Michael W. Smith: Embracing the mystery of all you can be

Yesterday was Faith Day at Coors Field.

Jenni, Sammy, Sophie, and I enjoyed a Colorado Rockies victory over the Cincinnati Reds (17-7) with friends William Jones, and his son, Philip, and Tim Dittloff of Stewardship Innovations and his daughter, Kelsey. After the game we heard two great evangelistic testimonies, one from from pitching coach Steve Foster, and the other from the Rockies catcher, Mike McKenry. Those two shared passionately about their love for Jesus while the stage was set for Michael W. Smith to sing.

Smith sang “This Is Your Time” (among other songs) and one phrase stuck with me as it relates to the stewardship of our material goods, spiritual gifts, and most importantly, the eternal gospel: “Embrace the mystery of all you can be.” Will we deploy ourselves and the resources in our stewardship in service to Jesus?

This phrase comes from a classic song written in honor of Cassie Bernall, a 17-year old Christ-follower who lost her life in the Columbine High School Massacre in Littleton, CO. Click to watch the YouTube video of “This Is Your Time” by Michael W. Smith which includes some rare footage of Bernall that illustrates her zeal. And enjoy the lyrics below.

“It was a test we could all hope to pass
But none of us would want to take
Faced with the choice to deny God and live
For her there was one choice to make

This was her time
This was her dance
She lived every moment
Left nothing to chance
She swam in the sea
Drank of the deep
Embraced the mystery
Of all she could be
This was her time

Though you are mourning, and grieving your loss,
Death died a long time ago
Swallowed in life, so her life carries on
Still, it’s so hard to let go

This was her time
This was her dance
She lived every moment
Left nothing to chance
She swam in the sea
Drank of the deep
Embraced the mystery
Of all she could be
What if tomorrow
What if today
Faced with the question
Oh, what would you say

This is your time
This is your dance
Live every moment
Leave nothing to chance
Swim in the sea
Drink of the deep
And fall on the mercy
And hear yourself praying
Won’t you save me
Won’t you save me

This is your time
This is your dance
Live every moment
Leave nothing to chance
Swim in the sea
Drink of the deep
Embrace the mystery of all you can be
[Repeat] This is your time

“God has given us His resources, and we are stewards…Whatever we have, we are to share with others around us, so that the gospel can be proclaimed. We must be zealous in our giving, and we must also receive knowing that we receive to give. We work under the inspiration and guidance of the Holy Spirit, who is a gift from God.”

Timothy Stephen in “Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper” dated 29 June 2015 submitted for PT7054: Biblical Stewardship and Christian Generosity class at Torch Trinity Graduate University. To read more insights from my students, check out my recent CLA blogpost: Six Applications from Asia for all Steward Leaders.

Timothy plans to return to India to encourage Christian generosity there! I appreciated his emphasis that we know that we receive not just to consume but to give, and that our giving is guided by the greatest gift, the Holy Spirit.

Timothy, thanks for exhorting us to serve as conduits who receive to give.

“The result of living as one-kingdom stewards is freedom. You don’t have to own things. You don’t have to control them. You only have to take them as wonderful gifts that God has given and be good stewards of what you have. This is freedom.”

Sung Oh Min in “Resource Development Project” dated 9 July 2015 submitted for PT7054: Biblical Stewardship and Christian Generosity class at Torch Trinity Graduate University. To read more insights from my students, check out my recent CLA blogpost: Six Applications from Asia for all Steward Leaders.

Sung Oh desires to launch an effort to bring renewal to the Korean Church called “Transform Korea by Generosity.” A key idea from the course that resonated with him was the freedom linked to ceasing to live with one foot in the earthly kingdom and one in the eternal kingdom.

Sung Oh, thanks for your enthusiasm to call the Korean Church to the one-kingdom freedom!

“We have responsibilities as stewards of God…We are blessed to bless others but the actual Provider is God…The teachings of Old and New Testaments have taught us to be generous. I am learning to share the gospel, goods, and gifts with others and my attitude matters…Generosity is a lifestyle…”

Imran Nasir in “Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper” dated 29 June 2015 submitted for PT7054: Biblical Stewardship and Christian Generosity class at Torch Trinity Graduate University. To read more insights from my students, check out my recent CLA blogpost: Six Applications from Asia for all Steward Leaders.

Imran is a student from Pakistan. Over and over in class, he communicated the belief that generosity is a lifestyle of those who follow Jesus cheerfully. What would people say about your lifestyle?

Imran, thanks for your willingness to exhibit a generous Christian lifestyle despite the dangers in your context. You are the man!

“God knows my needs, He prepares all things, and He just asks me to follow Him. When I stayed in
Japan as a missionary the first three month I experienced God as my Provider. When I approached Osaka, Japan, I didn’t know anybody and I just had ten thousand won [about $10 US]. I asked God, “if you let me survive three months I will obey you my whole life because I want to conform to your calling. God already prepared my house to stay in and money and a friend. It was miracle time every day.”

Jongsuk Kim in “Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper” dated 29 June 2015 submitted for PT7054: Biblical Stewardship and Christian Generosity class at Torch Trinity Graduate University. To read more insights from my students, check out my recent CLA blogpost: Six Applications from Asia for all Steward Leaders.

Jongsuk recounts that until you are in a place where God is all you have, you don’t fully realize, He is all you have ever needed. Have you experienced that? For her, the class offered a rich theology to strengthen her experience of God’s faithful provision.

Jongsuk, thanks for articulating so beautifully that trusting God puts us in a place where we see miracles happen daily!

“The origin of biblical stewardship and Christian generosity is God. Firstly, God gave us the gospel. Jesus was the begotten son of God. He came to earth to save sinners…Secondly, God gave us goods and possessions to share and give. In the New Testament and the early church, the believers trusted God as their Provider. Sharing and giving possessions was very common. It was their confession for trusting God as disciples of Jesus…Thirdly, God gave us various gifts. Everyone has gifts to share…Some have the gifts of prophecy, serving, teaching, exhorting, giving, administering, and showing mercy (Romans 12:3-9)…Nowadays, lots of people say that this is an era of crisis, but it is era of opportunity. Because Christians have enough stewardship and generosity to save the world: we have the gospel to recover the world, with love and compassion, beyond our goods and gifts to share.”

Min Sung Kim in “Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper” dated 29 June 2015 submitted for PT7054: Biblical Stewardship and Christian Generosity class at Torch Trinity Graduate University. To read more insights from my students, check out my recent CLA blogpost: Six Applications from Asia for all Steward Leaders.

Min Sung ministers in the area of the arts in Seoul and fervently believes people are believing the wrong media messages and that Christians must promote these times as not an “era of crisis” but an “era of opportunity” and adds: Will we take advantage of this moment or let the worldly, materialistic culture win the day?

Min Sung, thanks for opening our eyes to the opportunity these dark days offer keepers of the light. We must shine for Jesus!

“Faithful stewards know who they are and what they have to do. Living in accordance with the Master’s will, stewards are not more than the middlemen…Therefore, giving is not the floating of money that the rich would easily spare, but the willful privilege for anyone who acknowledges he or she does not own anything they possess…”

Moonhee An in “Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper” dated 29 June 2015 submitted for PT7054: Biblical Stewardship and Christian Generosity class at Torch Trinity Graduate University. To read more insights from my students, check out my recent CLA blogpost: Six Applications from Asia for all Steward Leaders.

Moonhee is from China. She is Korean-Chinese and wrote a great stewardship paper and then mapped an incredible “Rich in Giving” sharing project to help people grow in the grace of giving. Her candid communication style in both inviting and convicting.

Moonhee, thanks for your vision to help stewards be faithful middlemen for the Master!

“We have somehow convinced ourselves that we never have enough and that we are always entitled to more. Thus people accrue debt, spending on things that depreciate in value not simply at death (when we can take nothing with us), but long before that, such as bigger and better televisions and the latest, shinier “iGadget”…

This constant need to have and to spend creates a scarcity mentality. We compare our lives to that of others and feel the need to have a standard of living slightly higher than theirs. To achieve this we go further and further into debt, or if we’re marginally smarter, we hoard and hoard until we have enough to accomplish our next goal…

When we are called to give, whether it is from a church…a missionary that is asking for funds, or a poor person asking for money, we feel that we are not in a position to give. We have obligations first to pay off debts, to provide this or that for our families. We rationalize it away by saying that we don’t trust the possibly corrupt church with our money. How do we know that the missionary isn’t just living in lavish comfort overseas? How do we know that the poor person won’t just waste the money on alcohol and drugs?

But Jesus gave us the simple command, “Give to the one who begs from you and do not refuse from the one who would borrow from you” (Matthew 5:42). We don’t need to worry about these things – God is well aware of the fact that we are handing off the money to imperfect people, who may very well confirm our greatest fears and waste some of our precious earthly treasure. Yet in light of the things that we tend to invest our money into, it is probably more dangerous that it remains in our own hands…”

Matthew Suhocki in “Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper” dated 29 June 2015 submitted for PT7054: Biblical Stewardship and Christian Generosity class at Torch Trinity Graduate University. To read more insights from my students, check out my recent CLA blogpost: Six Applications from Asia for all Steward Leaders.

Matthew is from Virginia, though he lives in Seoul. He cares deeply for the God’s people to be agents of justice and generosity. Coming from the states and having a global viewpoint, he sees through the excuses and believes God’s people must walk in obedience.

Matthew, thanks for so clearly articulating the words of Jesus through the noise of self-talk and rationalization!

“Faithful stewards: (1) love God not money; (2) serve others not ourselves; (3) worry not for our daily bread; and (4) always bless, as God blesses us…Recently an earthquake hit Nepal…people are sick, helpless, and poor. Let us do justice for everyone. Justice reveals the personality of our Creator. Justice includes generosity and sharing.”

Amrit Kumal in “Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper” dated 29 June 2015 submitted for PT7054: Biblical Stewardship and Christian Generosity class at Torch Trinity Graduate University. To read more insights from my students, check out my recent CLA blogpost: Six Applications from Asia for all Steward Leaders.

Amrit is a student from Nepal. He has been equipped to take more than the gospel back to his broken and needy country. He is zealous to raise up stewards who have these four traits and will model Christian generosity and justice in a nation where there are few Christ followers.

Amrit, thanks for rallying us to partner with you to care for the sick, the helpless, the poor, and the lost.

“My understanding of discipleship mostly included being a steward of the gospel and spiritual gifts, those were understood to be God’s and not mine, but for some reason when it comes to goods, I was more apt to claim ownership or live as if I was in charge. So connecting stewardship to discipleship is a huge shift for me.”

Andrew Gu in “Philosophy of Biblical Stewardship Paper” dated 29 June 2015 submitted for PT7054: Biblical Stewardship and Christian Generosity class at Torch Trinity Graduate University. To read more insights from my students, check out my recent CLA blogpost: Six Applications from Asia for all Steward Leaders.

Andrew is a pastor with a clear vision to connect the stewardship if our spiritual gifts and the eternal gospel with the stewardship of our material goods. We must do this, in his thinking, so that God stays in charge and we are found faithful.

Andrew, thanks for urging us to connect stewardship to discipleship!