Yes and Amen | The Stewardship of Agreement, Obedience, and Reverence

In this episode of Unspoken Stewardship, Dr. Lynn Abies explores the weight of one of the most commonly used words in the Church and why it is far more than a casual response. Amen is not spiritual filler. It is not empty agreement. It is a declaration of trust, surrender, reverence, and alignment with the truth of God.

This conversation unpacks how yes and amen are deeply tied to stewardship. Not just financial stewardship, but the stewardship of our response to God’s Word, God’s authority, and God’s will. From Jude’s doxology to Deuteronomy’s judgments, from the Psalms to the words of Jesus in John 3, this episode invites believers to examine whether their lives truly agree with the God they say amen to.

"If stewardship is faithful management under the ownership of another, then even our yes belongs to God." - Dr. Lynn 

In this episode, we talk about:

• What amen means in the Bible
  
  
  
• Why amen is a word of agreement, firmness, and surrender
  
  
  
• How Jesus uses “amen, amen” with authority and certainty
  
  
  
• Why believers must say amen to hard truths, not just comforting ones
  
  
  
• The connection between yes and amen and biblical stewardship
  
  
  
• How our lives can say no while our mouths say amen
  
  
  
• What it looks like to live a life aligned with the Lordship of Christ
  
  
  

Key Scriptures:

• Jude 24–25
  
  
  
• Deuteronomy 27:15–19
  
  
  
• John 3:3
  
  
  
• Psalm 41:13
  
  
  
• Psalm 72:19
  
  
  
• Psalm 89:52
  
  
  
• Psalm 106:48
  
  
  
• 2 Corinthians 1:20
  
  
  
• Romans 12:1
  
  
  

Transcript

Introduction

Speaker 0:00

Welcome to Unspoken Stewardship, where faith, culture, and responsibility intersect. Unspoken Stewardship is a thoughtful, honest podcast exploring the responsibilities we carry but rarely discuss. From faith and finances to culture, technology, leadership, and discernment, this podcast examines what it really means to steward our lives with wisdom and integrity. Hosted with depth, clarity, and compassion, each episode invites listeners into conversations that challenge shallow narratives, confront cultural blind spots, and calls us back to faithful living beyond what's preached, hosted, or publicly praised. Hey you guys, welcome to Unspoken Stewardship. My name is Dr. Lynn Abies. And if you are new here, this is where we talk about the things we were never taught to name, but we're always responsible to carry. This is a podcast about biblical stewardship beyond money, and we talk about identity and obedience, discernment, calling, truth in the quiet places where our theology shows up in real life. And today we are sitting with one word, and that's the word amen. Okay. A word that I know sounds small, but it carries a lot of authority, it carries a lot of weight. It's a word that can reveal the condition of your heart and a word that exposes whether you merely heard God or whether you actually yielded to him. And this is something that I wanted to talk about because in 2023, four, can't remember. But one of those years, I was very convicted on how I used the word amen. And I was like, oh my gosh, like what is happening? So I started doing some research and a deep dive. And as I was studying the book of Jude, this is when all of this came up. And I just remember the Lord telling me as I was studying the book of Jude when I got to the last two verses in that book. I just remember sensing the Lord telling me, and this is why amen matters. And I was just like, ooh, like I've been using it casually. I didn't even know. There are some words that we say so often that we stop feeling that way. And amen is one of them. I remember having a conversation with one of my homegirls one time, and I was just telling her, I feel like we have allowed culture for so long to define words instead of just going by what the dictionary and what the Bible says that word means. And because of that, we have put things and places and people and positions and in power and in authority where they just don't belong because we have redefined what wasn't supposed to be redefined in the first place. We say words like amen after prayers. We say it in church, we say it when someone's singing a powerful song or preaching something good, and or if you just pray something that just stirs your heart a little bit, we say amen almost by reflex. I know me, I said it so casually, I'll just say it just to say it. I was not mindful of how powerful this word is. Because what if amen was never meant to be a filler? What if amen is not just a church word, but a stewardship word? What if every amen is supposed to cost us something? Because according to the Bible, amen is not casual, it's not a casual agreement, it is not a religious punctuation, it is not a spiritual habit with no heart behind it. Amen is weighty, amen is covenantal, amen is a response of faith, amen is a declaration that says what God has said is true, and I have placed myself under that truth. And that means some of us have been saying amen with our mouths while resisting God with our lives. So today, I want to talk about the power of yes and amen. I want to talk about agreement, obedience, reverence, truth, and stewardship. Because stewardship is not just about money. Stewardship in this case is how you handle what God has spoken. Stewardship is how you respond to truth. Stewardship is what your life does with the will of God. And if the Bible says that all promises of God find their yes in Christ, then the question becomes this what does our amen actually look like? So let's get into it. Let's start with the definition. Let's define what amen means. Okay. So amen carries the sense of so it is or let it be. It comes from the idea of firmness, certainty, trustworthiness, stability. In other words, amen is connected to what is solid, established, and true. That means when us as believers say amen, we're not merely saying that sounds good. We are saying that is true. I agree with God. I place my faith beneath what has been spoken, right? And that already gives us a stewardship type of framework because stewardship begins with how you handle the truth. Some people hear truth and they admire it, they love it. Some, however, hear truth and debate it, some hear truth and repost it, some hear truth and build a platform around it. But the faithful and good steward hears truth and they surrender to that. That is the difference. A good and faithful steward does not stand over the word of God as editor, a steward stands under the word of God as a servant. So when you say amen, you are stewarding your response to divine truth. So let's just even anchor this in the Bible. I want you to turn, yes, turn your books, your Bibles, hello, to the book of Jude. It's only one chapter in the back. It's the chapter before Revelation. Okay. And we're gonna go to the last two verses in that. And it says, Now to him who was able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority before all time and now and forever. Amen. This is not a throwaway ending. This is literally a doxology. This is worship, this is exaltation, this is theological praise with weight attached to it. And Jude here ends by naming who God is and what God does. So he's able to keep, he is able to present, he is savior, he is glorious, he is majestic, he has dominion and authority before all time, now and forever. Then comes the amen. That amen is agreement with the whole reality of God's words and God's rule. It is almost like the soul is saying, Yes, that is true, let it stand, let my life fall in line with that reality. And that is why this matters for stewardship, because if God has glory, then you do not. If God has dominion, then you do not. If God has authority, then you do not. If God is savior, then say it with me, Clash. Then you are not your own rescuer. Hello? If God is able to keep you, then your life is not held together by your own strength. A man is a surrenderer. Point point period. And it's something that we have to surrender under the Lordship of Jesus. Now we're gonna go to Deuteronomy 27, verse 15 through 19, and it says, Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the Lord, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in a secret, and all the people shall answer and say amen. Cursed be anyone who dishonors his father or his mother, and all the people shall say amen. Cursed be anyone who moves his neighbor's landmark, and all the people shall say amen. Cursed be anyone who misleads a blind man on the road, and all the people shall say amen. Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless and the widow, and all the people shall say amen. And it just goes on and on to list these things that we should not do, and the people shall say amen. Right? And this part is so important because it brought out something for me that I feel like many believers do not think about. In Deuteronomy, the people were to say amen in response to the pronouncements of judgment. And that matters. And you might be saying, like, okay, girl, what does he gotta do with anything? Because amen is not only for blessings that feel good, amen is also for truths that are hard. That means biblical agreement includes agreement with God's justice and not only his comfort. We love to say amen when the Bible speaks about favor and breakthrough and blessings and all the things, but we get quieter when the Bible speaks about holiness. We love to say amen when the Bible says God will bless, but we get uncomfortable when the Bible says God will judge. Okay? We love amen when it affirms our desires, but we struggle with amen when it confronts our idols. But a mature believer does not selectively agree with God. That is where stewardship comes in play again. Because part of faithful stewardship is saying yes to the whole counsel of God. That means saying yes to every part of Him, not just the parts that make you feel good, not just the parts that soothe you, not just the parts that platform well, not just the parts that fit modern sensibilities, not just the parts that make you feel seen. A good steward would say, if God said it, I would not edit it to protect myself from submission. So even if we go to John 3, verse 3, it says, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And you might be saying, Well, the word amen is not in here. And you're correct. But the word truly, truly is important here, okay? Jesus is speaking with authoritative certainty here. So when Jesus says what many translations render truly, truly, the sense is that he is underscoring the absolute truthfulness and seriousness of what is about to be said. So if you see truly, truly or dearly, dearly in a text, then you know there's about to be some seriousness attached to that. And he is not guessing, he is not theorizing here, he is not offering one spiritual option among many. He is saying what I'm about to say is certain, authoritative, and demands your attention. That means amen is not just the church's response to truth. Amen is also built into the way Jesus himself emphasizes truth. And if Jesus uses amen with that kind of weight, then we should tremble a little, huh? Before using it so casually. Now, I'm not going to read these, but I am going to give you the scripture reference so you can write it down, take it to the Lord, pray about it, all the things. But Psalm 41, verse 13, Psalm 72, verse 19, Psalm 89, verse 52, and Psalm 106, verse 48. If you take the time to read these passages, they end with praise and amen and amen. That repeated amen is not an empty repetition. Going back to what we were saying about truly, truly, that means he's underscoring importance here. So it's intensified agreement, it is worshipful confirmation, it is the soul doubling down on the worthiness of God. So now put all of that together. Amen in scripture carries truth, certainty, agreement, worship, submission, and reverence. Which means yes and amen are deeply tied to stewardship because stewardship is about rightful response to rightful authority. Now, let's even go a little deeper. One of the most unspoken stewardship failures in the body of Christ is this, to me, is that we say amen to things we do not intend to obey. So what I mean is that we say amen to surrender, then we keep controlling things. We won't let it go. We say amen to holiness, then protect compromise in some type of way. We say amen to trust, then live in panic and fear and confusion all the time. Like we're always stressed over our own thoughts. We say amen to God's will, then secretly hope he adjusted to fit ours. We say amen in public and in church when singing and dancing and praising and all the things, but then we live in disagreement in private. That is not a volume issue. That is a stewardship issue. Because what is stewardship at its core? Stewardship is faithful management under the ownership of another. So if God owns your life, which he does, read Genesis 1, read Romans 12, hello, then your yes belongs to him too. Your yes is not just emotional energy in a worship service. Your yes is an entrusted response. Your amen is part of what you manage before God. That means your agreement matters, your surrender matters, your follow-through, your reverence, all of that matters. A good steward cannot say, Lord, I agree with you, and then use their life to deny him. And this is where I want to slow down a little bit because I think this touches so many areas. Some people are saying amen to God while mishandling their time. Some are saying amen while mishandling their bodies. Some are saying amen while mishandling relationships. Some are saying amen while dishonoring truth. Some are saying amen while refusing community. Some are saying amen while feeding private rebellion. Some are saying amen while resisting repentance. And amen is powerful, but it's also exposing because your real amen is not proven in a sanctuary. It's not proven just publicly, it is proven in stewardship. I think one of the reasons this topic matters so much is because many of us grew up around amen before we even understood it. Like we heard it all the time. We learned when to say it, we learned the cadence, we learned the church language, we learned that it meant the room was moving, we learned that it marked agreement, but many of us were never discipled correctly into the weight of it. So we knew when to say amen. We just did not know that amen was calling for our lives. And I think that is where the spirit convicts because there is a difference between being emotionally moved by truth and being governed by truth. That's like going to the altar, you're weeping, you crying, you're saying, Lord, I'm sorry, help me, fix me, all the things. But then you go back home and do the same thing you just repented about. There is a difference between appreciating what God said and arranging your life around what God said. There is a difference between saying yes because a moment feels intense and it feels good, and you feel the tangible presence of God, and saying yes because your heart has bowed and surrendered before a holy God. There have been moments in my own walk where the Lord was not asking me for louder worship. He was asking me for a truer yes. Not a more poetic yes, not a more visible yes, for a truer, honest yes. A yes in the quiet place, a yes when obedience cost something, a yes when clarity was partial, a yes when fear was loud. A yes when I could not even see the whole picture of a thing. A yes that had to be stored it after the emotion passed. And I think that's where many believers are right now. You are waiting for a breakthrough, but the Lord is examining your yes. You are asking for more, but God is looking at what you did with the last word he gave you. You're praying for open doors, but heaven is asking whether your amen has substance. Because once again, the Bible says all the promises of God find their yes in Christ. That means Jesus is the decisive yes of God, the fulfillment, the confirmation, the faithful one, the true and better response, the guaranteed covenant center. So our amen is never us trying to create truth. Our amen is our response to truth already secured in Christ. And that is powerful, that is a beautiful thing because it means our yes is not self-generated. It is a spirit-shaped, spirit-led agreement with what God has already established in Jesus. Let's stay here for a moment. If you go to 2 Corinthians 1, verse 20, it says, For all the promises of God found their yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our amen to God for his glory. That verse right there is everything. The promises of God find their yes in Christ. Then through Christ, we utter our amen to God for his glory. So even our amen is Christ dependent. All of this goes back to the Christ. Hello? Jesus is the yes of God, Jesus is the faithful one, Jesus is the obedient son. Jesus is the true witness. He is the one who perfectly agreed with the Father. Jesus is the one who could say, Not my will but yours be done, and actually mean it. Jesus is the one who never mishandled what was entrusted to him. Jesus is the perfect example of a good and faithful steward. So when we talk about the power of yes and amen, we are not talking about vague positivity. We are not talking about manifestation language dressed up in church clothes, okay? We are not talking about naming things and claiming it into existence by human willpower. We are talking about Christ. All of this points back to Christ. We are talking about a life aligned under the Lordship of Jesus. We are talking about agreement with the truth of God through the finished work of Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is why stewardship matters here. Because Jesus did not die and rise so that you can say amen with your lips while living autonomously with your life. He redeemed you so that your whole life will become a living yes to God. Romans 12:1 comes to mind. I know I mentioned it earlier, but that's what comes to mind. Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Some translations say, which is your true worship. This is amen embodied. So over here, you know, we like to rebuild. Y'all know I like to talk about the shifts, right? So how do we rebuild here? How do we move from shallow agreement to faithful stewardship in this case? So shift one, stop treating amen like punctuation and start treating it like alignment. Before you say amen, ask yourself, am I truly agreeing with God or am I merely responding to a moment? Because agreement with God means I submit to what he said, but I do not just admire it. I do not just echo it, I align with it for real. That means if God says forgive, my amen includes movement towards forgiveness. If God says wait, my amen includes restraint. If God says repent, my amen includes repentance. If God says trust me, my amen includes surrender. Shift two, steward your yes after the moment passes. Some of the most sincere yeses are spoken in prayer closets, altars, and worship gatherings. True. For real stewardship begins after the moment. So what did you do the next day? What did you do when your obedience became inconvenient? What did you do when no one clapped or applauded or said good job? What did you do when you felt misunderstood? What did you do when the instruction cost you comfort? Because a good and faithful steward carries yesterday's yes into today's choices. And that's something that we have to be mindful of. Shift three, let your amen include the hard truth too. This is where maturity shows up. This is where we have to start eating the solid food and not just drinking the milk, right? Can you say amen to God's holiness? Can you say amen to his justice? Amen to his authority, amen to his lordship over your whole body, your desires, your ambitions, your plans, your platform, your pace, your relationships, your motherhood, your fatherhood, whatever that looks like. Because at the end of the day, a selective amen is still rebellion. And a faithful steward says, Lord, whatever you say is right, because you are right. So one spiritual practice that I want you to put in play this week, pray through Jude 24 through 25 every day this week. Slowly. Okay? Read through it slowly. Don't rush it. Jude is only 25 verses, okay? It's probably one of the shortest books in the Bible. Read the last two verses every day this week. Slowly. Pray it with reverence. Pause at every phrase, turn each line into worship and surrender. Now to him who is able to keep me from stumbling, to present me blameless, to the only God, our savior. Be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority. Then do not rush to find a word. Say amen with understanding. Say amen with submission. Say amen like you mean let my life agree with the Lord. A community aspect, I want you guys. Y'all know I'm going to talk about the community aspect. Okay. Now, this is a community aspect that I want you to do. For those of you who have community, if you have one trusted friend that loves the Lord and loves you, you have community. Community don't need to be 25 people deep. But ask one trusted believer, where does my life say no while my mouth says yes? That is a valuable question. That is a vulnerable question, but it's a stewardship question. And anyone that loves God and love you will answer it honestly with love and respect. Like invite loving biblical honesty, not condemnation, not performance, not theatrics, but invite loving biblical honesty. That's where we are grow and evolve. Trust and community. Because Acts 2 reminds us that the Christian life was never meant to be stewarded alone. Now For those of you who are a little deep like me, it is a deeper reflection to think about. Some of you are listening and realizing that your amen has been sincere but inconsistent. And I want to encourage you: the goal is not to spiral into shame, the goal is to come back into alignment with Christ. The beautiful thing of the gospel is that Jesus is faithful where we have been fractured. He is steady where we have been double-minded. He is true where we have been unstable. And he's obedient where we have been selective. He is holy where we have compromised. So this episode is not a call to fake a stronger yes. Because for all that, what are we doing this for? You know what I'm saying? I'm not telling you to fake it till you make it or force yourself into a stronger yes. But it is a call to bring your weak yes to a strong savior. Because the same God you praises is able to keep you from stumbling. Do you hear that? Not merely warn you, but keep you. Not merely expose you, but keep you. Not merely command you, but keep you. So your amen is not rooted in your ability to be perfect. It is rooted in the God who is able to keep you present, safe, and rule. That should produce both conviction and rest. Conviction because God is worthy of a true yes. Rest because the God who requires your life is also the God who sustains it. So here's the heart of all of this. Stewardship is not first about what is in your hand. It's about what is in your heart. It is about whether your life agrees with God. Yes and amen are not random spiritual phrases or a nice song. They are stewardship language. They reveal whether you trust the Lord enough to yield. They reveal whether you honor his authority enough to obey fully. They reveal whether your worship has substance. And for the believer, amen is not empty optimism. It is anchored confidence in who God says he is through Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the only God. He is savior. He is glory. He has dominion. He has authority before all time, now and forever. Amen. So I have some reflective questions for you guys. And I want you to sit with these this week. The first one is, where have I been saying amen with my mouth while resisting God in practice? The second one is what truth from God have I admired without fully aligning my life to it? The third one is, is my yes emotional or is it stewarded through obedience? The fourth one is what hard truths from the Bible do I need to stop softening? And the last one is what would it look like for my whole life to become an amen to God?