Guest Column

Giving what we have been given

By Phil Webb

“All things come of thee, O Lord; and of thine own have we given thee.”
— I Chr 29:14b

Some time ago, the power in our neighborhood went out and remained out the entire evening.  We went about our business by candlelight with no TV, radio or other gadget noise.  It was an unusual evening.  For the first time in a while, we were aware that we had time on our hands, and very limited parameters in which to use it.  We could read, pray, visit with one another or sleep.  That’s about it.  The limits put on our choices by the power outage felt strange, but also refreshing.  Busyness was stilled and noise became silent.

For many of us in this busy life, time and money become lightning rods for what some call the “myth of scarcity.”  It is not that we are actually running out of things, though sometimes we are, but rather it is observing everything around us from a lens or mindset of scarcity.  So, no matter what is happening, there doesn’t seem to be enough—not enough sleep, not enough volunteers, not enough time, not enough money, you name it.  This myth or perception negatively impacts our Christian lives, and negatively impacts the Church.

When our economy was robust before the current crisis, the percentage of giving to the Church from the average household was still less than it was during the Great Depression.  The scarcity mindset increasingly filters our giving.  Many ask, “What would I give if I had enough?” 

Christians, on the other hand, should ask, “What should I do with what I have been given?” 

Now more than ever we need to resuscitate our God-given teaching about stewardship, especially at this juncture in history when Catholic family life and the Church are assaulted by both increasingly hostile secularism and a struggling economy.

It is not surprising that Jesus taught about money more than any other kind of stewardship.  The reason is obvious.  Money is a stumbling block in the lives of many Christians.  In fact, when you study the parables having to do with possessions you find an important principle:  what we have been given in this life will be our greatest asset in our relationship to God, or our greatest liability.

When Jesus said “where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” it was dominical illustration that returning to God a portion of what he has entrusted to us is a tangible way to draw closer to him.

Stewardship of the Church is fundamentally not about fundraising, or time and talent.  The Church is the Bride of Christ, not merely a competing charity.  Gratitude for what we have been given by Christ is what forms the spine of Christian giving.  And gratitude has many positive benefits.  For instance, many of us discover that the more things in life we find to be thankful to God for, the larger our circle of blessings becomes. When we are able to see life from the lens of gratitude rather than scarcity, we want to give more, and we find we have been given more.

A vibrant Church is not someone else’s responsibility.  We are all called to demonstrate to every generation that returning to Christ and his Church a portion of what is already his is important for our spiritual wellbeing.  We are all called to send our talents, time and especially our treasure with love, with voice, with commitment and vision so that they flow through our lives and return to our highest commitment. Remember, Christians are known for what they allocate, not what they accumulate.  

When our power went out, the darkness and dim light of a candle slowed me down enough to remember that grain of truth about how much we have been given by Christ, and that if we let go of what we are trying to get more of, which we sometimes don’t even need, it frees up oceans of energy to make a difference with what we have. 

Psalm 50 reminds us that “the cattle on a thousand hills belong to the Lord.”  This is why the price of beef is rising.  Invest where God invests.

“So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.”
— Heb 10:35, 36

Phil Webb is director of the Denver Archdiocese’s Marriage and Family Life Office.