The Earth Is the Lord's

Scripture

Psalm 24:1–2 (ESV)

Reflection

Most leaders call their team "my people," and most of the time it is said with care. It means these are the people I'm responsible for, the ones I'll stand up for, the ones whose success I carry. That kind of "my" is a good thing. The trouble starts only when the word quietly changes meaning, from mine to care for into mine to use.

The psalm settles who the people belong to before any leader gets involved. The earth is the LORD's. So is everyone who lives on it. People are named in the inventory. Every person a leader hires, develops, promotes, or lets go belonged to God before they ever joined the team.

That holds even for the leader who built everything from nothing. A founder really does lay the foundation of an organization. There was no one before them, and everyone who comes after stands on what they built. But the psalm names a founding underneath that one. A founder builds a company. God made the world it sits in and every person who walks through its doors.

That is the center of stewardship where people are concerned. A leader can accept that budgets and equipment were entrusted to them and still quietly treat people as personal property. People held that way get managed for the leader's convenience. Their growth matters only when it serves the plan. Their leaving feels like betrayal instead of a transition.

Knowing whose they are does not make a leader less invested. It raises the stakes. The people in the room were entrusted by the one who made them, and he is paying attention to how they are treated. A leader who holds that clearly can still say "my people" and mean it well, because it means mine to care for, not mine to keep.

Practical Application

• Notice what you mean when you say "my people," and make sure it still means responsibility, not possession.
• Name one person you have been managing for your own convenience rather than their good.
• Treat your next hard conversation as care for someone entrusted to you.

Takeaways

• Scripture includes people in what belongs to the LORD, which places everyone a leader oversees in trust.
• Even a founder builds on a foundation God laid, and that includes the people who come to work there.

Closing Thought

The people in the room were his before they were ever on your team.