Stewardship That Honors God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI9J5TOtLmY

Every culture builds something that says, this is who we are. Sometimes it’s a flag. Sometimes it’s a monument. Sometimes it’s a building. What we build always reveals what we value.

In the late 1970s, during the height of the charismatic movement in America, one church built a structure meant to communicate hope. The Crystal Cathedral was designed to let the light in. Glass everywhere. Open. Bright. A visual declaration that God was not confined.

For a long time, it worked.

Thousands gathered every week. Millions watched by broadcast. The gospel went out across the world. I don’t agree with the theology behind it. I don’t agree with how sin, repentance, and prosperity were handled. But people were saved, and Jesus was preached.

Eventually, reality caught up.

Glass has to be cleaned. Steel has to be maintained. Land has to be paid for. Debt has to be carried. By 2010, the Crystal Cathedral filed for bankruptcy. Not because of a massive scandal. Not because of a single moral failure. The building still stood. The light still poured in. But the weight became too heavy to sustain.

I’m not telling that story to criticize another church. I’m telling it because stewardship is about weight. What we carry. What we refuse to release. What we think we can manage long-term.

Sometimes what we call limitation is actually the burden we never let go of.

Jesus addressed this long before modern churches, budgets, and buildings existed. In Matthew 6, He speaks directly to the heart when He says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

To the people listening that day, treasure wasn’t luxury. It was survival. Clothing. Food. Coins. Security. Jesus wasn’t condemning preparation. He was exposing trust.

What you protect the most reveals what you depend on the most.

Then Jesus talks about vision. About the eye being the lamp of the body. To us, that can sound disconnected. To them, it wasn’t. A healthy eye meant clarity and generosity. A bad eye meant fear, distortion, and scarcity.

Stewardship doesn’t just shape what you give. It shapes how you see.

Fear has a way of disguising itself as wisdom. Control can feel responsible. Hoarding can feel like preparation. And over time, vision shifts so slowly that you don’t realize it’s happening.

That’s why Jesus gives such a strong warning. “If the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.”

This isn’t about generosity contests or guilt-driven giving. It’s about whether fear or faith is shaping the way you live.

Jesus ends the conversation plainly. “You cannot serve God and money.” Not that you shouldn’t. Not that it’s difficult. You can’t. One will always take the throne.

Money is never neutral. It always wants control!

We are not here to build an empire. We are not here to chase size or impress anyone. This chapel exists to be faithful, aligned, and obedient to what God is doing in this valley.

I’m not asking you to be reckless.

I’m not asking you to be emotional.

I’m asking for alignment. For partnership. For faithfulness.

Biblical stewardship is how we say, “I’m not just attending. I’m building.”

This is the year we refuse to settle!