Stewardship

Steward is a word that has a lot of different connotations.

According to the Oxford Dictionary Stewardship is “the job of supervising or taking care of something, such as an organization or property.”

A steward is someone who takes care of something. Stewardship is the act of taking care of something. Some churches have stewards who take care of funds and property. A steward of the environment is someone who does a good job cleaning up and taking care of the world around them.

I’m a Union Steward, which is defined as “An employee of an organization or company who represents and defends the interests of their fellow employees as a labor union member and official.”*

So, as I said, a steward is someone who takes care of something. In my labor union context it’s someone who takes care of other people. In the Christian context it’s someone who takes care of the Lord’s creation or is dedicated to service, to a higher calling. Christians are called to remind themselves that nothing belongs to them, they’re stewards of things but not owners.

I’m not a Christian, but I like this concept very much.

It’s not far removed from the Buddhist concept of the Bodhisattva, who is helping others on the spiritual path.