“The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth.”
Don’t get mad at me – Jesus said it! It’s from Luke 16:8-9, which we sometimes call the Parable of the Dishonest Manager (see 16:1-13).
I’ll now include the ninth verse in its entirety: “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.” As you can see, it’s certainly not the case that adding the last phrase of that verse makes the parable easy to interpret.
In the parable, the shrewd manager learns that he’s about to be fired for mishandling his boss’s resources, so he takes some drastic actions to save his own hide. He strategically reduces the debts of his boss’s debtors. You and I might expect Jesus to impugn the selfish motives of the desperate manager, but Christ does the opposite. Via the boss’s reaction in the parable, and via His own words to His disciples, Christ commends the manager’s quick thinking and savvy leadership.
Perhaps it seems a bit odd to us to think about our perfect Lord making a positive example out of someone’s shrewd business practices, but that’s exactly what we find here. He calls us, strange as it may sound, to be faithful even in our “unrighteous wealth.” So what are we to make of all of this?
First of all, I would suggest that we’re to receive this parable as a critical reality check. By that I mean that Jesus wants us to be wise in every area of our lives. We learn from this story that a wise person understands that their season of productivity is finite in nature. It won’t last forever. The daily commute to and from the office will one day cease. The last sales pitch will one day be delivered. The placard with our name on the cubicle will one day be taken down. There will be no more corporate ladders to climb. Our final paycheck will be issued and cashed. Just like everything else about this life, our time in the workplace won’t last forever.
If we live long enough, every one of us will one day get the message from our mind or from our body (or from both): “You’re no longer able to do what you’ve been doing.” And there are, of course, multiple lesser versions of that message which may come sooner to alert us that – at a bare minimum – we can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing with the same intensity or pace. Or, even closer to the parable itself, someone may inform us that “the powers that be” have determined that it’s time for us to call it quits.
Such is life, and such moments are rarely easy. In the parable, we’re not told that the manager has reached “retirement age” or that any lucrative buyout has been offered. There’s no apparent gravy train on the horizon. We’re simply told that the man gets it: he knows that his time has come. His job is coming to an abrupt end. So I’m purposefully widening the application of the parable to include all of the situations in which you and I must be practically ingenious in the moment. In fact, you and I must rely upon the wisdom of God every day that we breathe. Thankfully, the mind of Christ is already ours in Him (1 Corinthians 2:16).
In the parable, when the manager renegotiates the contracts without permission, he is displaying a savviness that makes every debtor happy (who wouldn’t appreciate a reduced debt?) – but it also makes his boss look good. It’s even more clever than it appears at first glance, as the boss will have no choice except to accept the new terms. After all, who wants to renege on an arrangement that makes you look like the hero?
In the end, it’s the boss who gets the last laugh, as there’s no mention of the shrewd manager – no matter his quick smarts or his noteworthy wit – having salvaged his own job. By telling this story, Jesus is not condoning dishonest behavior on any level, but He is reminding us that we ought to put even more of our energy into the affairs of His Kingdom. It’s one thing to be streetwise, but are we Kingdom-wise? If worldly people draw upon street smarts to advance material prosperity, which is destined to fail at some point, all the more should God’s people draw upon God’s wisdom to promote spiritual prosperity – which is destined to succeed beyond our wildest dreams!
So there’s one more question that each one of us needs to ask ourselves today: Am I being wise about eternity? It’s so easy for us to get caught up in the false gods of materialism and power and pleasure. It is this very place in Scripture where our Lord reminds us: “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Friends, there is one Way that leads to eternal life, and His name is Jesus!
The Bible says that now is the day of salvation, so we must make certain – today – that our trust is in Christ, and in Christ alone. “And He shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15). Amen.
Pastor Charles
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