This month, I would like to present an article by Bill Marianes. Bill is a retired attorney and now spends his time and talent assisting the Archdiocese and Metropolis with their stewardship programs. He works with individual parishes to develop a program that suits their unique parishes. He is a sought-after speaker on the subject and is in high demand throughout the Archdiocese. For a change, I thought you might like to read an educational message from a different source this month!
“YOU CANNOT TEACH ADULTS NEW THINGS”
By Bill Marianes
The title of this article comes from the Greek philosopher Socrates. I think he got it right when he stated: “You cannot teach adults new things. You can merely create the environment in which they discover the truth for themselves.” This belief is the basis of the ‘Socratic method’ used by law schools and other educators to teach by asking questions and helping people learn to think and discern the truth.
QUESTION #1: Do you believe in John 3:16?
In John 3:16 we learn that “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Let’s focus a little on that last part. Do you believe in the resurrection? Do you believe in the possibility of Heaven or everlasting life? Do you believe there is anything after this life? These are fair questions because in his book, American Grace, Robert Putnam reports on the results of a nationwide survey that concluded that while 80% of Americans are absolutely sure there is a God, only 60% are absolutely sure that there is a heaven and only 54% have this level of certainty about life after death. What do you believe?
QUESTION #2: Are you ready?
If this were the exact moment when you were called to meet your Maker, is the state of your faith and the body of your works sufficient to assure you of salvation for all of eternity? If they are, congratulations, you are unique and ready. But if you are like most of us, there is more you can and should do. So, what keeps us from going “all in” and better using our gifts for God’s greater glory and our salvation?
Stewardship is what we do with all the gifts God gave us. He didn’t have to give us any, or many, gifts. Did you ever wonder why your Father blessed you with all of the incredible talents, abilities, and resources He has entrusted uniquely to you? And are you doing the best you can with them? If not, why not? When we are asked to consider our stewardship commitments, we sometimes excuse our own conduct (or lack thereof) by sitting in judgment of our perception of the relative lack of contributions of others. But when our judgment day comes, won’t we stand alone? Whether we did more or less than our brother or sister won’t really matter. It’s about what WE do with the gifts WE were given. It’s personal. Being “less bad” than someone else does not make us “good.”
My good friend and priest, Father Barnabas Powell, delivered an inspiring sermon sharing one of the most critical lessons he learned from his pastoral counseling training. He informed us that most people already know the right thing to do. They know when they are doing the right thing and when they are not doing enough. The job of the counselor/advisor/mentor is merely to help us actually admit and acknowledge what we already know. Sounds like Socrates was right!
So, is your stewardship contribution of your time, talent, treasures, and tithes to your Parish/Diocese/Metropolis/Archdiocese the best you can do given the gifts you have been given? What was the first answer that came to your mind? If your personal salvation for all of eternity depended on the truth of this answer, what would our answer be? Eternity is an awfully long time! It is far longer than the relatively short time we will spend on this orb we call Earth. So, if what we do with God’s gifts to us here helps determine where we will spend the rest of eternity, our stewardship stakes in our daily lives just got a lot higher.
This brings us back to question #2. Are you ready? Is the state of your faith and your body of works sufficient to assure you of the right result on judgment day? As John 3:16 teaches, our belief in our Lord is a critical part of our faith journey. So, too, is our stewardship over the ‘talents’ God has given us. Ask yourself the right questions and you will discover the truth for yourself. Then go do something more today (and for all the tomorrows you are given) in gratitude for Christ’s redeeming love and to help prepare your soul for salvation! God bless you as you pursue your own unique stewardship calling. SOTPAETJ (stay on the The Path and enjoy the journey).
Bill Marianesis the Chief Evnagelist Officer of the Stewardship Calling Ministry focused on helping people and parishes discover and live their stewardship callings so that they may have a good account before the awesome judgment seat of Christ.
I’ll take a few moments to discuss further one part of Bill’s message. He mentions our stewardship consisting of time, talent, treasure, and tithes. We always talk about the 3 T’s of stewardship, but he adds the fourth. The fourth can be part of ‘treasures,’ but it really does stand on its own. Tithing is a commitment most often ignored. I have mentioned that speaking of money as it relates to the church is taboo and most people want to avoid talking about it. I must admit, the word tithe (and tithing) creates much more angst than the mere mention of money. Tithing has a negative connotation because it means YOU are being held accountable for donating a certain percentage of your time, talent, AND treasure to the church. It is a misunderstood concept that most people downplay as Old Testament teaching. That is usually the way they get out of discussing it – it “has no place in modern society.” Contrary to popular belief, there are many references to tithing in the New Testament (particularly from Matthew and St John Chrysostom). Truth be told, tithing is also mentioned in the most current Archdiocese Universal Parish Regulations (UPR – Article 18; Section 1).
To instill a change in attitude, you must totally flip the parish culture and overcome generations of teaching deficiencies. I look forward to discussing tithing more in depth in an upcoming stewardship message.
As the year comes closer to its end, we are about to start what has become known in our parish as ‘stewardship month.’ During the month of November, we will hear homilies from Father Timothy that are related to stewardship. We will listen to messages from parishioners telling us what Orthodoxy or St. Katherine means to them. This will culminate with Stewardship Sunday on December 10. That day, we will collect all the stewardship pledge cards and bless them on the altar. We would like to collect as many as possible – beginning with Father Timothy, the chanters and altar staff, the Parish Council, church ministries and the entire parish. It is a blessed day as we lay the financial groundwork for the year ahead.
Blessings to all,
John Chrisagis
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