Dealing with Bad Stewards: Wealth, Generosity, Discipleship

Devotional

Day 1: The Owner’s Heart vs. the Steward’s Hand

Adam and Eve’s failure began when they treated Eden as their possession rather than God’s trust. Stewardship collapses when we confuse management with ownership, clinging to resources, relationships, or callings as personal property. The garden’s expulsion reveals how bad stewardship fractures families, economies, and spiritual destinies. True freedom comes when we hold everything—careers, finances, even our bodies—as temporary assignments from the One who truly owns it all. Every act of greed whispers, “This is mine,” while surrender declares, “I’m just the caretaker.” [04:33]

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you slipped into an “owner’s mindset” this week—clinging to control over something God entrusted to you? What would it look like to hold that area with open hands today?

Day 2: When Wealth Has You

The rich young ruler’s tragedy wasn’t his money but his slavery to it. Jesus loved him enough to expose the idol that blocked eternal life. Wealth becomes dangerous not when we have it, but when it has us—when security rests in portfolios rather than providence. Generosity isn’t about amounts but allegiance: giving breaks greed’s grip. Like camels struggling at narrow gates, hearts swollen with self-sufficiency cannot enter heaven’s economy. True stewardship asks, “Does my giving prove I’m free?” [13:36]

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24, ESV)

Reflection: What practical step—no matter how small—could you take this week to prove money doesn’t own you?

Day 3: Connecting Valuables to Values

The woman with the alabaster jar didn’t just give perfume—she shattered her safety net to honor her Savior. Her heirloom became worship, linking earthly treasure to eternal worth. Stewardship thrives when bank accounts, talents, and time align with what we claim to value. Unlike the rich ruler who hoarded, she risked scarcity to celebrate abundance. Jesus still defends those whose offerings seem wasteful to practical minds but lavish to hungry hearts. Legacy isn’t built in spreadsheets but in moments when treasures become testimonies. [21:56]

“Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” (Matthew 6:20, ESV)

Reflection: What “alabaster jar” have you been guarding that God might be asking you to break open for His glory?

Day 4: Stop-and-Think-About-It Gifts

The woman’s perfume and Jesus’ “nevertheless” in Gethsemane model costly obedience. These are stop-and-think-about-it moments—sacrifices so jarring they make onlookers gasp. God often asks for gifts that demand prayer, not pocket change: relocating careers, ending toxic relationships, or giving savings to a struggling church. What seems irrational to others becomes eternal when aligned with divine timing. Like the perfume’s aroma filling that room, radical stewardship leaves a fragrance that outlives critics. [24:59]

“Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” (John 12:3, ESV)

Reflection: When has God last asked you for a gift that made you pause? How did you respond—and what might He be inviting now?

Day 5: Stewarding the Church’s Tomorrow

Churches, like gardens, require collective stewardship. Rez Church’s financial strain mirrors the rich ruler’s dilemma: will we clutch resources or invest in kingdom harvests? Budget gaps aren’t about numbers but trust—will we fund God’s work like the woman funded Jesus’ burial, or walk away sorrowful like the wealthy man? Healthy churches balance salaries, buildings, and missions, but thriving churches risk “stop-and-think” generosity. The question isn’t “Can we afford to give?” but “Can we afford not to?” [33:47]

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7, ESV)

Reflection: What would cheerful, faith-stretching stewardship look like for you in this season—for your church, community, and beyond?

Sermon Summary

Stewardship names the issue straight. Managing that which belongs to another. Discipleship and stewardship sit together, not apart. The call makes each believer the CEO of you, charged to manage God’s stuff with a steward’s heart rather than an owner’s heart. Adam and Eve show what happens when an owner’s heart takes over. The garden was entrusted, not owned. Bad stewardship reached for a forbidden tree and cascaded into banishment, broken family, and loss. The point presses the belief system. Many become unbelieving believers when stewardship touches their idols.

Mark 10 brings the rich young ruler to Jesus. The man is moral and clean, yet empty and unsure. Jesus looks at him and loves him, then puts a finger on the first commandment the man skipped. Love the Lord your God with all your heart. Money had slipped into the God spot. Jesus is not against wealth until the wealth has them. He asks for a concrete act of dethroning mammon. Sell, give to the poor, then follow. Generosity becomes the only proof that greed has not got you. Wealth opens a thousand doors, but not the door to eternity.

Mark 14 brings a woman into the boys’ club with an alabaster jar. What others call waste, Jesus calls a beautiful thing. The jar is heirloom level, worth a year’s wages. She breaks it and pours it on Christ for burial. Her act ties valuables to values. She refuses to let worship sit in the pocket change lane. She gives where it will never come back, and Jesus promises her story will ride with the gospel.

Gethsemane sets the ceiling for generosity. Father, if it be your will, let this cup pass. Nevertheless, not my will, yours be done. A stop and think about it gift marks true stewardship. Sometimes heaven is silent until obedience answers for the heart.

Mission then stretches local and global together. Glocal. God taps a church on the shoulder to get people out from under a tent, to rebuild a burned kitchen, to bring water and classrooms where despair lived. The call lands on Rez Church. The numbers are tight. The back of house is lean by the 30 30 30 10 rule. The ask is not compulsion but conviction. Cheerful, planned, and firm. The belief system shifts when the church connects its valuables to its values and steps into a beautiful thing.

Key Takeaways

1. Stewardship rejects the owner’s heart Stewardship manages what belongs to God and refuses the illusion of control. Adam and Eve lost Eden not because they lacked resources but because they claimed what was entrusted. Discipleship without stewardship gets thin fast. The CEO of you must carry a steward’s heart, not an owner’s entitlement. [05:17]
2. Generosity unmasks and defeats greed Jesus loved the rich ruler by aiming at his god. The litmus test was not talk but transfer. When treasure moves Godward and toward the poor, mammon loses its throne. Generosity is not a tip but a surgery that restores the first commandment in practice. [12:55]
3. Connect valuables to deep values The alabaster act shows worship that costs. A year’s wages shattered on Christ becomes beauty in the mouth of Jesus and memory in the mouth of the church. When valuables follow values, legacy replaces luxury and preparation for burial replaces perfume for self. [20:47]
4. Offer stop and think gifts Gethsemane names the line between preference and obedience. Sometimes God asks for what feels too heavy, and silence tests loyalty. Nevertheless is the steward’s word, and it turns costly surrender into redemptive fruit. [24:59]
5. Be glocal, cheerful, and strategic Mission runs local and global at the same time, with planned generosity that stands firm. Stories of tents becoming buildings and villages gaining kitchens, schools, and water grow out of a people ready to be tapped on the shoulder. Cheerful, proportionate giving, not compulsion, fuels a healthy church that can carry big assignments. [34:11]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:34] - Dealing with your BS: belief system
[03:17] - Stewardship defined: managing God’s stuff
[03:57] - Adam and Eve’s bad stewardship
[06:06] - Unbelieving believers and selective trust
[07:47] - Three scenes: rich man, fragrant woman, Rez
[08:10] - Rich young ruler and one lack
[12:40] - Generosity as proof against greed
[16:47] - Alabaster jar: a beautiful thing
[20:47] - Connecting valuables to values
[22:40] - Stop and think gifts
[26:21] - Glocal mission stories
[31:01] - Rez Church numbers and gap
[33:12] - A stop and think gift for Rez
[34:41] - The 30 30 30 10 health rule

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Mark 10:17-27 (ESV)
17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions. 23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” 27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”

Observation Questions

In Mark 10:21, Jesus tells the rich young ruler to sell his possessions and give to the poor. What specific reason does the sermon give for Jesus focusing on this man’s wealth? [12:40]
How does the woman with the alabaster jar in Mark 14 demonstrate connecting her “valuables to her values” according to the sermon? [20:47]
What practical example does the sermon use to explain a “stop and think about it gift” in the context of stewardship? [24:59]

Interpretation Questions

Why might Jesus have loved the rich young ruler even as He confronted his attachment to wealth (Mark 10:21)? How does this reflect God’s heart toward people struggling with idolatry?
The sermon contrasts an “owner’s heart” with a “steward’s heart.” How does Adam and Eve’s failure in the garden illustrate the danger of an owner’s mindset? [03:57]
The woman’s act of breaking the alabaster jar was called “waste” by others but “beautiful” by Jesus. What does this reveal about how God measures worship compared to human calculations of practicality?

Application Questions

Generosity is called the “only proof that greed has not got you.” What is one area of your life (time, money, possessions) where you could intentionally practice generosity this week to test this truth? [12:55]
The sermon warns against an “owner’s heart” that clings to control. What is something you’ve been treating as “yours” instead of God’s? How could you actively manage it as a steward this month?
“Stop and think about it gifts” require surrendering something costly. Is there a specific step of obedience—financial, relational, or vocational—God has been asking you to take that feels “too heavy”? What would it look like to say “nevertheless” to Him? [24:59]
The church is called to be “glocal” (global and local). What is one practical way you could support both local needs (e.g., community outreach) and global missions (e.g., international aid) in the next six months? [26:21]
The rich young ruler walked away sad because he couldn’t release his wealth. What “door to eternity” might be closed in your life if you refuse to let go of a specific idol? How can you begin to open that door today?

Sermon Clips

44s

“He had missed the first commandment. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. He didn't quote that one. He didn't quote that one. But Jesus noticed that he was serving possibly the god of mammon. Money had gotten this guy and Jesus recognizes all things and and, you know, I think a lot of people have got this thing messed up about morality. This this guy said, I've been morally good. I've I've not stolen anything. I've not committed. I'm not I'm not I'm not but he equated serving god as just being morally good.”

38s

“I have a I was talking to a fellow this last week, and I said he was asking me questions about the bible, I said, man, I said, sound like you got a great family. You're doing great. He says, no. And he said, my wife's not on board. I said, why isn't she on board? And he said a phrase I'd I'd never heard. He says, my wife is a unbelieving believer. I said, say that again. Say it again. She believes in God, but she is an unbelieving believer. She believes in parts of the bible, but she doesn't have faith enough to believe for all of the bible.”

58s

“Can you let this cup pass from me? Heaven is silent. God is not answering his son that he loves so much. Let this cup pass, lord. It's too much. Then Jesus said, nevertheless, father, not my will, yours be done. That was a stop and think about it. Has god ever tapped you on the shoulder and asked you to do something so big that it really? You want me to do that? You want me to that? If you live long enough, you have to give a stop and think about a gift. The other people here thought she had lost her mind kind of gift.”

44s

“Jesus is about to be crucified the next day. He's already told everybody this is going to happen. He are and now Jesus is carrying the weight of the world of all your sins, caught carried your sins and my sin in that garden that night. The Bible said he was such under anguish that he that he sweat drops of blood. I mean, it was a horrible night. And he prayed. He tried to get his people to pray with him, and they went to sleep. And he's praying and he's praying, and he said, father, this is just a little bit too much for me to bear. Could you imagine the sin of the whole world being on your that night? This is a little bit more than I can have. Hey, father, is there another way?”

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