{"id":31098,"date":"2023-02-15T21:57:53","date_gmt":"2023-02-16T05:57:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=31098"},"modified":"2023-02-15T21:57:53","modified_gmt":"2023-02-16T05:57:53","slug":"stewardship-a-personal-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/stewardship-a-personal-response\/","title":{"rendered":"Stewardship-A Personal Response"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Clark\u2019s doctoral research centers around Max Weber\u2019s <\/span>The Protestant Ethic and the \u201cSpirit\u201d of Capitalism, <\/span><\/i>and in this blog I hope to share a few ideas on stewardship as a response to Weber\u2019s unanswered question. Dr. Clark cited Sedgwick and Weber, they \u201clead us, but do not answer the question \u201chow are ascetics ordered around desire and the material?\u201d [1]<\/span><\/p>\n

In this blog, I will look at the money mindset that I was taught growing up. I will then propose a different way of looking at Cambridge Platonism and explain how free agency is a powerful position to establish stewardship. Stewardship is not a concept found in reading Weber and Clark. I found the concept of stewardship in Vincent Miller\u2019s book <\/span>Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture, <\/span><\/i>and I look forward to reading this book further. [2] I agree with Clark as he states, \u201cI do not seek the undoing of market economies per se, but rather how Evangelical identity might be nourished within market economies.” [3] It is my hope that my blog will put some legs and feet to Dr. Clark\u2019s desire for Evangelical Consumerism.<\/span><\/p>\n

Money Mindset<\/b><\/p>\n

My hourly wage when I had my first job was $3.35. This does not seem like a lot of money, but God viewed my small income as honorable. Weber states, \u201cthe entire ascetic literature of all denominations is imbued with the attitude that faithful work, even for low wages, by those to whom life has dealt no other opportunities, is highly pleasing to God.\u201d [4] My income has increased as I have pursued a professional career and this income is honoring to God as well but I will never forget the lessons learned in managing smaller amounts.<\/span><\/p>\n

What I have is God\u2019s, and this includes the wages that I am able to earn. The command in I Timothy 6:17 is clear: \u201cCommand those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.\u201d\u00a0 If it is God who richly provides everything, what should my view be towards the wealth I acquire?<\/span><\/p>\n

Cambridge Platonism revisited<\/b><\/p>\n

Dr. Clark\u2019s research outlines Cambridge Platonism. [5] I believe Cambridge Platonism may require an additional interpretation, one separate from consumerism. The following outline has provided grounds for consumerism.<\/span><\/p>\n

1) \u00a0 The image of God in humanity is the goodness and love of God for humanity.<\/span><\/p>\n

2) \u00a0 This goodness sprang from feelings, and these were divine in quality.<\/span><\/p>\n

3) \u00a0 There was inherent pleasure in taking action around those emotions.<\/span><\/p>\n

I believe this outline would also provide justification for a relational response to money management. How can Cambridge Platonism leave one to believe that consumerism is the end of the matter? I make these conclusions from the previous outline:<\/span><\/p>\n

1) \u00a0 If we have received the goodness and love from God in humanity, this calls for a relational response in how I might use what God has given.<\/span><\/p>\n

2) \u00a0 Out of the good feelings which we have experienced from God(having divine quality)I have the desire to love him in return, so I ask: how might I steward what God has given?<\/span><\/p>\n

3) \u00a0 Inherent pleasure in emotions prompts a believer to action which is not found primarily in consumerism but in stewardship and giving.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clark quotes Weber who states that this justifies consumerism as \u201cthe fusing of aesthetic and ethic is seen as indispensable to consumer behavior.\u201d [6] I would add that Cambridge Platonism is an impetus to the believer to not only be a consumer but prompts principled stewardship and giving.<\/span><\/p>\n

Free Agents<\/b><\/p>\n

In the Bible, we find examples of how different people stewarded their wealth.\u00a0 In Luke 15:11-32, we find the father of two sons dividing his estate between his two sons. The wealth between the two of them was used differently; one son squandered his inheritance. The focus of this parable is the extravagant love of the father.<\/span> In<\/span> Luke 10:25-37, we read about the Good Samaritan\u2019s example. The Good Samaritan puts a battered man on his own donkey and takes him to an inn. This man pays for multiple days for his respite care. This parable provides an example of how people are to treat others, caring for them with personal expense. The wealthy father and the Good Samaritan both chose to use their wealth to be generous to family and to strangers. They were free agents in their use of wealth.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am curious as to how Weber personally saw himself as a consumer and able to influence those in his community\/nation. Clark states that Weber, \u201cin his own context of struggle for German national identity, was seeking an empowered self, one able to master the rationalized world and \u201cgenerate selves with power.\u201d[7] I wonder how Weber spent money from the beliefs he held. Clark writes, \u201cWeber\u2019s desire was to see people as free agents, able to structure actions around beliefs in resistance to the forces of political authorities.\u201d [8] I agree with Weber’s claim about individual responsibility but I am hesitant to fully agree with his theologically justified consumerism. Weber\u2019s position is powerful as everyone must choose how to steward their wealth from their personal beliefs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0It is wise to consider a theological view of money and how God intends for monies to be appropriated. With a scriptural view, acting as a free agent empowers the consumer to operate from a heart that loves God.<\/span><\/p>\n

My Personal Response<\/b><\/p>\n

Pappy\u2019s: this is the name of the restaurant where I had my first job and earned that meager $3.35 an hour. As a teenager, I had my eyes set on the latest clothes which my parents refused to buy. So, with some determination, I pursued a job as a dishwasher. The owner had little hope that this 14 year old girl with lots of blonde hair could keep up with the steamy hot dishes and muster the grit it would take to clean the greasy hoods above the industrial stoves. I was bound and determined to prove my boss wrong. I moved up to hostess and then waitress as I earned money during my high school years. Paychecks became a tangible reward. How would I manage the money that I was earning? My parents introduced me to the envelope system. It is a money management system that would begin a life of stewardship of what God gave me. I learned to set aside money to give, spend, and save. I was a consumer but most importantly I began to be a steward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] Jason Clark, \u201cEvangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogenesis in the Relationship\u201d (Faculty Publications, Portland Seminary, 2018), p.107<\/span><\/p>\n

[2] Vincent Miller<\/span>, Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture, 2008<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

[3] Jason Clark, p.104\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[4] <\/span>Max Weber, Talcott Parsons, and R.H. Tawney. <\/span>The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism<\/span><\/i>. (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2003)<\/span>, p.119<\/span><\/p>\n

[5] Jason Clark, p.105<\/span><\/p>\n

[6] Ibid, p.104<\/span><\/p>\n

[7] Ibid. p.88<\/span><\/p>\n

[8]\u00a0 Ibid. p.91<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Clark\u2019s doctoral research centers around Max Weber\u2019s The Protestant Ethic and the \u201cSpirit\u201d of Capitalism, and in this blog I hope to share a few ideas on stewardship as a response to Weber\u2019s unanswered question. Dr. Clark cited Sedgwick and Weber, they \u201clead us, but do not answer the question \u201chow are ascetics ordered […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":165,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[467,2618,11],"class_list":["post-31098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-clark","tag-stewardship","tag-weber","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/165"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31098"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31098\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31099,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31098\/revisions\/31099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}