We believe that God is the creator of the universe and therefore 100% of our time, talent, and treasure belongs to Him. We are just merely stewards with what God has entrusted to us.
Our focus of stewardship comes from a passage in scripture in the book of Matthew. Jesus shares a parable about a master that leaves town and entrusts three different servants with some talents. When the master returns from his trip, he has found the first two servants were wise with their talents; and then Jesus rebukes the third servant for burying his talent and not investing it. Here is a portion of the passage where the master addresses the third servant..
“But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. Therefore take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents. ‘For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.
The point we find in this passage is that God is not looking for servants to just ‘give back’ what has been given to them. He’s looking for investors that will make wise decisions with their talents. We can give back 100% of our talents back to God, but that doesn’t mean we’ve been a good and faithful servant.
It doesn’t take much thought to give God back what he’s given to us, but it shows the quality of our heart if we desire growth in our Master’s business.