Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. 9 And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.

10 “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. 11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12 And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? 13 No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” — Luke 16:1-13, NASB

This unusual parable from Luke’s travel narrative was a lesson to the disciples on spiritual stewardship. It employs an odd story with an unexpected twist to make the point that worldly resources can and should be used to heavenly purpose.

A rich businessman hears that his steward is mismanaging his affairs and squandering his resources. He calls him in, announces that he is firing him and demands that he prepare an accounting of his management. The steward is despondent over this turn of events, but is truly unrighteous and offers no excuse. Now ousted from his position and unable or unwilling to pursue other prospects, he gets the idea to go to the master’s debtors to curry favor in the hopes that they will support him later. He does this through an unauthorized slashing of their debts; the one who owes the master 100 measures of oil is told by the steward that now only 50 would be owed and so on. He does this quickly so that he has already ingratiated himself to these people by the time he gives his accounting report. Surprisingly, the master compliments him on his shrewdness.

The parable causes heartburn for a lot of people because they believe the master is praising the steward for being unethical, and by extension think that Jesus might be doing the same. The confusion is understandable because Jesus is portrayed as a “master” in other stewardship parables, so here it may seem He is saying it is okay to engage in shady dealings under certain circumstances. This is not the case, as the master is not meant to represent Jesus here and as the text states, he is praising the manager only on his shrewdness. The Lord has simply chosen to use an unjust character to make a point.

In doing so, He uses the familiar scriptural device of a lesser action being compared to a greater one. The unjust steward takes advantage of his opportunity to leverage available resources in preparation for his earthly future, so how much more should Christians—who have the promise of heaven—leverage worldly resources in preparation for their eternal future? John Calvin comments:

By this comparison he charges us with highly criminal indifference, in not providing for the future, with at least as much earnestness as ungodly men display by attending to their own interests in this world. How disgraceful is it that the children of light, whom God enlightens by his Spirit and word, should slumber and neglect the hope of eternal blessedness held out to them, while worldly men are so eagerly bent on their own accommodations, and so provident and sagacious!*

Where a man’s heart is, there will be his treasure also. If God is your master, you will use what you have to build up His kingdom. While the text concedes that sinners are shrewder than saints in the business of manipulating each other to their earthly advantage, the “sons of light” will understand that everything—personal wealth and resources included—belongs to God and should be used to His purpose. The “sons of this age,” not knowing God and therefore not considering themselves His stewards, use the worldly treasure under their control to their own self-serving and ultimately destructive end.

The “wealth of unrighteousness” of verse 9 simply means material wealth. It is not necessarily ill-gotten, but like anything else in this sin-afflicted world, it can easily corrupt and lead to unrighteousness. Material wealth ultimately fails us in this life, but the parable shows that there actually is a counter to the adage “you can’t take it with you”—one can translate earthly wealth and resources into something eternal. How? By storing up riches in the kingdom of heaven by investing materially in that kingdom while here on earth. The friends that “receive you into the eternal dwellings” are the people who benefitted from your investment; perhaps they found God through the influence of your example, or finally heard the gospel and successfully navigated the narrow path because of the ministerial efforts you supported here on earth.

In verses 10 through 13 Jesus takes the message further, explaining that God considers those who are faithful to Him in life as worthy of His eternal kingdom. If we cannot demonstrate good stewardship of unrighteous wealth on earth we certainly could not be entrusted with the “true riches” and rewards of heaven. Christians should be faithful in using material wealth to honor the Almighty. The money-loving Pharisees who overhear the teaching scoff at the idea and Jesus rebukes them, declaring their materialistic fixations detestable to God.

Having the power to fulfill worldly desires, wealth tests the true intent of our heart. How we regard it and what we do with it reflects who we are. Do we serve it or God? Whether we come in to the possession or control of much or little, we must always remember our role as His stewards in this life. No one can serve two masters; it is impossible not to give preference to one. So let us examine ourselves to know where our true loyalties lie, remembering that while wealth inevitably fails, God’s kingdom endures eternally.

Quotation reference:
* Calvin, John (Pringle, William); Commentary on a Harmony of the Evangelists, Matthew, Mark, and Luke; Calvin Translation Society

Image:
Luyken, Jan (1649-1712); Parable of the Unjust Steward; Medhurst, Phillip (attribution)