Passionate Steward - 10th Anniversary Edition

12 THE PASSIONATE STEWARD
Consequently, clergy and lay leaders use secular fundraisers,
adopting their “expertise,” language, and practices—further
alienating stewardship from its true status and role in the lives of the
faithful. Simply put, a variety of causal factors has created an
environment where few of the clergy or faithful any longer
understand or embrace the true nature of Christian stewardship.
To better understand stewardship I believe it necessary to
make an affirmative statement about what it is. Consider the
following classical descriptions of Christian stewardship:
• Stewardship is the proper and generous use of our time,
talent and treasure.
• Stewardship is all that we do with our lives after reciting our
baptismal promises.
• Stewardship is about joyfully returning to God a portion of
that bounty which God has bestowed upon us.
These are working definitions from which we can proceed. But to
employ St. Thomas Aquinas’ style of argumentation, I think it
equally useful to approach stewardship from a via negativa
perspective, or more clearly, to examine what it is not.
Experience suggests that the following are some of the more
common ideas about what stewardship is not. Stewardship is not
just about duty, responsibility, or financial giving. Stewardship is
not about who gives most, or who can give enough to be considered
for “naming opportunities.” Neither is stewardship disconnected
from how we live as Christians. Stewardship is not about giving
time without treasure; treasure without talent; talent without time;
nor any other combination—but rather, the triune and complete use
of all three of these aspects for the glory of God.
Stewardship is so intrinsically part of our vocation as
Christians that we cannot place it above or below prayer—but
essentially with it. Our acts of charity can be a prayer for humanity.