Faithful Managers

"A person should consider us in this way: as servants of Christ and managers of God’s mysteries. In this regard, it is expected of managers that each be found faithful.” (1 Corinthians 4:1-2 CSB)

Jesus told a parable about a man who entrusted his estate to three servants, also referred to as managers, stewards, and slaves. He gave one manager five talents of gold, two talents of gold to the second, and one talent of gold to the third. He then went away for awhile. When he returned for an accounting, the first manager reported a 100% gain of five more talents of gold. The second manager gained two more talents of gold, or a 100% gain. The third manager gained nothing. He had buried the gold and done nothing with it, so he just brought it back to the master. The owner commended the first two managers for their faithfulness, but he scolded the third manager and had him thrown out.

Question: Why did the owner take this action against the third manager? He did so for two reasons: 1) the man had an opportunity before him but totally disregarded it and, thus, the owner as well, and 2) the manager demonstrated faithlessness; he was not faithful to the master in the least, which means there was no faith to begin with.

Faithfulness presupposes faith. Faith always results in faithfulness, so when faithfulness is not there, then neither is faith. When we see faithfulness, that points us to faith. The one requirement of a manager or steward is faith that is demonstrated by faithfulness. That is what honors God.

Lord, May our faith be expressed and demonstrated to the world we live in this day, and may that bring glory and honor to You. Amen.