instead of servants. A difficulty arises in the church, which might
The second part of my address will be occupied with OUR
OBLIGATIONS AS STEWARDS. "It is required in stewards, that
a man be found faithful." It is not required that a man be found
brilliant, or that he be found pleasing to his associates, or even that
he be found successful. All that is required is, that he be found
faithful, and, truly, this is no small matter. It will need the Lord
Himself to be both our wisdom and our strength, or we shall surely
fail. Many are the ways by which we may come short of this
requirement, however simple it may seem to be.
1. We may fail to be faithful through acting as if we were chiefs
instead of servants. A difficulty arises in the church, which might
readily be settled by loving forbearance, but we "stand upon our
dignity;" and then the servant grows out of his livery. We can be very
high and mighty, if we please; and the smaller we are, the more easily
do we swell out. No rooster is greater in fight than a bantam; and no
minister is more ready to contend for his "dignity" than the man who
has no dignity. How foolish we look when we play the grandee! The
steward thinks he has not been treated with proper respect, and he
will "let the servants know who he is." The other day, his master was
roughly used by an angry tenant, and he took no notice, for he had
too much sense to be put out by so small a matter; but his steward
passes by nothing, and fires up at everything: is this as it should be? I
think I see the gentle master lay his hand upon his furious servant's
shoulder, and I hear him say, "Can you not bear it? I have borne far
more than this."
Brethren, our Master "endured such contradiction of sinners
against Himself," and shall we be weary and faint in our minds? How
can we be stewards of the gentle Jesus if we behave ourselves
haughtily? Let us never ride the high horse, nor attempt to be lords
over God's heritage; for He will not have it so, and we cannot be
faithful if we give way to pride.
We shall also fail in our duty as stewards if we begin speculating
with our Master's money. We may play "ducks and drakes" with our
own, but not with our Lord's money. We are not bidden to speculate,
but to" occupy" until He comes. Honest trading with His goods, is
one thing; but to play a high game, and run unlawful risks, is quite
another. I do not intend to speculate with my Master's gospel, by
dreaming that I can improve it by my own deep thinking, or by
soaring aloft with the philosophers. We will not, even with the idea of
saving souls, speak other than the gospel. If I could create a great
excitement by delivering novel doctrine, I would abhor the thought.
To raise a revival by suppressing truth, is dealing deceitfully; it is a
pious fraud, and our Lord wants no profit which might be supposed
to come by such a transaction. It is ours simply and honestly to trade
with our Master's pounds, and to bring to Him such increase as they
gain in fair dealing.