Stewardship of our accountability —
We're answerable to one another in every aspect
of our relationships to people and things
If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another ... 1 John 1: 6,7a
by Geoffrey Hall
At a meeting of the Diocesan Council and in the context of a study on stewardship, one member suggested the need to qualify that word.
Wouldn’t it be clearer if when we used the word stewardship we said what we mean? Stewardship of what? When I use the word, I usually have something particular in mind and use a word with a very broad and all-encompassing meaning. For most, stewardship means fund-raising or a financial campaign. Christian stewardship is much, much more than that.
At our 2009 stewardship conference, Bishop Edward Salmon did this very thing when he began by speaking (and for the majority of his time) about the stewardship of the Gospel. He followed that by discussing stewardship of the church’s leadership and concluded with a short time on the stewardship of money. When we qualify what we mean by the word, stewardship begins to carry its real meaning.
During his two visits with us, Bishop Salmon used the “A” word a lot — accountability. The basis for his approach to stewardship, it would seem to me, is accountability. And indeed that is what it’s about. In order to manage what we have (and we have a lot) there is fundamentally a need for clear accountability. We need to be able to answer to one another responsibly about every aspect of our relationships with people and with things. That is the basis of stewardship.
So what does the stewardship of that accountability look like?
To me, it means that I cannot begin to be a steward, keeper or manager of anything until I’m clear about with whom and with what I’m accountable. When I’m unclear about that, everything unravels. If I can’t count and measure my relationships against the prescribed Christian model, God’s Word, and that Word found in Jesus Christ, I’m not being a steward. Instead, the world and even the Church are stewarding me.
Some would (and do) argue with me on that. “Christian faith is a matter of grace, not law!” they say. “Everyone deserves a second chance.”
I would be the first to agree, since I’ve had several chances. But biblically, law and grace, rules and love, discipline and freedom are not opposed to one another. Law and grace function hand in glove. When they do we see the will of God made real in our lives and in our relationships with one another and with him. “Speak the truth in love,” St. Paul said. “... whose service is perfect freedom” is how the Book of Common Prayer puts it (page 11).
The laws — the rules we follow on the Christian road — are the guideposts that remind us what road we are on. When we bump up against them it’s a needed reminder that something is amiss. Sometimes it’s the rule. More often than not for me, what is amiss is me. When I step outside the boundary, wander on the other side of the fence lining the path I try to walk as a baptized Christian, bells ring, lights flash and, I hope, someone is there to remind me that I’ve wandered off. That reminder is a true gift. Are there exceptions? Of course. But exceptions that become the rule are no longer exceptions. Instead, they are the new rule, and we’re more than likely on another road.
We all stray — bump up against a violation of what is agreed to be the normal or best way (laws and rules). And St. Paul also reminds us that “where there is no law, neither is there violation.” (Romans 4) If we weren’t committed to Christian life and its principles, there would be no problem. In fact, we would be on a different road with its own set of guideposts. But “I have decided to follow Jesus,” as the familiar song goes. Further, I’ve decided to do that following as an Anglican Christian.
For me, stewardship of our accountability is the struggle, grief and sometimes fear I experience when someone taps me on the shoulder and says, “You’ve wandered off.” It’s also stewardship when I’m the one doing the tapping, taking the responsibility to be the giver of a true gift. That gift is Jesus himself, in [whom] there is no darkness at all.
