Living Room Study

Luke 16

“The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted so shrewdly.  For the sons of this age are more shrewd than the sons of light in dealing with their own people.  I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of worldly wealth, so that when it fails, they may welcome you into the eternal home.”  Luke 16: 8-9

One of the most enigmatic passages in the New Testament is the parable of the dishonest manager. People have questioned whether Jesus was teaching His followers to be dishonest. At a glance, it seems that people can earn credit in heaven by being dishonest on earth. That is not the case!

Verse one tells us Jesus is teaching His followers. That said, it is obvious He has a lesson intended for the Pharisees standing on the fringes of the crowd, lobbing criticism.

The parable is speaking of a worldly master/servant relationship, not a righteous one. In the story, Jesus exposes a connection between (those particular) Pharisees’ love of money, and their REAL master. Scripture says, “You cannot serve God and mammon.” Elsewhere, He says “your master, Satan”. Their love of money had moved their focus from serving God, to serving evil.

The greater message for the critics is: Do not assume that your worldly success, gained by dishonest & spiritually adulterous means, will be met with approval, by the Lord. The world may praise you for your evil-intended shrewdness, but the Father will condemn you for it.

“And He told them, ‘You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts.  For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.’”  Luke 16: 15

Jesus uses the same lesson to exhort His followers.

He points out that the “worldly” are more creative at working towards their aims…in dealing with their own people. The church will never do “the world” as well as the world does “the world.” That said, the world cannot do “church”, as well as God designed the church to do “church.” Many well-intentioned believers are bound, when seeking solutions, by lack of imagination, lack of freedom, and not being grounded in reality.

When Messiah speaks of using “worldly wealth to make friends”, He is saying we should wisely invest our money in His Kingdom. It’s a shrewd investment, because when the money is gone, we will have many new believers in God’s Kingdom to welcome us!

With this command, we are compelled to move beyond being mere recipients of the gospel. We are also Stewards of the Gospel. If stewards of the Gospel, then we are also accountable for our wise management of it. So, if God called for an accounting of your management of His Gospel, today…would you show a profit, or a loss?

Blessings.

Steve Wiggins