Steward Leadership - Must Share the Master's Goal for Growth

  

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.

In recent episodes, I mentioned 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

Today’s theme is that a steward must share his master’s goal for growth, and we will address this within our context of Village Church Planting.

Firstly, let us consider our VCP vision which is “a church in every African village by 2050.” It will be impossible to reach this goal without growth. If we are to steward well the resources and provision of God for VCP, we must aspire to see growth. (And, praise the Lord, VCP is experiencing amazing growth as we are now working in 36 African nations with more than 800 training centers.)

Secondly, let us consider this theme from our Master’s perspective. Why would our Lord have a goal for growth? Let’s look at three scriptures.

2 Peter 3:9 tells us that “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” The Lord’s desire to see “everyone to come to repentance” certainly sounds like a Kingdom growth goal to me.

We see a similar message from the Apostle Paul who wrote in 1 Timothy 2:3b-4 “…God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.” Again, we see our Master’s goal for growth as His desire is that all people might come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

Lastly, in the Revelation of John, let us consider this vision in chapter 7, verse 9. “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands…”

A numberless multitude of worshippers in heaven “from all tribes and peoples and languages” demonstrates our Master’s goal for Kingdom growth, and it is His assignment for us to be part of gathering this great assembly.

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