Lighthouse scribes

I contemplated titling this, “The Parable of the Dishonest and Shrewd Manager” for a while before I finally did so, even though every translation I read used only one of the adjectives. Why? Because I’ve heard people glorify the servant, and that wasn’t what the Lord was doing. Let’s examine what the parable shows us and what Jesus tells us.

Luke 16:1-2 NLT
[1] Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. [2] So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’

This parable is a non-allegorical parable because it doesn’t try to relate the characters or the plot to a larger, complex story. We don’t know who the manager or the rich man are other than being characters in a story Jesus was using to teach a lesson.
A manager who worked for a rich man was sacked because he had been wasting his master’s resources. His final duty was to put his handover report together.

Luke 16:3-4 NLT
[3] “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. [4] Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’

It was at this point he took stock of his situation. He was going to be out of a job and had built nothing for the future. His résumé was bad enough, seeing as he was fired. So, he came up with a plan for his future—a future that guaranteed the lifestyle he wanted.

Luke 16:5-7 NLT
[5] “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ [6] The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.’ [7] “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’

The manager’s ‘genius’ idea was to doctor the books. While employed, he’d wasted his master’s resources, and now that he was being let go, he was going to shortchange his master by cooking the books, thus causing his master’s debtors to be indebted to him.

Luke 16:8a NLT
[8] “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal…
Call it what it is. The Bible does not deny what was wrong about this man. The manager was a dishonest man.

…for being so shrewd.
This quality—his shrewdness—was what the rich man admired. It was his cleverness in coming up with a plan to secure his future.

Luke 16:8b NLT
[ And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light.

The servant used his influence to take care of his future. Even though, in all his cleverness, his range was still limited because he couldn’t see past an earthly future.
Yet, the children of the light aren’t as shrewd about Kingdom life. The children of this world know how to live a life of worldliness to the fullest, but the children of God do not know how to live out the life of the Kingdom to the fullest. We are often competing with the children of this world in worldly affairs, like people without an eternal purpose.

Caleb Sinclair said: “The foolish man builds his house upon the sand, and the professing Christian of today usually does the same. We read our Bibles and give a superficial nod to the truths found therein. But we still continue to build a life that is antithetical to the heavenly vision God has shown us.”

We worry like the people of this world. The world is ‘securing the bag,’ so we join the race—the wrong race.

Yet God says…
Luke 12:23 NKJV
[23] Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing.

We ought to lay up our treasure in heaven, using our treasures on earth, whether we have them in small measures or enough to fill storehouses.

Psalm 112 shows us what the life of those who have put their trust in God looks like.
Psalms 112:1, 9 NIV
[1] Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.
[9] They have freely scattered their gifts to the poor, their righteousness endures forever; their horn will be lifted high in honor.

Every child of God is a manager of earthly resources. Some have a little, and some have much. Shrewdness in the Kingdom of God looks like this:
Luke 16:9 AMP
[9] And I tell you [learn from this], make friends for yourselves [for eternity] by means of the wealth of unrighteousness [that is, use material resources as a way to further the work of God], so that when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal dwellings.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 NIV
[17] Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. [18] Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. [19] In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

In this parable, God wasn’t telling us to be like the man who secured his future on earth. God was showing us that the best deals on this earth eventually fail because time here comes to an end. So, don’t hoard your money or be like the rich fool who simply stored up for himself.

Proverbs 11:24-25 NKJV
[24] There is one who scatters, yet increases more; And there is one who withholds more than is right, But it leads to poverty. [25] The generous soul will be made rich, And he who waters will also be watered himself.

* Our brethren are hungry
* Our brethren are thirsty
* Our brethren are without shelter
* Our brethren are naked
* Our brethren are sick
* Our brethren are in prison
Our Lord expects us to live wisely, to live like people of His Kingdom.

Love,

Osi