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Steward (Luke16:1-12)

A steward in Bible days was not a servant. He had full charge over all the servants and the household as well. He acted for his master in all matters.

Topic: Household
Format: Verified Digitized
Pages: 3

As a convert to Christianity from Hinduism, Bishop K.C. Pillai came to the Western world on a singular mission: to teach the Eastern culture of the Bible. Although Christianity is generally considered a western religion, the Bible itself was written and set in the Orient, and it must be viewed through the light of that eastern window. The Bible is filled with passages that perplex the Western mind, and yet they were readily understood by the Easterner. When the reader becomes knowledgeable of the oriental idioms, customs, and traditions of the Biblical setting, these Scriptures become clear. God called Bishop K.C. Pillai to reveal these Biblical truths he called Orientalisms. At the time of the Bishop’s early life, his native India had remained an isolated country for thousands of years. Therefore, the customs and manners of the people were still aligned with the Eastern, Biblical culture. For over twenty years, Bishop Pillai taught these Orientalisms, bringing great enlightenment to the Christian world. His crusade of imparting this light of the Eastern Culture carried him to numerous universities and seminaries, as well as every major denomination throughout the United States, England and Canada. Still today, his teachings remain the foremost authority on the rare gems of Biblical customs and culture. Bishop K.C. Pillai’s conversion to Christianity is a witness of God’s heart, as well as a lesson in one of the most significant Eastern customs found in the Bible. The Bishop was raised as a Hindu. When a Hindu child of the ruling class is born, a little salt is rubbed on the baby who is then wrapped in swaddling cloth. This custom invoked one of the oldest and strongest covenants in the Eastern world, the “salt covenant.” In this particular instance, the child was salted for a lifetime of dedication to the Hindu religion. The “salt covenant” is used in like manner throughout the Bible to seal the deepest commitment. As a result of the salt covenant it is difficult for Hindus to convert to Christianity. When they do, their family actually conducts a funeral service to symbolize that the individual is dead to their family, the community and Hinduism. Their family will carry a portrait of the “deceased” to the cemetery and bury it. Many times Bishop spoke of his “burial day” when he was disinherited by becoming a Christian; the only Hindu willing to break that covenant of salt in his community during that time. K.C. Pillai answered God’s call and served as Bishop of North Madras in the Indian Orthodox Church. Sent on a special mission to the United States, he spent the last twenty years of his life acquainting Christians with the Orientalisms of the Bible. The interest Bishop Pillai generated in the field has led to numerous further studies by other scholars in the field of manners and customs in the Bible, as well. His books and teachings continue to illuminate and inspire students of the Bible throughout the world. A solid understanding of Orientalisms is essential to “rightly dividing” the Word of truth, and Bishop K.C. Pillai’s works remain an indispensable reference.

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A steward in Bible days was not a servant. He had full charge over all the servants and the household as well. He acted for his master in all matters. He was not paid a salary. He was part of the family, although not a blood relative. It was considered the highest of honors to be selected as a steward. He was given the master's signet ring which means power of attorney to put the master's official seal on legal papers: to buy and sell, engage and fire servants, allot money to the master's wife, appear in court in behalf of the master. In other words, the steward stands next to the master himself in all matters. He can forgive debts. It is therefore, of great importance that a steward be skillful, discreet, wise and honest with much love. The steward in the story was such a one. He acted even as a benefactor, which was entirely in his province to do. Through the years he had kept record, but not required from the hands of two of the poor creditors all that was due his master. Stewards had this right. For if in the event the future would be bad for his master or himself, those to whom they had served as benefactors would then become their benefactors in return. It is an Eastern practice even to this day.

Bishop K.C. Pillai, D.D.