I had an epiphany while attending a stewardship workshop a
couple of years ago. (Stewardship is a profoundly rich concept that has gained
a very boring reputation because it has become synonymous with “fund-raising” –
which is like defining poetry as “making up rhymes.”) The presenter was
emphasizing the need to “thank, thank, thank” those who give, and my epiphany
was this: Nobody gets thanked in the Bible. (Well, Paul does thank a couple of
people who “risked their necks” to save his life, but that’s about it – and
certainly no one is thanked for giving. Paul’s style instead is to lift up the
contributions of the impoverished Macedonians in order to shame the wealthier
Corinthians into giving more.)
I have become convinced that a “thanks”-based approach to
stewardship is short-sighted, unbiblical, and an insult to the giver, who
doesn’t give in order to earn thanks, but out of a compulsion of faith and love
– a variation on the old spiritual, “How can I keep from singing?”
This is not to say that Paul and other biblical writers are
not purveyors of gratitude – It’s just that the one who is thanked is God. “I
thank my God every time I remember you…” is Paul’s expression of gratitude for
the “partnership in the gospel” that the Philippians’ have shared with him.
Jesus is not so magnanimous. Here is Jesus’ thanks to those
who have accomplished something good:
“When you have done all that you were ordered to do, say. ‘We are
worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done.’”
Now, I have to confess that my “epiphany” may be a little self-serving
because I do not, in fact, thank people enough – for all kinds of things. So
I’m thinking of having some thank-you cards made up. To be true to my convictions I can't simply say, "Thank you," so I’m trying to decide
between having them inscribed with, “I thank my God for you…” or “Dear
Worthless Slave…” Hmmm….
