Am I A Steward of God-Given Capacity?

When I was growing up, I occasionally heard this phrase,

“in God, there is no retirement from His work…”

The phrase was often spoken in jest while asserting a truth, today this phrase has taken on new potential and meaning for many of us.

Our government in Singapore has acknowledged the longer healthy life-span of the average person due to medical and health advances. Retirement ages have been raised from 55 to 58, 62, 65 and likely to increase in the future. There have been efforts to keep older people in the work-face and a stronger anti-age discrimination in re-employment. Nearly half the times I take Grab-transport, I find older people who have retired and taken on driving to keep themselves active, make some income in their post-retirement years!

However, I contrast this with the years I’ve had privilege to do missions work in India and Philippines. I coached a group of churches in the Philippines over 5 years, returning to the field once a year. Over that year, I saw a close colleague in his 60s age and fall sick and passed away due to illness. He was the Senior Pastor and head of a denomination. After his passing, his wife had to take over leading the church.

Another Head of a denomination in that region, a man in early 50s develop a sickness in the years I was there. A few years after I had stopped the coaching, he too passed away. These were people I had spoken with, prayed with poured out hearts with and coached through challenges in ministry! And I would never see them in that field again. It dawned upon me that the life-expectancy of our colleagues in other nations are significantly shorter than those in Singapore due to different lifestyles, medical treatments, environmental pressures & resources. While we grow up with our colleagues into retirement years, when we work with colleagues in missions, there comes a time where we experience the loss as they pass on much earlier…

There are many gifts given to Singapore—being a hub, good materials and resources—but one that dawned upon me is that of capacity of our years, health and life. How should we intentionally steward this?

The Bible poignantly reminds us,

“His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant…you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “‘Take the talent from him and give it to the one who has the ten talents. For everyone who has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”(Matthew 25:26-28, Selections)

I submit to you that as faithful servants of God in a blessed nation like Singapore, our capacity is one such talent that needs to be intentionally stewarded.

1. Stewarding Fitness

I joined a church that was notorious in the number of meetings and activities carried. I found myself have preparations, meetings and work to process that I was there early in church, worked through the day, went home around 6pm to have dinner with my family and tuck my kids in to bed early, then continued working from 830pm through to 11pm. This was nearly daily routine lifestyle!

As I prayed about that new season and setting a new year resolution, I distinctly remember God said, “Philip, you need to keep fit as one of your God-given resolutions”. Wow, that was the first time I heard that from God! In following up, I joined a gym, and over time even engaged a training coach for that season. Through that period I’m proud to say I lost 8 kg over 10 months! I got fitter, and though tired from the workouts, I could actually push through the work hours. I learnt valuable lessons about health, training and fitness that period.

For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. (1 Timothy 4:8)

“There are many gifts given to Singapore—being a hub, good materials and resources—but one that dawned upon me is that of capacity of our years, health and life. How should we intentionally steward this?”

But what a joy when training in the physical and in godliness come together as an instruction from God for His purposes! We should not be surprised that stewarding fitness can help us better fulfil God’s purposes at times.

After all, the Bible tells us every part of us are wholly connected:

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24)

2. Stewarding Mental & Emotional wellness

We are made with a will and a conscience. Many things in life weigh upon our conscience and drag us down.

Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them. (Romans 2:14-15)

We are built with a conscience that respond to many things around us. Beginning with our thoughts and expressing as emotions, they may become a barrier that weighs us down from running the race of God’s purposes.

The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:19-23)

Sin—sometimes caused by us, other times caused by others around us and our response to them—can lead to a plethora of actions and emotions that weigh us down.

Things that may cause a load to derail us from God’s purposes could be:

• Inappropriate relationships that cause guilt and shame,
• Driven, ambitious goals that lead to anger and frustration,
• Poor organization & stewardship of time / resources that leads to anxiety and worry…

How can we guard our hearts to keep our thinking and our feeling stable and pure in order to serve God well?

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. (Hebrews 12:1, NLTSe)

In stewarding capacity, we come to a point where we are wise to know the effects of temptations, selfish ambitions and the like, to want to manage and avoid them so that our capacity does not leak away but rather preserved and grown for fulfilling God’s purposes in our lives.

3. Stewarding Technology

How can a person be at 2 places at one time? How can a person bring people from the church sanctuary to a desert Egypt or to the mountains in New Zealand? The answer: through technology, video and AI!

With video recordings, I can be teaching at 2 places, one video and one live. Through Zoom/Teams software equivalents, we can coach, teach and mentor across thousands of kilometres. This is great news for those who, as age catches up, find it more difficult to travel so often for ministry. If you are like me who don’t travel well and get travel-sick easily, and finding such traits getting marked the older you get, learning to be skilful with technology can compensate to a good amount.

I would suggest some ideas to grow in this even if we are of the generation who are bewildered about technological tools:

• Try checking in on someone using zoom, and pray for them
• Try video recording a 5-minute devotion on zoom. Have a friend familiar with media technology give you feedback
• Try engaging a videographer to convert one of your well-used sermon or teaching module to be a good online video

Such ideas build up your confidence and may even open a door for your resources to be used by a wider audience.

Anointing and the power of God CAN be recorded on media; the Bible is the best example of anointing of God recorded on media and transmitted across time and space for us!

“In stewarding capacity, we come to a point where we are wise to know the effects of temptations, selfish ambitions and the like, to want to manage and avoid them so that our capacity does not leak away but rather preserved and grown for fulfilling God’s purposes in our lives.”

4. Steward your time & energies locally and for the nations

With some of the ideas above, you could conceivably reach far and wide despite growing older and lessening in physical health and energy. Whatever you have, I believe it is in general, much more than what many developing nations have. It is time for you to steward you capacity for the gospel and discipleship work to other nations.

The “Antioch of Asia” label is not only for those who aggressively travel and build missional centres across our neighbour-nations. They are the frontlines and pioneers; God bless their hearts! But we who are growing older, more reticent, more “decrepit” can play our part too! Much can be done even from being based at home or in one location.

So Paul left the synagogue and took the believers with him. Then he held daily discussions at the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for the next two years, so that people throughout the province of Asia–both Jews and Greeks–heard the word of the Lord. (Acts 19:10)

Using the travel of people-traffic, and the gateway language of that time, the people through Asia heard the gospel from Paul’s daily teachings in a lecture hall! Today our “lecture hall” can be our studio, our home, our room.

As I conducted a zoom training with a denomination of pastors, I was speaking to a passionate & committed lady-pastor. I could notice how much she had aged, struggling with diabetes, taking lots of medication. Her sister had fallen ill and she was caring for her. But she herself looked worn and aged. I could not help but have a foreboding feeling that these health, personal care and lifespan are—all things being equal—must poorer than that in Singapore. How much time would she have left? How many more years as we minister together would I see her healthy and mobile?

While I have my health and capacity, I must steward them to keep on running the race. I must be well emotionally, mentally and physically to be effective to fulfil God’s purposes in my life.

Even as we walk with God and serve Him, may our fire burn bright into old age.

May these words hold true,

You, O LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. With your help I can advance against a troop; with my God I can scale a wall. As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the LORD is flawless. (Psalms 18:28-30)