To truly make the parish the source of the Christian life, understanding the concept of stewardship is essential. Stewardship is the only biblical way of community building - it is our way of proclaiming the good news of Jesus that we must be "good stewards of God's mysteries." (1 Peter 4:10)
WHAT IS STEWARDSHIP
Just about everyone has some property to take care of, whether it be a home, car, clothes, money. Caring for this property entails "responsibility" no matter how small or great. As we manage our property, we may sometimes employ others to assist and these others are called "stewards" or managers. According to the dictionary: "a steward is a person put in charge of the affairs of an estate or household, one who manages property for the owner."
If we open our Bibles, we find that all followers of Christ are called to be stewards for him:
"People must think of us as Christ's servants, stewards entrusted with the mysteries of God. What is expected of stewards is that each one should be found worthy of his trust" (1 Cor 4:1-2).
Likewise, in a Christian sense we are stewards since all life and all that is part and parcel of life is from God. We "belong" to Him and we are entrusted with the administration of His affairs. We care for His world and we are accountable to Him and Him only. (Mt 25:14-30)
Our Stewardship of the earth goes beyond being hired servants - we are the children and people of God. Through BAPTISM we join the Christian family and in CHRISMATION we are given talents - the gifts of the Spirit. Thus, we care for God's world not as hired men and women but rather as sons and daughters caring for our own household.
To be Christian, then, entails "responsibility" and this responsibility is twofold: spiritual and material. Our life is not a dichotomy - it is a wholeness of being, all our work as Christians is to fulfill work of Jesus Christ who never separated in His own ministry the "spiritual" from the "material".
Therefore, stewardship is a call to maturity (in biblical terms it means being wise), like "the faithful and wise steward" referred to by Luke (12:42). It is a call to an ongoing creation, i.e., always creating and recreating our earth to Jesus Christ. Stewardship is involvement or serving the Church in the work of Christ; it is an obligation of love and an expression of love. Finally, it is a call to a complete and unreserved dedication - only when we can totally see the good in God's world - treat it as good, and develop it for better, then we are the trustworthy stewards of God's mysteries.
TIME, TALENT, TREASURE
As we begin to apply the concept of stewardship to our life, we see first and foremost that we are stewards of LIFE. If we analyze this in a Christian framework, there are three major areas of concern: Time, Talent, Treasure. Time is the gift of life on earth; the time from cradle to grave. Talent is the gift of physical and intellectual abilities, the capacity of knowing, doing and achieving. Treasure is the gift of material goods, and the property and money we can accumulate from the fruits of our time and talents.
Let us look at each one in a more detailed fashion applied to our Church life.
Time:
When God gives us life, we don't know how much time we are allotted to live that life and therefore, we must use it wisely in every activity throughout the day. We must budget our hours so that we are able to give of our time to fulfill God's plan.
To be a good steward of time means to establish priorities to make time to pray, Bible-reading, worship of God within our parish family, visit the sick, and share concern with family and friends. Time must be used responsibly.
Talents:
God gives each one of us potential talents when we are born, and each and everyone is unique in God's plan. We all share different talents and we all fit into God's world in a special way. Our talents must be furthered and deepened to assist ourselves and others so we must use our talents wisely. Christ is not physically present in our community visiting and helping His people. Today, Christ depends on us to do His ministry, His works of love in our parishes and diocese. Do you love Jesus enough to be like Him - to do His work and let Him work for you? Do you love Jesus enough to let Him use your feet, hands, eyes and tongue to build His church on earth? The Bible tells us that if we use our talents wisely, we will be better able to use them and we will develop others. If we do not use them, we may even lose those we have. We are after all, co-workers with Christ!
Treasure:
The Scriptures reveal that one day each one of us will die and we can take no earthly possessions beyond the grave. (Lk 12:16-21; 17:22-37) Then, we must give our account of our stewardship for we can be stewards no longer. Our personal accounting will reveal how we managed and used our money; whether we were stewards-for-self or stewards-for-God. Because the church is a Body, it has physical needs and we are obliged to care for these needs by giving of our possession, for example, our money, our property, or our time.
God wants us to return to Him through the Church a reasonable portion of our money, so that the church is able to bring the Kingdom of God into the hearts of His people. God needs our money to benefit not only ourselves, but also our neighbors in need in our parish, our diocese and world.
We give money to the church to glorify God for gifts He has given us and to acknowledge Him as Author and Giver of all. We express thanks by giving a portion back to God from what He has given us. Giving back to God is an act of worship.
We also give to the church because it is God's plan for us to help in the work of salvation. We all are responsible to tell the Good news.
It always remains a question for some: "how much should I give?" Our money gifts of thanks must be acceptable, sacrificial, and in proportion to what God gives. A few guidelines:
- God is first in my life and budget. I do not give Him "left over" but from the top.
- Tipping is commonplace in society. Tip God a fair tip, 15%-20% for everyone else, what about God?
- I give all the time - not when I feel like it.
- I give accordingly and in proportion to all that God gives me.
- Am I giving $5 when I could give $10?
Realistically, we should consider the TITHE. In the Old Testament, the standard of giving was 10% of all God has given. This is known as the tithe. To equal this tithe expected by God from His people in the Old Law, we should give at least 5% of our income to our parish and 5% for all other works of religion and charity. The New Testament does not standardize an amount, but it does call for an acceptable, sacrificial and proportionate giving in thanks. NOW is the time and we must commit ourselves now.
STEWARDSHIP IN THE PARISH AND DIOCESE
To properly function, the total vision of stewardship must be presented. If any segment is emphasized over and above another segment, the whole program will deteriorate in a parish or diocese. The stewardship concept can and will work provided negativity is not permitted to prevail. Real sacrifice must be preached. We must begin to do away with unjustifiable 'sources of income in our parishes: gambling, binge, raffles, lotteries and sales of alcoholic beverages. We cannot hoard our money for if we do, we are not good stewards. Categories of people should not exist in our communities. Everyone must give no matter how small or large. All church related organizations must be based on the same principles of the whole church. Organizations are not fund-raisers; they are spiritual entities first. We must work at making every member a fully involved person in Church life.
Parishes seem sometimes to be islands to themselves. However, they join with other parish churches to form a larger family - the diocese. Since the diocese is the "manager" or steward of the parishes, the stewardship program must be emphasized through the proper hierarchy. The Bishop, the chief steward, relies on his membership for assistance in church administration. He relies on all the talents of his flock to strengthen the diocese. The more lay participation we have, the more we will see the goals of stewardship learned and implemented. The giver gives his sacrifice of time, talent, and treasure and he must know that his offering is being used in a way that enhances the church of Christ. The diocese in turn becomes more visible and helpful by giving funds back to parishes in the form of scholarships, low interest loans, youth programs, adult and youth education and direct diocesan involvement in the parish. All talents and charisms are included; clergy and lay. We allow the spirit to recreate our community and we draw upon our rich past to move forward for the present time.
Now is the time for the Melkite Church to become good stewards of Jesus Christ.
