Knowing What We Don’t Know
This year’s stewardship program is somewhat different from the past. In most years the role of the congregation is sort of reactive. The congregation listens closely to the sermons (we hope) carefully reads the written material (we hope), and then makes intentional stewardship decisions (we also hope). This year, however, we are asking the congregation to take a more active role. Specifically everyone in the congregation asked to do three things:
1. Write down five things that are priorities and values in our life.
2. Keep track of our expenses for the month of September, both the money we spend by check and how we spend the cash that we take out of the bank.
3. Finally compare our expenses with our values and priorities. This is very important because our expenses say a lot about our values and priorities no matter what we may think our priorities are.
The stewardship committee recommended this approach to the vestry. In agreeing to this idea, the vestry believed that they should lead by example. So the vestry has already done this exercise for the month of August. At our September vestry meeting, we spent at least a half-hour talking about what we had learned. Everyone agreed that it was worthwhile and that everyone in the congregation should do it as well.
One thing that came out of our discussion that the vestry especially wanted me to pass on is that it is very important to know how we spend our cash. Since it is already the end of September, if we haven’t kept a record it is possible that we don’t have that information. If not the suggestion is to do that for October or November so as to have the full benefit of the process.
So the vestry would like us to do this. Of course we will all do it then – correct? After all what more reason could we need to comply. I have been an Episcopalian too long to believe that it could be that simple. I think we need to believe that there will be some real benefit to us in doing this work, I would like to talk about what I think that benefit is.
I believe that when we do this exercise all of us will find some area where our expenses do not match our priorities. I also believe that we will be surprised by at least one way that this is true. This means that we will understand something that we didn’t understand before or in other words, we will know what we don’t know.
Knowing what we don’t know is some of the most valuable information we can have. Let me share an example. About two years ago I was tutoring an adolescent, a friend of mine’s son in American history. We were studying the American Revolution and he didn’t understand why the colonists wanted to be independent of Great Britain. I tried a number of different approaches and he still didn’t understand. Finally I asked him if he knew what a colony is and he said know he didn’t.
Once I knew what he didn’t know it became easy to solve the problem. I asked him if there were ever times when he thought he could make his own decisions, but his parents didn’t agree with him. He is an adolescent so of course, he said yes. I explained to him that it is the same thing with people living in a colony, they think they can make their own decisions without the help of the mother country. I hope I didn’t start a revolution in that family, but the point is that when I knew what he didn’t know I could help him change from not knowing to knowing.
This same principle applies to our money. Once we know what we don’t know about spending and priorities, we can change. If we are talking about change, we are also talking about choices – at the heart of stewardship is making good choices. Look at today’s Gospel reading – what is important is not the amount of money each man has, but the choices they make. The third man’s error is his choice especially a choice to do nothing.
I am not trying to suggest that we all have the same choices, but stewardship is not about what we do in relationship to anyone else – it is about our choices. How much money we have is not important, whether we have more or less money than others is not important, whether we have more or less expenses is not important, what is important are the choices that we make with the money we do have. At the heart of the Gospel’s message about stewardship is that we make good choices. We have a much better chance of doing that when we know what we don’t know.
This year’s stewardship program is somewhat different from the past. In most years the role of the congregation is sort of reactive. The congregation listens closely to the sermons (we hope) carefully reads the written material (we hope), and then makes intentional stewardship decisions (we also hope). This year, however, we are asking the congregation to take a more active role. Specifically everyone in the congregation asked to do three things:
1. Write down five things that are priorities and values in our life.
2. Keep track of our expenses for the month of September, both the money we spend by check and how we spend the cash that we take out of the bank.
3. Finally compare our expenses with our values and priorities. This is very important because our expenses say a lot about our values and priorities no matter what we may think our priorities are.
The stewardship committee recommended this approach to the vestry. In agreeing to this idea, the vestry believed that they should lead by example. So the vestry has already done this exercise for the month of August. At our September vestry meeting, we spent at least a half-hour talking about what we had learned. Everyone agreed that it was worthwhile and that everyone in the congregation should do it as well.
One thing that came out of our discussion that the vestry especially wanted me to pass on is that it is very important to know how we spend our cash. Since it is already the end of September, if we haven’t kept a record it is possible that we don’t have that information. If not the suggestion is to do that for October or November so as to have the full benefit of the process.
So the vestry would like us to do this. Of course we will all do it then – correct? After all what more reason could we need to comply. I have been an Episcopalian too long to believe that it could be that simple. I think we need to believe that there will be some real benefit to us in doing this work, I would like to talk about what I think that benefit is.
I believe that when we do this exercise all of us will find some area where our expenses do not match our priorities. I also believe that we will be surprised by at least one way that this is true. This means that we will understand something that we didn’t understand before or in other words, we will know what we don’t know.
Knowing what we don’t know is some of the most valuable information we can have. Let me share an example. About two years ago I was tutoring an adolescent, a friend of mine’s son in American history. We were studying the American Revolution and he didn’t understand why the colonists wanted to be independent of Great Britain. I tried a number of different approaches and he still didn’t understand. Finally I asked him if he knew what a colony is and he said know he didn’t.
Once I knew what he didn’t know it became easy to solve the problem. I asked him if there were ever times when he thought he could make his own decisions, but his parents didn’t agree with him. He is an adolescent so of course, he said yes. I explained to him that it is the same thing with people living in a colony, they think they can make their own decisions without the help of the mother country. I hope I didn’t start a revolution in that family, but the point is that when I knew what he didn’t know I could help him change from not knowing to knowing.
This same principle applies to our money. Once we know what we don’t know about spending and priorities, we can change. If we are talking about change, we are also talking about choices – at the heart of stewardship is making good choices. Look at today’s Gospel reading – what is important is not the amount of money each man has, but the choices they make. The third man’s error is his choice especially a choice to do nothing.
I am not trying to suggest that we all have the same choices, but stewardship is not about what we do in relationship to anyone else – it is about our choices. How much money we have is not important, whether we have more or less money than others is not important, whether we have more or less expenses is not important, what is important are the choices that we make with the money we do have. At the heart of the Gospel’s message about stewardship is that we make good choices. We have a much better chance of doing that when we know what we don’t know.
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