Steward Leadership - Accountability

 

This is Chuck Rapp with Multiply, a podcast to provide a word of encouragement for village church planters and leaders.

Our topic for 2025 is steward leadership. To quickly review, a steward is defined as “someone who manages resources belonging to another person in order to achieve the owner’s objectives.” In our context, we are managing resources provided by the Lord for our Village Church Planting work.

Earlier this year in my introduction to this topic, I said that we would explore five major themes of stewardship:

1. Character matters

2. Stewards have an obligation to account for their stewardship

3. Stewardship necessitates cultivating relationships

4. The steward must share his master’s goal for growth

5. Faithful stewards advance in their levels of responsibility

In the early June podcast, I addressed the first theme, Character Matters. Today we will examine our second theme, Accountability. We saw this in all four of the parables we’ve explored and specifically in the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25:14-30.

Firstly, there is a reward for good stewardship. Notice that verses 21 and 23, speaking to those who were given five talents and two talents respectively, the owner’s words are identical. “‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.’”

Sometimes “accountability” is exercised in an exclusively negative context, but I do not believe that should be the case. As leaders, a better practice of accountability is to affirm appropriate behavior, actions, or outcomes. This is similar to an athletic coach who provides encouragement and positive reinforcement when an athlete does well.

That said, there must also be accountability for failure. In our parable, the poor steward was reprimanded and punished. We see this in verses 24-30. The servant who did nothing with his one bag was called “wicked” and “lazy,” and the one bag that he had was taken away from him.

Good and godly leaders must have wisdom and discernment to know when – and how – to hold others accountable for their wrong behavior, actions, or outcomes. I would suggest that the primary factor should be when someone knows what should be done but fails to do it. (See James 4:17) In the parable of the talents, the “wicked” and “lazy” servant knew that the owner expected a return on what he was entrusted with.

Conversely, I would suggest that when mistakes are made because someone did not know what was expected or what they were to do, this should be used as a teaching opportunity for the leader.

Stewards have an obligation to account for their stewardship, and leaders practice accountability with followers.

This has been a word of encouragement for Village Church Planters and leaders.