The Stewardship of Possessions.

Waiapu Church Gazette, Volume XIV, Issue 11, 1 May 1924, Page 394

The Stewardship of Possessions.

(By the Bishop of Bathu:cst), To most men it is a most unpleasant task to Speak to others about the disposal of their material possessions. We can bring ourselves more readily to speak fearlessly, clearly and sympathetically about the much more- delicate questions of interior Kfe, about sin and special sins, and the way of penitence arid forgiveness. Probably this arises m part from a true instinct that - the deeper things of life: should have chief place ;. from a conviction* that if tne inner man is won for Godj. his naaterial possessions: Wilt riot permaaiK

ently be alienated from the service of God. In part, doubtless, there is also the feeling that m the one case our pleading and teaching is manifestly: disinterested), m the other case; this is not so manifest. We shrink from the imputation of 'seeking not you, but yours. ' ' We" wince under the rebuffs of the niggardly and the selfish. Occasionally, we encoun.ter here and there, a joyous, : undaunted and successful Christian "beggar." We note that for the most part such persons leave their " victims" happier and better than when they found them. We admire the. good works that have been accomplished through the agency of such happy persons; We marvel at their charm and sadly reflect that such things are beyond the reach of timorous and sensitive people; like ourselves. But, we also, feel that something more is required than thje sporadic results of this form of special; pleading. We require definite and unmistakable teaching on the gospel of stewardship resulting m the orderly discharge of an abiding duty. ; Steady functioning, not spasms, should be our aim. '.:■", Generally speaking, Australian people give money very freely to causes, which, appeal to: them.. The forceps of extraction is 'appeal,' not 'duty/ They are avid for full emotional value for ; what they give. A distinguished Belgian who: knew Europe well,, assured me thafr Englishmen were an; enigma to continental nations because of their tenacity m business: deals and their inconsequent prodigality m giving, away money when they were touched sentimentally. He considered the English the most sentiment-ridden- race m. the world. Australians doubtless resemble them closely and m spite ofour racial addiction to duiy m other respects, we stubbornly keep our giving on a basis of pure sentiment. Per-, haps it is a wayward inversion of. our business instincts to> get some-, thing out of it— in emotion. I "have questioned some of my lay friends about the Church's duty m teaching stewardship m order to "get their point of view. One man said" bluntly that* if the Church' is to do any good she must be broad-minded and talk: sense. He said he had listened to a long and eloquent speech m a Diocesan Synod m: which a clergyman had urged that it was a Biblical duty for every man to give a tenth of his income to the work of the Church. He had gone home and made a careful reckoning of the putative incomes m. the parish "of this :■ clergyman and estimated: that the income of that parish-would on this basis be £37,000; a year. He said the clergy would all, be able to keep a fleet M -Rolls-Royce cars, ' the Church' ; wouldr mt. know what; to do'with; the motteyvthat, would flow m; that it was iniquitous to?

think of a working, man vith a large-, family on! the basic wage being, expected to give, a tenth' equally witK : the wealthy man ; ' that . the clergy took no notice of the. taxes paid for public .' services which were not ."part 1 : of the life of Biblical times.; arid that no allowance was made for education, for hospitals, for old age and. invalid pensions,, and dependent rela?tives. That sort of thing simply irritated laymen, p because it tools: a, narrow view of social life, and. w;as,lacking m common sense. This criticism, of my friend, T think, illustrat£S} the necessity of the Church making her gospel of stewardship sufficiently socially-catholic if it does nothing else. The responsibilities of life cannot be adequately met by the" mani-pulation-of decimal points. The next person I questioned, vpasone who' not: very long ago gave sbmer thousands of pounds to the church. Again^my friend took, the- offensive* He stated- that as soon as it .was) known, that, he "had given the money he was deluged .with begging 'letters from, far and wide. The Church, hestated, was the worst offender. Parishes; and institutions clamored for gif fcs. Many letters were quite dictatorial m tone. He had." given hismoney conscientiously and then had to submit to a most unpleasant correspondence extending over months.. The only general comment I could, extract from him was that if the' Church thought giving should be on a fixed principle she should practice;: what she preached. and not deluge onepart jcular person -with; applications. Another whom: I have known to make : seven separate gifts of £1000 each m the last few years: assured me r that he had to resort to strange devices to keep secret liis gifts or elsehis life would be made a burden to him. : Another very wealthy man: said: No, I give away very little ex-^ cept to faithful employees' of long service, and I spend far less upon my. 7 ; self tnan do many whom I. employ. But I; put back all my profits into' my industries and keep, extending; them, and m this way I provide more and more employment. I am not a, philanthropist, but I believe I dp more: good service to my fellow men than many sorcalled philanthropists by creating, means, of employment.' L realise the great responsibility o£ providing the means for keeping food, | warmth and employment m the homes, of hundreds of my workmen. That isv my social service. My business is my, hobby and t my job, and I am not,much> concerned with money for its own > sake except as it is needed for industrial ; expansion,, m which one must\ either go ahead or go under.. , .•; Another friend took a different; line : and depicted^ to.-. 'me the joyless lif e fs? auiiumn. ojf many, people of 'his, acquaintance; They have become ricbr

through, concentrating their ? energies spfefy tot t^stt end; : aid their riches are a burden .and a nightmare to them* Tfie> are ludicrously niggardly. They heap up ! riches and cannot tell who shjall gather them. They are tearful o^|r the rare subscriptions that are pnsed. out of them... Ttfey tremble at eyery wild, speech, reported from the Dlpmain. frnis friend j{ writes that tK|i.e\is'%^e : at';;e^i;for the Church vigorously to ' preach'; pn the . Jines . laid dpwil by Edward pok, the duty and the, joy of national^socM and religious ; service. He 1 thinks the Cbjirch has coricentrajecl too much on aspects of personal salvation, and should nojf put heavy 'emphasis c-n. public service. If she did the response would surprise Jier. Rotary , Clubs and such like societies will be raised, up to do the work if the Church .continues to neglec^her social message. ; . „ • Over, against the latter class .stand another great crowd of the well-tp-clo who are just as pitiable m thejr lives. They are so void of real life interest that they spend their 'gbods iri senseless vapid extravagance^ They: hypnotise themselves with the notion that they are enjoying life by crowd—suggestion. They see others fiercely pursuing the same alleged; pleasures, therefore such' things jilust jpiean lifeenjoyment and they n^ust hot be left behin,d m the pursuit^, An age m which material po§sjessions have rapidly increased; a ypting country m which fortunes are of t|n quickly made and which lacks the steadying influ-. ence of ancestral resj^nsibilities to accentuate the need foy. training and guidance, these constitute a challenge to the Church for a. comprehensive statement of her gos,pM of stewardship. It needs, to, 14 clear, wellbalanced, sympathetic^ persuasive. It must carry no sugegstion that her underlying purpose is to secure. the passage of a larger prTojpoftion of material goods into merely ecclesiastical coffers. Wealth for /service ''.. human and divine—goods \ tot (good, must be her message. The Ch^ch should first know her own gospelr Clearly' m this matter. and then quicken ;her agencies for •fearless-' and conceited teae&ing. Onecan conceive a /type of 'ftunirig" the pulpits'^ that, wpuld be ,a good thing for th 6 Church m" spite of . bad 6ld ; associations v6f. the pKrase. The type oi ■*■ 'tuningV^that would set th^b^st minds out^ttie^ implications f jot; Christian principles'-'to special aspects of .social life'; tfiat would s^pplySn^.raw material; of fact's, . inferences . and applications of principles/ land then ;, prescribe a course of combined instruction through the pi^tsran^cJasßrooinsi of --K e parishes^ m%ht :r prote ttiuct'nlore "eiffectiye' thi^f oiiit';prjeserit - i proced)irie,-~ u Cl.hTiirch Stiui■dard^';-■"•.•>;> rr.^.-.1-rr/.-...^ ' -■•■■■■■:■'■ ;