STEWARDSHIP AND THE BARBARIAN SPIRIT

In “The Little Burgundy Book,” a series of reflections on the Gospel of Mark, there is a sermon entitled “Stewardship is Not an Option.”  It states that, for the follower of Christ, stewardship is essential if we are to live the belief that we are truly sons and daughters of God. 

The sermon sets out the following logic:

“If I am a daughter or son of God, then all the people on earth are my brothers and sisters.”

“If I am a daughter or son of God, then everything I have comes from God.”

“If I am a daughter or son of God, then God and I are in this together.”

“I am a partner, then, in the continuing co-creation and redemption of the world.”

Stewardship, the sermon concludes, is not about raising money, but a whole way of life.

How do we define stewardship?  We are stewards of all the resources we have been given as the children of God.  In our families, in our church, in our town and state, and in our country.  We must protect the environment and preserve our limited resources for our children and our childrens’ children.

But I see another side to stewardship.  God calls us His Beloved.  We have inherited God’s grace to receive His unending, unconditional love.  We are stewards of God’s love for us, and our charge is to spread that love throughout the earth.  Starting in the inner circles of our families, our neighborhoods, and our workplaces, we walk out each day as His Beloved.  How does our stewardship show itself to those whose lives we touch? 

In “The Barbarian Way,’ author Erwin McManus says: “I am concerned that there are many who have grown up in church but have never met Christ.”  McManus speaks of the character and heart of John the Baptist preparing the way of the revolution Jesus began 2,000 years ago.  He encourages us to meet the challenges of everyday life with that same Barbarian Spirit.

McManus says the call to stewardship is the call of the barbarian spirit.  He speaks of the message we learn in Ezekiel: “God has made an emphatic declaration that He will prove He is God and He is holy not through His action, but through the action of His people.  A civilized faith relates to right and wrong as a moral obligation.  A barbarian faith loves good and hates evil.  There is no obligation fueling the actions of His people… they are passionate about the very things that are on the heart of God.  Their motivation is not external but intrinsic.  They are moved from the inside out.”

Can we be moved from the inside out?  Can we harness the passion that our hearts feel every time we hear the words “You are My Beloved?”

I believe that we can.  Let us rededicate ourselves to our first love, our God who loves us unconditionally, and let us honor His love by giving of ourselves as true stewards of the living Word.   

In a very practical way, we face a call to action to be the true daughters and sons of God.  We are the hands and feet of Christ, the disciples of God, in 2011.   Here and now, let us examine our consciences and make today the day we walk the walk of the steward, show the heart of the barbarian spirit, and support our churches, temples, or places of worship as the passionate, beloved daughters and sons of God.