What is Christian Stewardship?
Stewardship is entirely spiritual and finds its basis in the Scriptures, the Tradition of the Church… and in good common sense!
An Act of Faith: We profess that we belong to God… and all that we are and all that we have comes to us some way, somehow from Him!
An Act of Trust: We place our life in God’s loving Hands by returning to Him a portion of what He has entrusted to us.
An Act of Worship: We adore and acknowledge God as the Giver of all good gifts and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with our material blessings.
An Act of Belonging: We unite our offering with the rest of our parish family so that together we might respond to the needs of one another.
What has God entrusted to us?
- Time. We will be judged on how well we have made use of the time given to us… this is something of an unknown factor, too!
- Talent. Our abilities and capabilities – possibilities that God can transform into realities and blessings!
- Treasure. What we tend to value the most in our times and where it’s hardest to sacrifice.
Developing Our Understanding of Christian Stewardship
By and large, this is an area not altogether well-understood by many Catholics! For most, it’s perceived as a way of raising money… all about the dollar and zilch about religion and spirituality! Not so. It has to begin with an understanding of our religion… if a spiritual basis is not present, then stewardship has no meaning, and we deprive ourselves of knowing God more intimately and of seeing His power at work in our lives and in the life of the world.
This perspective has some roots in the immigrant history of our own nation has solidified a sense among many individuals that a few “rich benefactors” appear to wield most influence because they carry the load of the Church’s expenses… the rest of us “nickel and dime things.”
In a number of Catholic countries around the world, the civil government subsidizes the Church to an extent (e.g. some European nations)… this has its pitfalls as it subjects the Church to potential conflict with the State, so to speak. In Mexico, for example, anti-clerical laws (State laws that specifically and strictly limit the ability of the Church to be of service to her people) prevent the Church from engaging and encouraging the support of the faithful. This is how the notion of “charging” for basic services such as sacraments has come about and exposes a mindset that views the Church as a commodity.
In the United States, the Church is solely dependent on the free-will offerings of the faithful… there isn’t any other means to sustain the works of the Church.
In one sense, this can be an immense challenge for us as Catholic Americans… the wealthiest nation in the world and we can tend to be very cynical and negative when it comes to Stewardship… to sharing our time, our talents, and our resources to support the needs of the Church. We can tend to be so steeped in “materialism” – the idea that the life to come couldn’t possibly get any better than here and now! – that we miss the real spiritual point of good stewardship. These are areas where the Church must speak clearly for the good of souls, because STEWARDSHIP is part of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Stewardship is Biblical
In the Old Testament, God commands the “tithe” – giving the first and best 10 percent of our goods to Him. The Israelites would turn these over to the priests and shepherds of God for the good of their community. God commands the tithe so that His people would not be too attached to material goods, but dependent on Him… what’s more, God knows that we have a spiritual need to be generous and to give out of love for God!
The Lord Jesus develops this even further, remember when He said, “I have not come to abolish the Law… but to fulfill it.” God doesn’t want money – He wants our hearts! The Lord Jesus brings this “down to earth” and makes it all-the-more concrete with His instruction, “Where your treasure IS… THERE is your heart.” Meaning that where we put our time, our talents, our treasure – our money, our material good – it reveals what IS most important to us!
Everything we are and that we have this side of eternity is transitory, “passing away,” as St. Paul writes. In other words, “we can’t take it with us.” God IS our greatest possession… and so we give sacrificially to support the life of His Church on earth.
Four Foundational Points of Good Stewardship
Take a look at these… we get past ‘em, then stewardship is not a “money” issue at all… it’s simply a way of looking at life.
1) We are CONVINCED of our religion. In other words, we understand what Our Lord teaches us, that the Church He established is His Presence in the life of the world. We’re in a position to be in heaven with God forever… what we are or what we may have this side of eternity is all from God essentially – it’s His gift. This is foundational!
2) We try, with God’s help, to LIVE our religion as best and as faithfully as we can. Pre-eminently this refers to our prayer, our worship, our participation in the Sacred Liturgy… this is how we express our love for God Himself… and by keeping His commands to love one another as He has loved us.
3) Perhaps most important… we are GRATEFUL for what we are and what we do have! “It is the grateful heart that pleases the Lord.” (Psalm 38)
4) Then accordingly, we find ways to put our gratitude into ACTION by placing our lives in God’s Hands and our material gifts at His disposal.
Looking at things this way… stewardship is a no-brainer. We return to the Lord a portion of all that He has given us!