Stewardship 101:
God does not want your money
By Eric Haselhorst
Associate Director of Stewardship
Let us begin class. When I said “yes” and
accepted the position as associate stewardship director with the diocese,
immediately many well intentioned folks offered congratulations and followed
with, “I guess you will be asking me for money, heh heh!”
While thankful for the kudos and pats on
the back, the idea that I would be asking for money from you in the diocese
left me with a rather sour taste in my mouth. The scope of this position is
much greater than that. So right off the bat it is appropriate to clear up what
stewardship is and is not.
For too long the term “stewardship” has
been associated with fund-raising or capital campaigns, which are needed
exercises.
However, when your priest references
stewardship in a homily and you reach for your wallet, it is a clear sign you
have a bad definition of the term.
God does not want your money, God does not
need your money; it is all his anyway. It’s all His. But so is
everything else: your life, your children, your time on earth, your home, your
car, your jet ski, your money, your job, every breath you take -- it’s all His.
He gave it to all of you to manage for Him.
He gave it to you. Let
that sink in a moment.
Now the question might
be, “Eric if he gave it to me, why would he want any of it back?” You bring Him
honor by giving a portion of it back. A portion of your time,
talent and treasure as a way of saying, “Thank you, dear Jesus, for all that I
have.”
“Thank you for giving
us beautiful children; thank you for the ability to earn a living; thank you
for giving me the ability sing, to work the land, to make people feel welcome,
to build cars, to teach,” to do any number of things that only God can give
you.
God gave us the ultimate gift. Take a look
at the crucifix you see every time you go to
God is the ultimate giver. Every time we
give sacrificially of our time, talent and treasure we become more like God.
More Christ-like. More holy. Every time….
So does God want your stuff? No; he wants
you. Only you. You and your families bring him honor
and devotion when you give of yourself, when you give sacrificially of yourself
and begin to live a stewardship way of life.
So, now your challenge becomes to ask
Jesus, “Ok, I have been in charge for a long time; How would you like me to run
things? Where do I fall in your plan?”
This is the hard part folks; we like to be
in control. What I am asking you to do requires a conversion at the very center
of your relationship with Christ. It requires you to hand over your life and
trust God in every way. I struggle with that myself. But you can do it. You
can do it! You have the most powerful source inspiration on earth right
there around you.
1 Cor 12-26 says,
“If one part suffers, all parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all
parts share in it’s joy.” We are all in this together
and together we can become more Christ-like; we can live out our vocations; we
can learn to give of ourselves in a whole new way.
As I mentioned in a previous article, do
not make it too hard. Start small, but start. Start with prayer; start by
visiting the homebound; start by praying with your children; start by going
from $10 to 1 percent or 2 percent a week. Start by simply inviting someone to
Mass. But start. Ask Jesus how he wants you to act, then act. We are
called to holiness, and by living a stewardship life we can become holy.
Next time: Stewardship 202