|
A Question of Balance The Charism of Administration
|
|
In Matthew’s Gospel 25:14-30 we are warned in the parable of the talents to act wisely with the resources God has entrusted to us. The Catechism in 2259 states “Man is himself the author, centre and goal of all economic and social life. The decisive point of the social question is that goods created by God for everyone should in fact reach everyone in accordance with justice and with the help of charity.” It is difficult to envisage a world where goods are distributed fairly without some form of record keeping and administration. Just as a ship needs an anchor, every organisation, whether seeking to make a profit or not, needs a person responsible for finance. Even Our Lord delegated the task of looking after the money, although his choice indicated he cared more for the salvation of the world than about what happened to the money itself. In Canon Law 1284 it states: “ All administrators are to
perform their duties with the diligence of a good householder”…
and “It is earnestly recommended that they draw up each year
a budget of income and expenditure.” Given the current level
of household debt one must earnestly hope that those responsible for
finance in the Church do so with greater care than many householders.
Having a budget is not a denial of faith, it is a process to identify
what is needed to accomplish a task. In the presence of the charism of administration logistical chaos is transformed into grace-filled order This tension is in every aspect of human life, including the Church. Even in the Charismatic movement there is a fruitfulness to be gained from the adoption of greater order, exercised in the power of the Holy Spirit. As Sister Nancy Keller said “In the presence of the Charism of Administration logistical chaos is transformed into grace-filled order.” In 1 Corinthians12:28 are listed several gifts. Between “healing” and “tongues” are mentioned two which are variously translated as “helpful acts, guidance” (New Jerusalem) ;”helping others, administration” (New International Version); “material help, administration in the church” (Christian Community Bible) “helps, governments” (Douay). Billy Graham writes of these two separate gifts: the “gift of helps” and the “gift of governments” in his book “The Holy Spirit”. He sees the first as a gift of helping and showing mercy as shown with the appointment of deacons in Acts 6 to wait on tables and distribute funds to the poor. He sees the second as being to do with direction and leadership. Somewhere between the two comes the delight of being responsible for the financial affairs of a charity. Grace builds on nature Is financial stewardship a charism or merely a task to be carried out with secular skill? Grace builds on nature. Our life is not lived in two parts sacred and secular. This would be a denial of the incarnation. However as Fr Raniero Cantalamessa says in his book “Come Creator Spirit: “We must not do away with the distinction between charism and talent because then we would lose the distinction between nature and grace. He quotes St Maximus the Confessor ‘the grace of the most Holy Spirit does not confer wisdom on the Saints without their natural intellect as capacity to receive it’ Charisms and natural talents are never “separated” but neither are they ever ‘confused’.” Those responsible for finances should use their natural skills and yet be open to God working and speaking through them. At times God gives us the grace to do more than we could possibly imagine. In the Charismatic renewal there are many worthy objectives and indeed there is a world to be converted in accordance with Our Lord’s instructions in Matthew 28. However not everything is to be accomplished at once and what might appear to be a lack of faith as criticised in Matthew 6:34 “Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.” may be merely a sensible suggestion to build one’s house on rock not sand as suggested in Matthew 7:24. Occasionally God will intervene and feed five thousand with five loaves and two fish, or pay a tax bill with the contents of a fish’s mouth. The good financial administrator will need to discern those times, but commonly the task is one of providing an appropriate dampening of enthusiasm without drowning all the good intentions. Need to balance faith and prudence Again Fr Raniero provides helpful guidance that all charisms should be exercised with care, guarded by humility and offered for the service of God and His Church. Abuses of power by finance directors are common enough in the secular world without it extending into the Church. Just as there is a need to balance risk and reward in seeking to make a profit, there is a need to balance faith and prudence in seeking to do a prophet’s work. If God wants a project or an organisation to succeed He will provide the means to do so. As with all tasks our role is to wait on God’s word and “Do what you do do, well”. Experts in team dynamics say that the ideal team includes those who come up with new ideas (typically charismatic marketing and sales people), those whose role is to identify and resolve implementation difficulties (typically conservative accountants and administrators) and those whose role is to ensure all sides are heard (the chairman or referee). Informed, charitable discussion is natural and healthy - see Acts 15. In Ephesians 4:11- 16 the consequences of working together using all the skills of the Body of Christ are that we, the Church, the Body of Christ will grow healthily in love and not be tossed back and forth by every new idea. Not right to hoard income nor is it right to be profligate The Holy Spirit comes to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable. The Charity Commission requires charities to disclose and explain their “reserves”. It is not right to hoard income nor is it right to be profligate. There is a balance between prudent provision for the future and failure to use available funds for the purposes for which they have been provided. St Paul threatened the Thessalonians (1Thes. 5:19) for being too backward in coming forward and told them “Do not stifle the Spirit” and yet he condemned the Corinthians (1 Cor. 14:32) for experiential excesses and stated “The prophetic spirit is to be under the prophet’s control for God is a God not of disorder but of peace.” Fr Luca Pacioli, the Franciscan monk who in 1494 wrote the first accounting textbook and has been described as the “father” of modern accounting warned that “a person should not go to sleep at night until the debits equalled the credits” i.e. the books have been balanced. Any accountant who has laboured long hours to find a difference would echo this. All in administration need to use their gifts wisely and allow God to use them to build the Kingdom. Prayer is essential. The exhortation “Commend what you do to the Lord and what you plan will be achieved.” Proverbs 16:3 is not suggesting that we are to tell God what to bless, but is reminding us that even budgeting and accounting are the Lord’s work and are to be used to help build the Kingdom.
|
There
is no question that one of our duties on earth is to act as responsible
stewards of resources. In Genesis we were entrusted with the mastery
of the things of the world.