Discipleship and Stewardship - Reflection

There are many ways to describe our Christian identity as followers of Christ; stewards of God, disciples Christ, temple of the Holy Spirit, light of the world, salt of the earth.... it can go on. Each metaphor captures a unique facet of who we are and what we are called to be.

As we are closing the stewardship campaign, I would like to shift focus by comparing it to our discipleship. When we talk about stewardship, it invites us to remember that all we have—our time, talents, and resources —are gifts entrusted to us by God. Biblical stewardship calls us to be wise and faithful caretakers, managing all that has been given to us not for our own purposes, but for God’s glory and the good of creation. Stewardship asks us to live with open hands, ready to serve and bless others as we have been blessed.

On the other hand, discipleship emphasizes the way of life. We learn from Jesus’ teaching and strive to follow the way he lived. It requires commitment, participation, changes, and transformation. While stewardship highlights more on our accountability, discipleship involves relational growth in all dimensions of our lives. After all, all different ways of describing Christian life will come together.

Personally, I like to see Christian life as discipleship since it gives a sense of intimate kinship in addition to our vocation. We are called to walk the same way as Christ did and as we continue, we restore our relationships as children of God.

It is noteworthy that discipleship and discipline share the same Latin roots, “discipulus”, which means “learner”. As we all know, to learn something, it required dedication, patience, perseverance through trial and error. Over time, learning matures from mechanical repetition to creative mastery as we come to understand the essence of the work.

Imagine, we all become Christ-like in our own distinctive ways, while praising God with our diverse voices, serving others with our unique gifts, connecting with one another heart to heart. Then we will know the Kingdom of God is here and now among us, and people will find hope in the midst of darkness of the world.

As God’s faithful stewards, Christ’s passionate disciples, and vessels and channels of the Holy Spirit, let us come together with humble trust asking God to help us grow into greater love and service. May we nurture these callings, rooted in our identity, so that God’s love may abound through us in the world.

Fr. James