Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1909-10-08

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CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP. /.
By Rev. G.. B. F. Ha

Leu d man SO dCCUuuI IUl I'D 90 ~
the ministers of Christ and stewards
of the mysteries of God. l Cor. 1y.:1.
A steward is housemaster. He is
one who has charge of the affairs of
family or household, whose duty 1t is
to provide for the family, to purchase
provisions and the like, and is plainly
an Office of much trust and confidence.
1t is also an Office affording great OPP
portunity for dishonesty and waste
and for ill-use Of property. 1t is an
Office implying also strict accountable
ity. We are all of us, said the Apostle
Paul. stewards OF the mysteries OF
God" That is, we are entrusted by
God with many transcendent interests
connected with the gospel of His Son
and the mysteries of redemption.
We are to guard against thinking
that the use of this term mysteries"
means secrets only for the Initiated,
for those who became members of
their secret societies. On the contrary,
the word as used here by the apostle
is a very wide word, designating the
| mystery of the cross the mystery OF
redemption, the universal gospel of
Christ, of which His people are made
stewards for the benefit of all the
world And the idea of stewardship is
emphasized here to show how much
depends upon each Christian proving
faithful in his or her place to his or
her trust
This idea of Christian stewardship
has application in many directions.
There is the stewardship Of personal
gifts. This idea of our stewardship is
given emphasis by the Apostle Peter,
when he says: LAS every man hath
received the gift, even so minister the
same to one another, as good stewards
Of the manifold grace of God" This
simply presses upon us the fact that
every power, every grace, every ac-
complishment, every property Of quail
fication we have is something with
which we are placed in trust by God
and which we may use, and be respon-
sible for using, to the furtherance Of
His kingdom.
This, we are glad to believe, is a
conception of life that is growing
among men. Increasing numbers Of
people are recognizing that their tai
ents are possessions of trust, and that
they are responsible for using them in
the best possible way Of God. 1t is a
conception Of life that has in it also
S~,G 80 tow Nj In vi
ton. It is a great thing when Chris
tians, rich or poor, exalted or humble,
begin 10 realize how much life may
mean, how large its possibilities. 1t
is conception Of life, too, that has
f! great room for becoming more widely
| prevalent, for there are yet untold
| measures Of resources unused among
! those who profess to be Christ's fol-
| lowers.
Another phase Of this stewardship
| of Christian institutions. The Chris
tian steward is not only sent to use
| his personal powers and gifts, but he
is one set in charge Of something.
Here is the Church of Christ. 1t is to
be fostered and fed and all its inter
ests conserved. There are colleges
and Summaries and schools and hos
| pitfalls and refugees and rescue missions
and hundreds of kindred institutions
both at home and in mission fields.
They are trust committed to Chris
tian men and Christian women. They
are to be preserved and guided and
handed on to the coming generations.
It is happy fact that so many per-
sons accept their stewardship in this
direction, and so we see large gifts for
building and endowments being made;
we see people Of large business inter
ests and capacity giving their time
and influence to the furtherance Of
such institutions, many willingly load
ing themselves with responsibilities
and duties and cares under the com
pulsion of this worthy motive of being
stewards of God under the trust of in
stitutions AS trustees of colleges and
mission boards as those who endow
institutions with their wealth, as
those who work for and pray for and
further such interests, increasing num-
bers of Gods people are accepting re-
sponsibilities as stewards of Christian
Institutions
Another phase Of this stewardship
is what we may term the stewardship
of the truth We are all stewards of
the mysteries of God entrusted with
the gospel, put in charge of the truth
We have this trust for the benefit Of
the world.
One of the cautions which each
Christian may we'll regard is that he
is only steward. He is not the own
er. The truth is given to him 1t is
not made by him. We are to use the
truth as it is given to us, not to make
1t over into any form we please, or
mix it with error, or with our vain
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