What or who are we stewarding resources for?

As one of the mainline denominations of this country, the Presbyterian church of Aotearoa New Zealand has been a huge influence on this land and society. You might know that, as opposed to the other mainline denominations who came to this land and established themselves through mission outposts, the Presbyterians established themselves as a settler church here.

They came in groups and sought to establish ministry in and amongst all the new settlers who were arriving. There was a strong commitment to spiritual growth, education, and addressing social needs. The Presbyterians grew and built strong infrastructures to support God’s mission, historically advocating strongly for justice and education through a people who were hard working, committed and frugal.

There is very much something to be said for frugality (although this might well be a characterisation of Presbyterianism’s cultural roots), but in those early settler years, thriftiness and wise stewardship was indeed representative of sound Christian conduct, and still is. The Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand however, was not only wise in its stewardship, it was also generous to God’s mission, just as God has been generous in His blessings and provision to it.

Can this short passage in James 5:1-6 be something that speaks to our current situation as a denomination? Well it’s been an extremely harsh journey through James, he has tended to hold up a particularly hard reflection for us to look at ourselves, well at least for me it has been hard. I think it might be a bit harsh to think that James is speaking of us, but then again, we might remember that James’ letter is addressed to followers of Christ. The Presbyterians in New Zealand collectively have well over a billion dollars of property assets, with cash reserves, it probably approaches 2 billion (don’t quote me on that), but there's a bit there.

What’s God’s mission for the church? What’s God’s mission for St George’s? What’s God’s mission for each one of us individually? Something for us to take time to carefully think about, because I think we all realise that the older we get, the less material wealth means, we certainly don’t take it with us. So again, what or who are we stewarding resources for?

Josh