What’s mine is yours, and yours is yours too?

This blog is an article for the Together Paper of Wagga Wagga Diocese June Edition.

Stewards of a God to whom we owe everything

There’s an adage that suggests that money can’t buy you happiness, and generally
speaking we acknowledge this. So then, what can money actually buy us?

With the wrong mindset, it can give us one thing: trouble. And lots of it.

It’s unlikely that many of us will be millionaires, and that’s probably a good thing. I mean,
we’re all familiar with Jesus telling us that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a
needle than for a rich man to enter Heaven. I’ve always loved this image for its
ridiculousness – I am a hobby sewist and it’s hard enough getting a fine thread through the
eye of the needle – but it’s also a stark reality that we need to consider.

Perhaps we’ve heard this and thought, this doesn’t apply to me because I’m certainly not
rich. But I don’t think it is as simple as that. We can be ‘poor’ and still have an inordinate
attachment to money, wealth, or even status. I’m no Bible scholar but I’d suggest there’s a
nuance here that we need to be conscious of: there’s a difference between being money-
savvy and money-focused.

Nuances and worship

In the professional sector it’s easy to get swept up in the pursuit of money. Before we know it
we find ourselves directing all of our attention on money. How much we have, how much we
want and how we can make more.

One of the problems is that this can quickly spiral until we our consumed by our pursuit of
money, ultimately becoming another master. Jesus is clear when He tells us that we can’t
serve two masters, that is, we cannot worship both God and money. They are by nature,
mutually exclusive.

So then, how do we approach money in a way that does not exclude us from worshipping
God? One word: stewardship.

Recall the parable of the stewards:
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The
man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you
entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few
things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’”
(Matthew 20:19-21)

We won’t mention the third steward, because he fell short of the ideal. This parable,
however, explains all that we need to know and is well worth a revisit.

Stewardship in a nutshell

Being a steward means simply to: “use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as
faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.” (1 Peter 4:10)

Yes, this applies to our gifts and talents. But also to our material possessions. This includes
money, possessions and even our houses.

We are only going to be stewards of these possessions for a small period of time. Our duty
is to take responsibility for these possessions with a view of stewarding them for others. For
instance, regular maintenance and upkeep on our cars and houses will hold them in good
stead for the new owners or occupants. This applies to smaller items too, clothing, books,
furniture. When we pass on our donate items they should be in good condition.

All of the gifts that we have received are supposed to be used for the glory of God. By
extension, not for our own glory. We should desire to live within our means, be generous to
others including the church, as befits our state and financial situation.

Do we really need to replace the lounge room décor because it’s so last year, or treat our
possessions without regard telling ourselves that we can always replace it if it breaks?
A good steward is a virtuous person, one who uses prudence, temperance, justice and
fortitude to apply practically the virtues of faith, hope and love. And when they depart this life
for the next they will be welcomed into Heaven as a ‘good and faithful servant’ because they
used their money-savvy to serve the Master they can never truly repay for His generosity.