Regional Synod of Canada - Reformed Church in America

Pioneer Christian Monthly

Date - Nov/66

Contributor - J. W. Vandenberg

Title - Loans Without Interest!

Topic -Finances

If you think of yourself as at least an "average" person, then there must be some question marks in your mind about the word "Stewardship" and its meaning. Of course, you have asked before what it really means but, well, you know, it is one of those things you so easily forget. Oh, yes, of course, Stewardship has to do with handling and controlling in the proper way something that is not your own. And, yes that's right, it is often used in connection with money, and our "giving" to the Church.

But that is not the whole picture. Stewardship indeed deals with ALL the gifts of God. We therefore are at the same time stewards of money and material things as well as of the Grace of God and His Love. All things are then given to us as a loan, for naked did we come into this world and with nothing in our hands we will leave it again. The heavenly Father, Who is a just and righteous Bank-Manager, has provided these loans without charging interest. Of course we will have to pay Him back, and naturally, it would be rather door if we could not show any increase in the "basic capital", but there is no fixed interest to be payed. From our human point of view, we are inclined to say, well if God would charge interest, this might be an incentive for us to work harder or do more with what He gave us. But who are we to dictate or even ask for such a system ?? God has made us and given us freedom, the freedom to do His will, obey Him, or disobey Him.

Sounds familiar to you ? You heard this before ? Are you the kind of a reader that now already knows the rest of this piece of writing, and judge that it is a plea for money ? Well, sorry, then you are wrong this time. No matter what, please read on, because there are some important things coming up in the following lines. They are important because they are from the Bible.

How do you rate at the Bank ? Could it be said of you like Paul does in I Cor. 4 : 1, "This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God"? Did you ever realize that our relationship to the Bank is one of partnership,? We are in partnership with Christ. (Now do not think that we try to elevate ourselves to His level!) Listen to what is found in I Peter 4 : 10, "As each has received a gift, employ it for one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace . ." Ali, it seems that we are coming very close to what Christ said in the summary of the law, love God and your fellow man. And you figure, well, what might this have to do with money, and you are so right, because Christ never asked for money and thus you will not be asked for any now at this moment. Yet, let me try to explain this strange position of a Stewardship agent of Classis Ontario. It is actually quite simple. All that is necessary is a way of life as we are told about in II Corinthians 8 : 5, " . . . but first they gave themselves to the Lord . . .", and they were most certainly not a bunch of rich people, but they were rich in the Lord.

With our always questioning mind, we would ask: what did those Corinthians have that we do not have ? They may e.g. have used" the content of a text such as "By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren." (I Jo-h. 3 :16) The world is crying for love, our neighbours are crying for love, and so do our loved ones close by and far away. When Jesus asked Peter: "Do you love me?" Peter was told to "Feed my sheep". How much feeding have we been doing?

This writing may seem rather businesslike, and in a sense it is, but then the Lord's Business. Before leaving you to your own thoughts, there is this helpful suggestion : Give of your best to the Master. As receivers of God's blessings and Grace we certainly owe Him gratitude. To be grateful to God is to begin with the acknowledgement that we are debtors. This is entirely apart from the size of the church budget, its income, or even the specific needs of the world. Our first and foremost obligation is to God, and when we most sincerely love Him, there will be no shortage of anything, either with our local church treasurer, or our denominational bookkeeper, or for that matter in the entire world. Use your loan well. You do not know when the Bank will call your loan back. This is the time to work, do it now.

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