That which God has entrusted

When we think of stewardship, we often associate it with money. However, Merriam-Webster’s definition is much broader: “the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care.”

The work of American Family Association (AFA) aligns not only with the dictionary definition of stewardship but, more importantly, with God’s definition as presented in Genesis 1:28, which is often referred to as the Cultural Mandate: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it.”

AFA is among the organizations whose efforts to carry out the Cultural Mandate include preserving and protecting the ideas that have made America the freest and most generous nation in the history of the world. A central way that we do that is by encouraging and exercising one of our most basic freedoms – citizen activism.

By keeping Christians informed on the critical moral, political, and social issues of our day and encouraging responsible civic action, AFA’s work reflects the implications of Psalm 24:1 (NIV), which states, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” If everything belongs to the Lord, then isn’t it our duty as followers of Christ to “subdue” God’s creation to the best of our ability for His glory?

A core value

Simply put, that is why one of AFA’s core values is stewardship. We believe that this ministry, along with everything in the heavens and on Earth, belongs to God. AFA’s role is to serve as a trusted manager and to encourage believers to do the same in their spheres of influence.

Additionally, the Cultural Mandate is echoed in other Scripture passages, including the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30. Here, Jesus tells the story of a master who gives his servants a sum of money (talents) and expects a return on his investment. (Obviously, talents represent gifts and resources entrusted to believers.) The servants who were good stewards of their master’s investments were rewarded. However, the one who buried his talents is called “wicked and lazy” and thrown into “outer darkness.”

Jesus summarized the parable with this warning: “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away” (Matthew 25:29).

A high call

Finally, AFA’s highest call to trustworthy stewardship includes not only the Cultural Mandate, but also the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, when Jesus commands His followers to expand His Kingdom by making disciples of all nations and filling the earth with worshippers of God.

In 1 Corinthians 4:1, Paul expresses his role – and ours – as stewards of the gospel: “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.”

Even casual listeners to American Family Radio, readers of The Stand magazine, and viewers of American Family Studios films regularly hear the name of Jesus boldly invoked and declared to be the One whom God the Father sent to be the Savior of the world (1 John 4:14).

It is AFA’s hope that we would steward all that God has entrusted to us in such a way that the lives of believers and unbelievers, as well as our great nation and the world, will be transformed.

Please pray with me that the stewardship God has entrusted to AFA and our supporters will continue to be a light in our great nation for many decades to come.