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13.
Matters of Stewardship
and Prosperity
Does the word
"economics"
occur in standard
translations of the Bible? No, however, our English
word
"economics"comes
from the Latin,
"oeconomia"
which was derived from the Greek
"oikonomia."
Derivations of these words are used over three dozen
times in the Bible. The words are usually translated as
''stewardship," ''management,"
or
''administration.
"
Stewardship of what, we might ask?
It
could be
stewardship of resources, property, talents, or souls -–
quite a range of responsibilities. .That stewardship is
stated early (Genesis 1:26-28), as man, created in
God's image, is given the mandate to subdue the earth
and to manage and develop his environment to the
glory of its Creator.
Should Christians administer the affairs of God's world
according to the instructions of God's word? Absolutely.
The parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30), in
examining business finance options, very sternly links
degrees of responsibility and rewards.
Soundly
practiced economics trains those who are faithful in
small things to be found worthy for the responsibility of
greater things in this life and the next (Luke 16:10,11).
In all of this, one may be wondering what a subject
called
"Christian Economics"
is all about. Is there such
a thing as
''Christian Economics"?
Why does the term
"Christian Economics"
make us nervous? Typically, it
has enough religious doctrine in it to make the secular
folks uneasy; it has just enough technical economics to
make people of faith uncomfortable. .Each group seems
content to not confront the responsibility of examining
the others' perspective and then applying, yes, Biblical
principles of economics.
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