My friend Ed Wischmeyer commented astutely on my previous post on useless resources (you can read his comment here). He got me thinking a lot more about what I had written, and in particular I got to thinking about what, exactly, was I trying to criticize about resources? So I replied, and in the process ended up writing another post on the subject:

Yes, I do see all the positive ways of seeing “resources”, and, indeed, if all people did was to recognize their talents and use them for the glory of God, this world would be a much better place indeed!

Admittedly, what I’m trying to get at here is slightly out of left field, and is a combination of two criticisms: (1) a criticism of our constant evaluation of what is useful and what is not; and (2) a criticism of the pressure to “manage and control”.
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We do not think ourselves into new ways of living.

We live ourselves into new ways of thinking.

~ Richard Rohr, “Everything Belongs”

And it begins…

So, this Fall I will be starting graduate school at UMass-Amherst! I will be studying toward a Master’s and then hopefully on toward a Ph.D. in Communication, focusing on cultural studies (especially cultural criticism and social criticism), rhetoric, performance studies, and narrative theories of social interaction.

Whew… I have no doubt that those wordy words will change again as I begin learning more about what they mean But, for now, I am deeply excited by two major aspects of what I am about to do: narrative theory and cultural criticism.

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Quick: what do you think of when you hear the word “resources”?

I was at a “Stewardship and Spirituality” conference on Saturday, with my pastor and a few other lay people from my church. It was a conference on how we as a church should be better stewards of what God has entrusted us with - and how we can live an alternative lifestyle that is counter to our culture’s dominant materialism and consumerism. After starting the day with a couple of windy speeches against materialism and consumerism, and exhortations to embrace stewardship as a joyful practice instead of a dutiful obligation, we spread out into various workshops.

One of the workshops I attended was about a “holistic approach” to stewardship and spirituality - integrating spiritual practices with stewardship. During the session, the speaker wrote out a few definitions: quotations from various authors on what “spirituality” meant and what “stewardship” meant. She quoted one author (I cannot remember who) who defined spirituality as: “the increasing sway and vitality of God in my life.”

She then quoted Dallas Willard in defining “stewardship” as: “the getting, having, controlling, and using of resources.”

This is where my soul recoiled.

RESOURCES???

Now, to be fair, the speaker pointed out that this definition went well beyond most people’s common understanding of “stewardship” as “giving money.” The speaker asked us to reflect on how Dallas Willard has extended “stewardship” to include not only how we give money, but also how we GET that money in the first place - how might we earn our living more responsibly and ethically? - and how we nurture that resource.

She also asked us to reflect on how Dallas Willard has extended the definition of “stewardship” to include not just money, but any “resource.” So, she asked us to list various resources, and people started voicing: “time”, “talents”, “services”, etc.

I sat there stewing and brewing… RESOURCES??? Thinking of “stewardship” and “spirituality” in terms of “getting, having, controlling, and using resources” strikes me as being an inherently materialistic and consumeristic view of the spiritual life.

My problem with thinking of stewardship in terms of “resources” is that it totally dehumanizes people and relationships. How are we to be good stewards of our relationships? Given Willard’s definition, we would have to start thinking about that kind of stewardship as: “getting, having, controlling, and using” our friends and family.

How are we to challenge our culture to break free of materialism and consumerism if our primary language is in terms of the material consumption of resources? Might there be a different way to think of life than in terms of how we use resources?

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A few weeks ago I performed a story at church, in collaboration with my pastor, about the apostle Paul being shipwrecked on an island. My pastor, the incomparable Reverend Todd (he hates being called that, so here ya go Todd), is a lover of improv theatre, and we share a common bond when it comes to trying out “different” storytelling techniques that engage and involve the audience.

So, when Todd asked me to perform the story as part of his sermon (about 20 minutes before the sermon) I eagerly took on the role, even bringing in my packed suitcase and backpack to illustrate Paul on a journey. The journey was symbolized by the congregation - by me walking through the entire congregation, row by row, through each row, shaking each person’s hand. Todd distributed index cards ahead of time to selected congregants, each index card summarizing some random calamity that would befall me when I met them.

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