The S Word # 16
THE THEOLOGY OF MONEY # 16
By Douglas Hambidge
The Deficit – Driven Syndrome
Closely related to the budget-driven Stewardship is the focus on the deficit
or debt of the parish. Emphasis is on the financial plight of the parish: that the
parish is on its last legs, that it is seriously “in the red,” and that it is desperate.
Apart from the fact that this is not stewardship, this approach does not work
because people are reluctant to throw their weight behind a failing cause. Any
fund-raiser will tell you that the hardest money to raise is for paying off a debt or
making up a deficit.
Another aspect of the problem: if there is no deficit or debt with which to
challenge parishioners, presumably they have no need to give.
The Project – Driven Syndrome
A good deal that passes for stewardship has this at its heart. The parish the
parish has a project – a new organ, a new roof, a chalice, a carpet or new hymn
books. I am told it is my Christian duty to contribute toward the project, and of
course I will do that, assuming I approve of the project. But if I do not support the
project then I have no need to give and no reason to give. My decision gives me
power over the things I approve and the things I do not.
I might be asked to give my time to grass-cutting around the church. If I
want to cut the grass, then I give my time. If I do not want to cut the grass, then I
will not give my time. There may be a need for Sunday School teachers, or
forming a men’s group or starting an education programme. If Like the project, I
will offer my energy and skill to it. If I do not, then I’ll not volunteer.
The Prize-Winning Syndrome
All around us, and in almost every country in the world, the lottery has
gained tremendous prominence. In some of the poorest of the developing
countries people gamble away what little they have in the hope of winning a lot.
Not surprisingly, this pseudo-stewardship has found its way into the church, and
more and more congregations are depending on the gullibility of the people to
raise their income. That is why an increasing number of games of chance, bingo,
and raffles are appearing in churches.
What lies behind this syndrome is the conviction that people will always
give a little if there is a chance that they will win more. In other words, the giver is
urged to ask the question, “What am I getting?” You’ll hear it said that raffles,
bingo and lotteries are fun. In fact, the motivation is not the fun so much as the
possibility of winning. Another will tell you that “it’s all for a good cause,”, and at
the same time refuse to give to that cause without receiving a raffle ticket.
Stewardship insists on a need to give and not on a desire to gain.
Continued next week for #17