan theology tend to emphasize the practice of sanctification, using what has been entrusted to love one's neighbor.
• Ecumenical circles have treated ecology and the preservation of life as tasks of stewardship.

Meanwhile, critics both inside and outside the church argue that stewardship teaching is sometimes skewed toward encouraging offerings or is presented as a condition for receiving blessings, as in prosperity theology. This issue is also connected to the tithing debate.