Father Richard Rohr, on his tape “Breathing Underwater: Spirituality and the
12 Steps” (St. Anthony Messenger Press), raises some very interesting questions about our use of the word manager. Since it is very common to equate the word steward with being a manager, Father Rohr’s observations might well give us pause.

Problem: Connotation of the word “manager”.

1. The late 20th century has a very clear idea of what a manager does. A
manager is the person who manages and fixes. Managers are people who do
things; make things happen. A steward, by comparison, is a servant or
slave. When we think of the term manage we tend to miss this. A steward is
a slave, not the owner. Being a steward begins with this recognition; the
recognition of relationship with the Owner; i.e. GOD.

2. A management orientation to the world assumes the world is manageable.
In fact, life is ambiguous and often unmanageable.

3. The management orientation encourages us to come up with the answers, to
use our minds to think things through and make reasonable, intelligent
choices/decisions. In other words, basically, we think of managers as being
in control of things. A good manager keeps things under control and does
not let things get out of control.
For the perspective of the steward, we need to begin with the idea of
surrender, not control. Problem: How many Americans or Christians want to
really begin with surrender? It is easier to talk about “taking Jesus as my
savior”, than to talk about “surrendering my life to Jesus.”

4. It is fairly easy to connect a “management orientation” with the world
of business. It is not uncommon to hear voices within the church declare
that being a good steward has to do with managing the church in keeping with
sound business practices. “We need to run the church like we’d run a
business.” Is this the direction we need to move in?

5. It is a matter of common sense to want to manage things well. Is it a
matter of common sense to understand oneself as a steward?