Have you heard the same news story told by different television stations, or reported in the newspaper, or reported on the radio? You may find that this same newsworthy event happened several different ways, and that the end result of this event on one station is far different from the result on another station. I would suggest that there are several contributing factors, including the reporter’s interpretation and the desire on the part of the reporting agency to distinguish their story from their competitors. It sort of reminds me of the game that we used to play as kids when we would start with a phrase, whisper it to the next person and pass it around the room, only to find that the original phrase not only has changed, but it doesn’t make any sense and doesn’t resemble the original phrase. Each of us interpreted the information a certain way, and often times we added a little twist to the information to distinguish it from the last person.

Most of us have a favorite station, broadcaster, or newspaper because they report the news the way we want it reported. Their slant on the events of our current world are correct in our minds and hearing this news reported in a comfortable, agreeable manner makes sense to us and does not require us to consider an alternative point of view. Some of the cable channels air shows that have hosts with opposing points of view discussing all of the issues confronting our people today. As viewers, we often believe that one of the hosts of the show and the guest, depending on our viewpoint, is right on target or is completely wrong.

We want to hear or see or experience what we are comfortable with and will apply our interpretation to some event based on what we believe is correct or is not correct. There is nothing wrong with this way of evaluating information, but we will never change or grow if we do not venture out of our comfort zone and consider alternative points of view. I, for one, have often found myself disputing someone else’s point of view because I have chosen not to listen to the their argument, only to ultimately discover that they were correct in the end.

I believe we all have a tendency to react that way when we hear the word "stewardship." Each of us has a pre-formed opinion about what stewardship is or is not and how stewardship affects our daily lives. We tend to stay within the comfort zone we have established and don’t really want to listen to someone else’s point of view, lest they succeed in swaying our opinion. Just as it is with the news, it is sometimes difficult in our stewardship journey to accurately interpret the information at hand and determine how best to react to that information.

None of us as humans have reached or will ever reach a level of understanding that allows us to perfectly interpret God’s signs and how He is asking us to live as His disciples here in our earthly existence. Some will attempt to burrow into a comfort zone and attempt to eliminate any challenges to alter one’s understanding of what God is asking of us. Some will eagerly devour anything and everything in a quest for this understanding of God’s will. Still others will selectively consider some information and discard other information and will come to understand what they interpret to be God’s will differently over the course of their lives.

Each day given us by our God allows us the opportunity to grow in our relationship with God through a continual conversion of our faith. Each of us can grow in our relationship with God by spending time each day in prayer with God, discerning what is being asked of us, and how we are being asked to share our gifts here on Earth. Unfortunately, like the news, there will not always be a clear interpretation of what God is asking each of us to do in our daily lives. Fortunately though, God will be there to help us interpret this information each day in our prayer lives and will help us understand what He is asking us to do in our daily lives. We must remain open to that ongoing dialogue with God and be willing to follow His example rather than our own, even when it differs from those around us.