For the next couple of months I am going to be writing about
the Christian virtue that is associated with stewardship and generosity. This can be an awkward idea to write about
because often, at least in my American Lutheran tradition, we associate
stewardship with money and feel uncomfortable talking about money. There is a sense that money is too personal a
topic (aka none of your business). There
is also a feeling that clergy only talk about money in order to get money.
As a
clergyperson I can share a slightly different frustration, the uncomfortable
overlap between being a faith leader and an organizational leader. As a faith leader, I want to talk about money
because Jesus talks about money and the way it affects our walk with God. For instance, he says, “You cannot serve God
and wealth.” In that simple statement
there is whole lot to unpack. We have to
talk about money as a matter of faith. To
avoid the discussion would be like a doctor who never talks about your
digestive system because eventually it gets awkward. Unfortunately, money is
also tied to my role as an organizational leader who is paid a salary and works
with an operating budget based on the money that people give. So there will always be some cloudiness
around discussing money so long as pastors make a living from the money that is
donated by the people to whom they preach.
I hope
this cloudiness might start to become clearer when I maintain that I am not
talking about money, but about stewardship.
Just a warning, there will be an article on money and stewardship. Our finances are a piece of our stewardship,
but not the whole pie.
Stewardship
is a discipline that is much broader than we have taken it to be. It is reflected in our attitude and care of
our bodies, our possessions, our minds and God’s good creation. The idea of being a steward is the idea of
being entrusted with something on behalf of someone else. The things we have are not our own, we are
God’s stewards, caring for what belongs to God, which means that our minds, our
bodies and our possessions belong to God.
In a
grace-centered tradition, stewardship always begins with God. Some traditions start with law, talking about
things like tithing and God’s expectations.
I would rather start with God’s generosity as both the model and the
reason for our stewardship. One of the
most important things about the creation myth in Genesis 1 is what it doesn’t
give, a reason for the creation. God
isn’t looking for slaves to serve God.
God isn’t looking for power or self-esteem. God isn’t looking for praise or honor. God simply creates because God is creative
and what God makes is good. God chooses
to make the creation. It is not an
accidental birthing of the universe, but a divine decision.
This
implies that every living thing is in some way part of that divine
decision. You are, literally, God’s gift
to you. You are also, potentially, God’s
gift to the planet and God’s gift to the community around you. You are an ongoing part of God’s good
creation story, wonderfully made with gifts and abilities that are meant to
help the planet thrive and build up the human family.
Everything
that we do as stewards, as with everything we do with any aspect of
discipleship, is in response to God’s generosity, both in the initial stories
of creation and the story of re-creation and redemption found in Jesus. Jesus is our model for what being a steward
means. He shares his food. He shares his time. He shares his very life on the cross. He shares himself, becoming part of God’s
blueprint for a continuing creative act.
And through Jesus we have also been brought into that blueprint, each
called to become what my theology professor Phil Hefner called “created
co-creators.” To be a steward is a
sacred responsibility. To be a steward
is a divine gift. To be a steward is a
step on the path of discipleship.
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