Stewardship and Generosity, Part 1

Sorry to have been gone so long - it's been busy, and there have been many Sundays (when I usually write for the blog) where I've been out of town.  There are a few more coming - I'll hope to work ahead, but if you see I'm gone for a week or two, that's why.  We should be back to normal in November.

Anyway...

A friend said to me the other day, "Aren't the words stewardship and generosity synonyms?"  Yes, I talk about stewardship and generosity with my friends, so what?

Anyway, I said that to me, they weren't the same.  I'm preparing to help with a presentation in Ohio about Creating a Culture of Generosity, so the question itself has been rattling around in my mind.

My foundational reading - over a decade ago - about stewardship was from a book called Beyond Money by Dan R. Dick.  He talks about the relationship between discipleship and stewardship this way: 

"One way to look at the relationship [between discipleship and stewardship] is to define the terms: disciples are students, followers, and apprentices; while stewards are teachers, leaders, and practitioners.  Disciples gain new knowledge and skills, while stewards manage this knowledge and skill and put it into practice.  However, one cannot happen without the other.... in all times, we are both disciples and  stewards."

This perspective on stewardship - as the doing of discipleship - has stuck with me, has wormed its way into sermons I have preached, lessons I have taught, and conversations I have had about stewardship.  For me, it removes the idea that stewardship is solely about fundraising, that stewardship is a "campaign" we have in church in the fall to fund the next year's budget, and it eliminates the perception that stewardship is something we can avoid talking about.  How can we be active in the work of God as God "makes disciples" if we only talk about stewardship once a year? And in a way that is only about money?