Last month I re-watched the Lord of the Rings trilogy. If you read the books or watched the movies, you’ll remember the Stewards of Gondor. Long story short, when no rightful heir to the throne was found after the death of the king, the Stewards watched over and managed the kingdom of Gondor with the original intent that they would step aside as soon as a rightful heir was identified. The Stewards dared not even sit on the throne, but instead they sat on a chair at the foot of the throne. As time went on (nearly 1,000 years), the Stewards saw their position and power as something they were entitled to and actually tried to reject the true heir to the throne in order to hold onto it.
Does any of this sound eerily similar to how some church committees operate? If Jesus Christ showed up in the flesh and blood for a Finance Committee meeting or Trustees meeting, would we even want to listen to him…even though he’s the rightful owner of all the church property and money? When we are good stewards, we never forget who the owner is. We are mindful to carry out our work in a way that is hopefully pleasing to the LORD.
In the video, I talk about this, but then I give some practical advice for how to remind ourselves of this so that our Committees are truly a blessing to the Kingdom.
Useful Links
- UMC FAQ on Committees: http://ee.umc.org/what-we-believe/faqs-committee-leadership
- John Wesley’s sermon on The Good Steward: http://wesley.nnu.edu/john-wesley/the-sermons-of-john-wesley-1872-edition/sermon-51-the-good-steward/