The 6 Characteristics of an Everyday Stewardship for Lent – Accountable
Easter is only a week away, and churches everywhere in the West are beginning the holiest of weeks. For a moment, even the secular world will bow to religious observances: closings on Good Friday, Easter baskets filled with treats, and television specials featuring Biblical figures. You and I will be reflecting on the meaning of Lent and how we have died and risen with Our Lord, Jesus Christ. Either we have prepared well for this Holy Week observance, or we are left lamenting that maybe next year will be when we get back on track.
The question before us is: “To whom are we accountable?” Did our Lenten observance only have to do with us? Does it matter to anyone if we really took this time seriously or not?
Both faith and community are gifts from God to us. The Church exists so we may live out that faith and respond to God’s call, being strengthened by the grace imparted through the sacraments and the community in which we find ourselves. If we are accountable to no one, then the community is simply an option on a Sunday morning, much like golf or household chores. If we are not accountable to God, then our faith is simply something we look to periodically when we are sad or frightened.
However, if we are accountable to each other and to Jesus Christ, then we must answer for our stewardship gifts of faith and community. The Body of Christ is counting on us. Without a strong sense of accountability, we think our actions only affect us. In the end, we are connected to each other through Christ in such a manner that no one ever stands alone.
—Tracy Earl Welliver, MTS