The word "steward" comes from the Old English stiweard – stig – meaning hall and ward – meaning keeper. A Steward therefore conducts, manages, and supervises something entrusted to their care by another. A steward is a caretaker and a manager.

In the Old Testament, we first encounter this image of humankind as God's agent in Genesis, as we read: "Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them. God blessed them and God said to them: be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth." Genesis 1:26-29

From the very foundation of the world, we have been stewards of God's creation, which is to say that creation itself – all living things, plants and animals, winged and crawling creatures – are given to our use in trust by its creator and true owner, God. With this trust from God comes also responsibility and accountability to God.

The key word in this passage is "dominion", which we understand wrongly to imply "gift." Biblical scholars remind us that "dominion" should be understood, as it were, as a badge of office. We thus wear our dominion. This aspect of our dominion - stewardship - is illustrated by a passage from Isaiah in which the steward is chastised by the prophet for appropriating his master's property as if it were his own: "Thus says the Lord God of hosts: Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is master of the household and say to him: what right do you have here? … the Lord is about to hurl you away violently, my fellow. He will seize firm hold on you, whirl you round and round and throw you like a ball into a wide land and there you shall die – O you disgrace to your Master's house. I will thrust you from your office and you will be pulled down from your post … I will summon my servant, Eliakim son of Hillkiah. I will clothe him with your robe and fasten your sash around him and hand your authority over to him … I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open." Isaiah 22:15-22.

In the New Testament, Jesus uses stories about stewards to remind us of our responsibility to God. In Luke 12 we read: "And the Lord said, "Who then is the faithful and prudent manager whom his Master will put in charge of his slaves, to give them their allowance of food at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. Truly, I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions… From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required and from the one to whom much has been entrusted, even more will be demanded." Luke 12:42-44, 48.

The point of this and other stories like it is that we need to be faithful with whatever we have, whether that be much or a little and that faithfulness is not measured by accumulation but by attitude. The poor steward is that one who forgets who's in control. They have forgotten their accountability to the real owner.

It is not difficult for us to understand the work of a steward or manager as a formal role, as a paid employee of another, one who wears the dominion-sash as a badge of office. In the spiritual sense, a steward is, of course, not a hireling but is rather a person who has been entrusted with oversight of God's most precious possessions. The relationship is not that of employer to employee or even master to slave for a covenant is greater than a law – it is a mutual commitment. The covenant is between God and us.

St. Paul takes this theme and carries it further by suggesting that a steward is entrusted because he or she is honest and worthy of trust.

In his first letter to the church in Corinth, he wrote about the ministry of the apostles and himself, the least of the apostles: "Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God's mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy." I Corinthians 4:1-2.

And so, what can be said about the image of the faithful (or unfaithful) steward as revealed in scriptures? In the spiritual sense, a steward is not a person simply exercising a job but rather is a person who has moved into a new way of life, a new relationship. A steward has been entrusted by God with God's creation and endeavors to exercise their role in a trustworthy way. They have moved into a partnership covenant with God and thus have become co-creators with God in redeeming the world. As co-creators with God, we are not caretakers for an absent owner but rather we are the ones who work with God to care for and restore the world. We know that God cannot get involved, can not intervene, unless a person provides the hands, the heart, the voice, the muscle and the brains. A steward accepts that role with fear and humility but also with a sure knowledge of the strengthening power of the Holy Spirit.

A steward is one who has accepted membership, through the sacrifice of Christ, into the family of God. And like our human family, to be a member means not only to be accepted and loved and trusted but it also carries with it a level of responsibility and accountability. In a family, accountability is mutual. Together, we work with the creator to accomplish God's will.

To accept Jesus' call to "follow me" is to become a steward, a responsible member of God's family. The last individual decision we make is the decision to say "yes" to Christ's invitation to become a disciple. From that moment on, every decision is a corporate one. We become users, not possessors, of God's creation. For us, achievement cannot be measured by how much we make or how much we accumulate but rather achievement is measured by how well what we manage has been used in Jesus' Name and for his mission.