Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? Luke 16:10-11
“We hear a great deal these days along the line that when the church gets right spiritually, there will be no trouble about the money. My experience clearly teaches me that when Christians get right with reference to money, there will be no question about the spirituality of the church. Selfishness and devotion to Christian service will never be found in the same life. There is no room for the prayer life in a heart filled with selfishness, and no possibility of Christian growth without the prayer life.”
E. M. Runyan as quoted in “Study One” of The New Christian: Studies in Stewardship by Ralph S. Cushman (New York: Centenary Conservation Committee, Methodist Episcopal Church, 1919) 22.
Runyan gets it right! We must steward money faithfully before we can expect to be entrusted with true riches. Nearly a century ago he voiced concerns of selfishness as a competitor to Christian service. He also astutely connects the state of a person’s prayer life to their level of selfishness. How would you rate on such a scale?