The Steward's Reward
becomes indispensable. The church does not need less doctrine. It needs to see how doctrine interprets everything.
Continuance also implies repetition. Paul told the Philippians, "To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe."
The safety of the church lies in hearing the same truths again and again. We are forgetful people. We leak. We need to be reminded of what we already know. The steward must overcome the fear of being repetitive. The cross is not boring. The grace of God is not stale. The promises of Christ are not old news. They are the old, old story that must be told continually because every new day brings new challenges to our faith. The mature congregation does not ask for a new message. It asks for fresh fire on the old message. It asks for the ancient paths to be walked once more.
The Steward's Reward The stewardship of doctrine is demanding. It requires study when the body is tired. It requires purity when temptation is strong. It requires courage when opposition is loud. It requires continuance when fatigue sets in. What motivates such endurance? Paul points Timothy to the reward: salvation for himself and for his hearers. There is no greater reward than this. To stand before Christ and to see those who were rescued through the faithful stewardship of the Word is the joy of every true minister. To know
that God used your feeble words, your consistent life, your refusal to corrupt the truth, to bring sinners from death to life is a reward that outweighs all earthly accolades.
Moreover, the steward serves with the confidence that the doctrine itself is powerful. Isaiah declared that the Word of God does not return void but accomplishes what He pleases. Paul assured the Romans that the gospel "is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." The steward's confidence is not in his own eloquence or his own strategy. His confidence is in the potency of the Word he stewards. His task is to keep it pure, to embody it with integrity, and to continue in it without wavering. God's task is to use it to save. This removes the crushing burden of results and replaces it with the joyous burden of faithfulness. The steward is not responsible for success. He is responsible for stewardship.
Therefore, to every Timothy, be nourished. To every Titus, be uncorrupted.
To the Church, continue. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Guard the deposit. Reside in the truth. For in so doing, you will save both yourself and those who hear you. This is the stewardship of doctrine. It is the weight and the wonder of handling the very words of God. It is a charge worth the