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Fourth Stone: Stewardship Partnership, naming, caring integrity, responsibility Mission "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it." (Genesis 1:28) "So out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them." (Genesis 2:19) "I gave you a land on which you had not labored, and cities which you had not built, and you dwell therein; you eat the fruit of vineyards and oliveyards which you did not plant. Now, therefore fear the Lord, and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness;" (Joshua 23:13-14) In the ancient world, to name something was to define its characteristics and to assume responsibility for it. The Genesis story reflects the understanding that God has called humans into partnership with Him in caring for creation as stewards. That means we not only are given the means to be creative ourselves, but that we will be held accountable for our actions. Stewardship is an activity of both "preserving and enhancing". We also are reminded that everything we have is a gift. Certainly, we work for what we have, but even our ability to work is a gift. We are given far more than we earn. Therefore, we not only have the responsibility of caring for the world God made; even more importantly, we have the responsibility of caring for God's people. Mission is grounded in a correct understanding of stewardship. It is God's will that all people get on and live well and come to know God's will in their lives. God wants us to respond in obedience and service to His love and to be responsible and care for others. The most important advance in human wisdom in the 20th century is not in the area of science and technology, but in the gradual awakening of many people to the importance and necessity of caring for not only our natural world, but also for its people. We have seen, especially in the closing decades of our century, that many groups of people truly are endangered species. Our stubborn inability to find solutions to many perplexing social problems has put whole populations at risk, and many of our young people who are our future hope perish for lack of a vision to sustain them. The prophets reminded Israel over and over again that we are held accountable for our deeds, and our failure to care for one another results in devastation to the community. There is no escape for anyone when there is social breakdown. Our mission and accountability do not begin in a foreign land, but on our very doorsteps. It is only when we begin to see every living person as a member of our family for whom we must account that we will be fulfilling God's purpose in our lives. back to Stepping Stones |