STEWARDSHIP IS AN EXPRESSION OF DISCIPLESHIP 

           WHAT ARE WE EXPRESSING IN OUR LIVES?

 

            How often do we define stewardship as fundraising, as something that should only be done in the fall, and as ALWAYS about money? Too often.

            I’ve heard definitions of stewardship that range from my original definition of stewardship as “stewardship is everything” (I was young!) to a very long, verbose definition written by the Council of Stewardship back in, I believe, 1945. Over time, I’ve “revised” my definition to being that “stewardship is the evidence of discipleship.” Even that may not be quite right. Stewardship and discipleship are completely intertwined. You can’t be a disciple if you aren’t a steward of God’s gifts, and you can’t truly be a steward of God’s gifts unless you are a disciple.

            In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1) With that understanding of (1) the importance and primacy of God and (2) what came first (hint: not us!), I believe the following statement by Bishop Robert Morneau is easily understood: “Stewardship is a way of life…When we recognize that God is the origin of all life, the giver of everything that we have and are, the source of our freedom and giftedness, the healthy person responds by thanking God through prayer, by serving God and God’s people through ministry, by sharing our financial resources with those in need.” (Theology of Stewardship–https://sacredheartcatholicchurch.org)

            Doesn’t that response of prayer, service, sharing, financial resources all start to sound an awful lot like those intentional discipleship plans that we’ve been working on as a Conference?  You know those pesky discipleship systems that we didn’t know anything about just a couple of short years ago? Well, surprise, surprise, we’ve had systems for discipleship all along. The See All the People resources has this to say:

            “Whether you know it or not, you already have a discipleship system in place in your church. Your current system produces exactly what it is designed to produce. Once we begin to think about our church as a system, we can start to think intentionally about what our system is producing. Intentional discipleship means we know and have planned out the many ways that people new to the faith enter into our church’s discipleship system and move through it on their way to growth and maturity. We then clearly communicate the opportunities that disciples have through the church, and offer ways to self-assess and reflect upon the next steps for their spiritual journey. (“Developing an Intentional Discipleship System: A Guide for Congregations” by Junius B. Dotson (p. 24-25))

            That system that helps develop disciples and guide them on their faith journey HAS to include stewardship. If we define stewardship as comprised of three parts, what happens?

                        Stewardship of Prayer – this is about our relationship with God. Prayer exists to allow us to talk to God, with God, and to listen to and for God.

                        Stewardship of Service – God gives us gifts and we must use those gifts in service to those in need…not because we are doing for others, but because Jesus is doing for others through us.

                        Stewardship of Sharing – in an earlier blog, I opined that a checkbook is a theological document. It has also been said that “a budget is a moral document.” “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.” (Matthew 6:21) How we approach our sharing says an awful lot about our discipleship.

            A system of prayer, service and sharing are must-haves in a discipleship system, which then leads to some questions:

·        *     How intentional are we about those systems?

·         *    Are we experiencing joy in our giving and stewardship?

·         *    Is stewardship part of our discipleship plans?

·         *    How moral IS our budget?

A    *    Are we leading a life of stewardship?