The Stewardship of Resources
At Point Loma Nazarene University, we believe that learning is enhanced, community is fostered, and God is honored when we practice biblical stewardship. Biblical stewardship is comprised of two key concepts: 1) God is the creator, the owner of everything; 2) the steward is expected to freely determine how to use the owner’s resources.
The Christian steward acts with the fullest liberty, but also with the mind of Christ. Through biblical stewardship, both the steward and the allocated resources are redeemed. Self-interest, though not completely excised, is shaped to mirror the interests of God. Therefore, resources are used for a greater and higher good with eternal possibilities.
Biblical stewardship encompasses all the resources under the authority of the steward. At Point Loma Nazarene University, our resources include:
- the community of staff, administrators, scholars, and students
- the mission of the institution
- the relationship with the sponsoring denomination and all churches represented
- the message of the Gospel
- the expenditures of students; charitable donations
- the mysteries of learning
- the physical campus
A Christian liberal arts university is an ideal place—perhaps even a metaphor, for the practice of biblical stewardship. The way in which Jesus taught and trained his disciples perfectly illustrates the high calling of the stewardship of the intellectual and moral property of others. To practice stewardship of the divinely-created human capacity to learn and understand is to exalt and honor God in a unique way.
For a university informed by the Wesleyan theological tradition, stewardship naturally occurs in community. At PLNU the faculty, staff, and administrators allocate their resources of time and talent to the mission of teaching, shaping, and sending. Their stewardship becomes vocation, benefiting students and honoring God. Furthermore, as stewards of the mission itself, we strive to:
- create a learning environment inclusive of a broad range of faith traditions among students and faculty
- work proactively on behalf of poor and marginalized student groups
- allocate resources strategically to pursue the mission
- exhibit an active recognition of and passion for the mission
- encourage a respect and concern for the environment
Theologian Walter Bruggemann suggests that a community like PLNU demonstrates stewardship by exercising both respect and restraint for its resources. Keeping this in mind helps establish moral boundaries for using all university resources to the greater good of the learning community.
People, of course, are the most critical resource for PLNU. Without people, the university’s mission and purpose are without merit. In Exodus 19:5, God speaks of Israel as His “treasured possession.” Likewise, we are to treasure these individuals, recognizing their crucial role in the life of the university and, in turn, the role of the university in their lives.
This most intimate form of biblical stewardship speaks more about what we believe than any other form of witness. The message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is vital to us as a community of stewards. The gospel binds us together beyond the classroom and offices; it energizes the mission of the university and enables us to act with the respect and restraint mentioned above.
Ultimately, when the stewards of Point Loma Nazarene University seek to allocate and utilize God’s resources for his honor and glory, then we can fulfill the biblical expectation of stewardship.