The Pain of Stewardship

It started again yesterday. My son began with his wish list.

            “Dad, can you tell Santa that on Christmas I want the Sharks helmet that Joe Thornton wears. But, Dad, it has to be the black one, the one they wear at their home games. And I want the black Sharks hockey jersey that the Sharks wear at their home games. And it has to be the one with a number 19. And, can you tell Santa that I want a goalie mask like the one that the Sharks’ goalie wears. And …”

            Of course my daughter chimed in too. “And tell Santa that I want more Hello Kitty.”

            It was a painful conversation for me. Not only because Christmas is too many months away, but because my wife and I have been having the conversation about stewardship. Our conversation sounds like this: “After Christmas, we are not buying anything else. Our kids have more toys than they know what to do with. They have so much that they do not appreciate what they have. We need to teach them to respect what they get and be thankful. It’s our fault for caving in all the time and buying more.”

            So, less than a month after talking about our parental desire to teach our kids about proper stewardship, my kids were testing my resolve.

            I have been seriously considering stewardship over the past couple of months. I have also been considering how to teach my children about biblical stewardship. Since they are ages five and three, I think they are ready for some discipline in this area. And, in truth, we as parents have been lax about teaching our children about proper use of money, resources, and other stewardship principles. It is now time to start laying the foundation and teaching them some important life lessons in this area. We want to teach them about proper use of money, proper use of food, proper use of resources, proper use of our earth’s resources, and many other stewardship lessons.

            However, I think that it becomes so difficult for parents to teach and lead in this area because we so often fall short of the mark ourselves. And I think we as parents feel like hypocrites when we tell our children what is proper and right, when we struggle in those areas ourselves. We might ask ourselves questions such as these (and these are some of the questions I am asking myself):

-          Can I talk about spending within your means when I am swimming in a sea of debt?

-          Can I talk about budgets when I don’t live off of a budget?

-          Can I talk about giving your first and best to God, when I struggle to give to God?

-          Can I make my kids eat a proper meal when I most of my meals come from a fast-food wrapper?

-          Can I limit my kids’ sugar intake, when my arm is attached to an IV bag of corn syrup?

-          Can I tell my kids to give away their toys and clothes, when my closet looks like a room from the TV show “Hoarders”?

-          Can I talk about proper time management when I look like the proverbial chicken with its head cut off, running around the farm yard with no rhyme or reason?

-          Can I make my kids save a percentage of their allowance, when I have emptied my 401(k) to get me over this most recent financial setback?

-          Can I tell my kids to give to others and treat others with compassion, when I have no time to say “hello” to my neighbor?

-          Can I tell my kids that they need to give time to God, when I don’t read my Bible, or help with that ministry at my church home?

These are tough questions, and some require even tougher answers. When our children look into our lives, do these see lives ruled by spiritual discipline? It’s all right for our kids to see some failure in some areas. It’s all right for our kids to see us trying to resolve some of these issues in our own lives.

You know, the truth is that many times I act like my kids did yesterday, “God, give me, give me, and give me.” So, I am on a bit of a crusade this year to be better personally in the area of stewardship, and to begin to teach my children proper, biblical concepts of stewardship. How? I’ll tell you more in my next blog post. Until then, enjoy the many blessings you have received from the Lord.

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