Stewardship: A Personal Perspective

Watson A. Bowes, Jr.

There are, in my view, two levels of Christian stewardship. The first and most straightforward level is the direct financial and personal support of our parish, the Chapel of the Cross. If I expect to participate in the liturgy, to benefit from the educational programs, to enjoy sacred music, to engage in Christian social ministry through the parish and to have my family ministered to by the clergy — if I expect all of this, I have an obligation to support the parish financially. The biblical guidelines for financial stewardship vary from the ancient description of tithes for the “Levites, sojourners, the fatherless and the widow” (Deut 26:12) to the example of the poor widow who gave everything she had (Mark 12:42). Both of these biblical examples of financial stewardship exceed by a substantial margin the practice of most Episcopalians (me included).

Contributions of personal service are surrogates of financial contributions. Indeed, our parish could hardly function without the volunteer services of so many of its parishioners: church-school teachers, choir members, acolytes, altar guild members, lay readers, office volunteers, Loaves and Fishes members, vestry, etc. Also, there are the countless hours of Christian social ministry performed by volunteers: involvement in Habitat for Humanity, prison ministry, AIDS care, ABC Sale, and Inter-Faith Council, to mention just a few.

There is, however, a more profound dimension of Christian stewardship that has little to do with direct support of the daily life of our parish. This stewardship of our personal lives is made difficult by living in a consumer dominated, secular society, in which we are measured by how much we own, the number of academic degrees we have acquired, how much power we wield, or how much political influence we can exert. C.S. Lewis pointed out that the only books we will have in our library in heaven are the ones we have given away. And G.K. Chesterton warns us that the world catches us by the fringes of our garments, the futile externals of our lives. The stewardship that addresses the necessity of our soul is that which requires turning one's back on the cultural paradigms of acquisition, power, and influence. The biblical guideline for this stewardship is the rich, young ruler who, after following all of the ancient rules, was admonished to sell what he possessed and follow Jesus (Matthew 19:16-22). Historical examples are, among others, St. Francis, Mother Teresa, or the 19th century nameless Russian pilgrim who wandered about praying ceaselessly, “Jesus Christ have mercy on me.” The goal of this soul cleansing stewardship is not 10 percent of our net worth, but 100 percent of our being. Though we are all constrained by exigencies of our circumstances and the goal may seem unattainable, I suspect we will, in the final accounting, be judged by the effort we have made in this endeavor.