Question #214: I’m reaching out to you to share your insight on Luke 16:1-15, the Parable of the Shrewd Manager. It sure does seem like “bad behavior” is being encouraged in these verses. It seems like shrewdness is being encouraged, yet verses 10-15 get back to being trustworthy and not loving money. I do get it that we can’t serve two masters, but where is scripture defining a line between good and bad behavior?
Answer: It does seem confusing on the surface about what Jesus is advocating, but since we know that He isn’t teaching anything contrary to His nature, like cheating, lying and dishonest behavior, we can eliminate that possibility and look deeper. His audience is His disciples with some Pharisee’s listening in as indicated in verse 14. In most of Jesus’ parables, He is the main character but not so with this one. The steward in this parable is wicked, so Jesus certainly is not exhorting us to emulate his behavior. Therefore, there must be larger principle that He is proclaiming.
The key to this parable is, “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are shrewder in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light” (Luke 16:8). Jesus is contrasting the unbelievers, (sons of this world) and the believers, (sons of the light). He is saying that the unbeliever is wiser in the way that he prepared for his future, by using the owner’s wealth dishonestly and making friends which would help him in his future. The principle that Jesus is promoting is one of a just steward rather than an unjust one. The unjust steward used his master’s wealth as a means for his own personal advancement. However, the just steward is to be honest and righteous and to use the Master’s wealth to further the Master’s goal as well as to benefit himself.
How are we to benefit our Master as well as ourselves in an honest and righteous manner? We must start by understanding the principle that everything that we call our own actually belongs to God. God owns it all! He is the owner of everything and He allows us the great privilege of being stewards of His things. As His faithful stewards, we are to use His resources for His goals. He wants His resources to be used to help others and in helping others, we benefit personally as well. In using God’s resources for His purposes, we lay up treasures in heaven and we are blessed here and will be rewarded in heaven as well. It may sound like he is promoting giving for selfish motive but that doesn’t seem to be a concern to Jesus in this situation. In fact, in numerous passages He promises to reward us for giving and doing good works. “And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is my disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42). It is a simple fact that we benefit when we put His Kingdom purposes and His people first. That seems to indicate that a reasonable and just profit is an acceptable motivator.
The line between the good behavior and bad behavior is drawn between the just and the unjust steward. The unjust manager wanted to benefit himself unjustly by using his master’s resources to gain an opportunity with the debtors whereby they would owe him favors when he is gets fired from his position. However, the just steward is to be shrewd in a similar manner by using God’s resources to benefit others while at the same time benefitting himself justly as well.