Don’t be like that
By Dan Stremel
Director, Offices of Finance and Stewardship
The dictionary defines "selfish" as being concerned excessively or exclusively with oneself or to seek and concentrate on one’s own advantage without regard for others. The world we live in today seems at times to embrace this attitude, but unfortunately, this attitude is inconsistent with Jesus’ message of stewardship. The news reported in the papers, on television and over the radio airwaves most often does not explicitly mention the word selfish, but the effects of selfish behavior are woven throughout the story lines. It is refreshing and a welcome change when the opposite story appears, the one where someone or a group of people have gone out of their way to help others even when they weren’t required to do so.
Responsibility and gratitude are two of the characteristics of a Christian steward that I believe are important in addressing this issue of selfishness. Gratitude is the response that occurs when one realizes another’s giving that is motivated by love and our response back, either to that person or to another, also motivated by love. Responsibility is the conviction of being obliged to act and is rooted in the essence of who we are as individuals. It is the understanding that each of us, through our individual actions, are not entitled to receive, but rather are accountable for all we have been given.
Many of the columns that I write are inspired by the events that occur each day, either in my personal life, or that I hear or read about. In the course of these events, I often find myself wanting to also be selfish as a result of another’s actions and continually need to tell myself not to be like that, not to mirror the actions that I find so objectionable. Sometimes, I don’t succeed in controlling my actions and my own selfish motives override good intentions and thus, another column is born.
Each of us as individuals is called to this Christian discipleship that we describe as stewardship. In fact, each of us together with our family members, co-workers, committee members, and neighbors are called to live as Christian stewards. Living each day as a Christian steward is difficult and is filled with choices and with challenges. The pressure to succeed, to control costs, to increase revenues, or to satisfy our customers and constituencies often leads to behavior that seems harmless at the time, but which in fact lacks the characteristics of responsibility and gratitude. It is important to continually assess whether we are acting responsibly and with gratitude and if our actions take into account the concerns of those around us.
Gratitude is rooted in our relationship with God and requires us to understand that each of us depends totally on Him. We fail sometimes to comprehend the magnitude of God’s love for each of us. We sometimes fail to appreciate the Father’s gifts and that He has given each of us unique and special gifts to be shared rather than to be used selfishly for our own presumed good.
Responsibility is not optional for those of us who aspire to being the best Christian stewards that we can be. We must, as the U.S. Bishops suggest, be one who receives God’s gifts gratefully, cherishes and tends them in a responsible and accountable manner, shares them in justice and love with others, and returns them with increase to the Lord.
I pray that each of us will take time to reflect upon our tendencies to act or to react in a selfish manner and to consciously set aside those actions that display a selfish attitude. I pray also that each of us in our actions as individuals and in working with others, will be responsible stewards whose actions are rooted in gratitude to God and that our actions will reflect the same selfless love that Jesus has shared with each of us, day after day.