@mikedoneheyofficial: The Greek word is “oikonomos” and most succinctly means “a house-distributor (i.e. manager), or overseer, i.e. an employee in that capacity” When I think of many of the self-proclaimed leaders I’ve been around, they seldom use the language like “employee” or “house manager.” It seems, the temptation for us all is to think of everyone else as an employee while we think of ourselves as the boss. Now I know it’s always difficult translating languages and arguing over English words, especially when the original texts were written in Greek or Hebrew, but here I think Paul’s point is clear. In a time when the church was fighting over Paul and Apollos, and who was their “leader,” Paul says they were looking at it all wrong. We’re not the authority, he said. We have been given authority, and it isn’t ours to keep, it’s ours to distribute. All we have been given is gift. All we are given to manage is on loan. Here I think about the steward of Gondor in Lord of the Rings. He didn’t want to be a steward. He wanted to be the leader. He didn’t want to relinquish the throne back to Aragorn. He wanted to be king. This, I think, is the danger of being in love with leadership instead of thinking of everything we do as stewardship. All we have, we will one day give back to the king. In relation to say, a music career, for some reason, that responsibility feels more like an easy yoke of service than a heavy burden of building my brand. If you’d like to hear more on the subject, check out Chapter 7 of my book “Finding God’s Life for My Will” or you know, just kick the idea around with your friends. For some reason, a Stewardship Conference sounds a whole lot more in line with what Jesus asked of us than a leadership one. What about you? Do you think yourself a servant steward or a servant leader? Does it make a difference? I’ll let you decide.

Mike Donehey

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Tuesday 26 August 2025 18:59:35 GMT