PARABLE 32 — LUKE 16:1-8 — THE UNJUST STEWARD
1 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. 2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.
3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. 4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.
5 So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? 6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.
8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. 10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. 11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall 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 hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
He also said to his disciples, “There was a certain rich man who had a steward. An accusation was made to him that this man was wasting his goods. He called him, and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be steward.’
“The steward said within himself, ‘What will I do, seeing that my lord is taking away the management position from me? I don’t have strength to dig. I am ashamed to beg. I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from management, they may receive me into their houses.’
Calling each one of his lord’s debtors to him, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe to my lord?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
“The lord commended the faithless steward because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their generation, wiser than the children of the light.
I tell you, make for yourselves friends by means of unrighteous mammon, so that when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much. He that is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? If you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?
No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and Mammon.” (paraphrased by me)
Discussion Questions – Parable 32
PARABLE 32 — LUKE 16:1-18 — THE UNJUST STEWARD
ALSO CALLED THE SHREWD MANAGER
1. What is a steward and what does he do?
Stewardship is the most basic of all biblical concepts about material things. So what is a steward? Very simply, stewards manage the property of others.
God has clear instructions for stewards. (1 Corinthians 4:2)"Now it is required that those who have been given a trust (literally, stewards) must prove faithful” (not faithless, like the steward in the parable). The Greek term “steward” here includes a form of the word, house. It describes a household manager in the ancient Greek world who handled the finances for the owner. Managers are accountable to owners for how they use their finances or material possessions.
Owners will hold managers accountable! And God will hold us accountable for anything He has entrusted to us. There is seriousness to having things!
2. In the parable, what was the steward accused of? (Really think about it.) Can we be accused of the same thing in God’s kingdom?
Note in the parable it did not say the steward was stealing his lord’s goods, but the accusation was, “that the man was wasting his goods”. He was not properly overlooking his lord’s goods – he was wasting them. When called to give account the faithless manager made a plan to insure he had a place to live when he no longer had a position. He was forgiving debts owed by others hoping they would welcome him into their homes when he no longer had a place to live.
Everything that we have already belongs to God. (Psalms 24:1-2) “The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters." If God made it, He owns it.
Jesus never promised us worldly wealth here on earth, but He does say that the way we manage whatever amount of money or worldly possessions we have is really a spiritual test. And God is grading that test. How much we have is not an indication of our spirituality; how we manage what we have is an indication of our spirituality.
Some believers will be tested on their stewardship with a six-figure income. It’s a test one which God may give them a grade of A, B C, D or F. Other believers will be tested with subsistence level living and receive the same variety of grades.
Stewardship testing starts early and lasts throughout life. Grade school children are tested when they get an allowance. High school students with a part-time job are being tested. Our management of money continues through our working life and retirement. God is looking for people he can trust with real eternal things – and He uses our management of entrusted money and possessions in that evaluation. So every financial decision is a spiritual decision.
When we think of managing the things God gives us instead of owning them – stewardship means a whole different way of thinking. As stewards in God’s house, are we wasting away what he put us in management over?
3. Was Jesus commending the steward’s actions?
It almost sounded like Jesus commended the self-protective actions of the manager. But I know that’s not right. How is this faithless steward supposed to be an example for ‘the sons of light’?” The answer may come as a surprise, but it was his generosity. You may be thinking, “he was only generous when it came to his lord’s money!” That’s right, the steward used his master’s money to win favor with those who could provide him a place to live when he lost his job.
Was that a good thing? No, but as a ‘son of this world’ he knew how this world works. So he used worldly shrewdness so he wouldn’t be homeless. Even his worldly master appreciated his cunning. Jesus is saying that the ‘sons of light’ need to be at least as shrewd about how the kingdom works. “Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16).
He was not commending the steward for being unjust, he commending him on acting wisely. In essence, Jesus is stating that the ungodly people in this world know how to get the most from worldly things that, truth be told, they don’t even own; but, the so-called godly people don’t know how to get the most from spiritual things, “for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” (Vs. 8)
4. What lesson can we take from this parable about our stewardship in the kingdom of God?
“And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”(Vs. 9) The friends of whom Jesus is speaking are not worldly friends, but spiritual friends, for they are awaiting to receive us into an everlasting home.
As people of God, we need to use the things of the physical realm to accomplish the spiritual goals of Christ. (1 Timothy 6:17-19) “Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor to trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”
Jesus also informs us that God is watching what we do with the little things that He gives us that we call our life to see if we are faithful enough to handle more important things. Managing a little leads to managing a lot. Look at what Jesus said: (Vs. 10) "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much."
What is Jesus talking about? Was He promising to make us richer financially if we are faithful stewards of our money, as some in the prosperity movement teach? No He isn’t. Although I imagine that the apostle Paul was faithful with any money he handled, he certainly wasn’t wealthy. In fact, he was often in complete poverty – and content with that, in fact (Philippians 4:10-11).
So if the promise of financial wealth is not what Jesus is teaching, what is He teaching? He is teaching the surprising truth that God uses our stewardship financially to determine how much He can trust us with spiritually.
Look at how Jesus explains it. "So if we have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth [money, material things], who will trust us with true riches? [spiritual things] And if we have not been trustworthy with someone else's property [money], who will give us property of our own?” (Vs. 11-12)
What did Jesus mean by “property of our own?” It’s eternal things! Jesus is saying that God is testing our financial stewardship to determine who He can trust with spiritual privileges that last forever. Our management of money affects the eternal impact we will have. That is the “property” we can keep. It’s eternal!
5. How do we think of money? Could it be that our view of money is all about me? If there is another way to live, will it mean another way to think?
Unfortunately there’s a universal flaw usually lurking in our well tuned and often defended ideas. The flaw is that our ideas about money usually boil down to “what I think is best for me.” Selfishness hides in every financial decision we make. I take a certain job because I think it’s the best for me in my situation. I buy what I buy because I want to enjoy it. I refrain from buying other things because it leaves me more money to do what I value more or gives me more security later. Even the money I give away is usually selfishly motivated. Giving either makes me either feel good or look good or a combination of both plus a tax benefit.
A good steward of God will rethink the way they think of money. A faithful steward will think: What does God want me to do with this paycheck? That’s the real question, because it’s really God’s paycheck. Our budget is His budget. How does God want me to allocate what He has given me? How does God want me to use this house? It’s his house. How should I use extra money? How much should I save, invest, spend or give away? It’s all His. How should I use it? Should I buy this car, this piece of furniture or even this book or candy bar? The size of the purchase isn’t the issue. What matters is that it’s all God’s money and I must decide how He wants me to use it. The point is – stewards think different than owners.
6. What does God think about money? How can we know?
Before Larry Burkett became a leading voice in the Christian world on the subject of money and material things, he was a Christian businessman who happened to lead a Bible study. One night he stated at the study that he had found over 100 verses about money. Someone responded by arguing that God was not that interested in the subject of our money. So Larry dug into the Bible and came back armed with over 700 verses highlighted about money in the Bible and started to organize them. Crown Financial Ministries now says that there are actually about 2,350 verses on finances and possessions in the Bible. That is more verses – more material – than all 13 letters in the New Testament that Paul wrote! God obviously cares about our view of possessions to instruct us that much about it.
“For the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Note the scripture does not say money is evil; it is the love of money that is evil. Those that desire to be rich fall into temptations, snares, and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. Many believers that covet after money, have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21). He is saying that what we do with our money and our possessions reveals our real priorities. It’s that simple. God is talking to us about a spiritual thermometer – a way to measure what is really going on in our heart with God.
The Pharisees and scribes true problem was that they were too caught up in their current lives. They had lost the proper perspective. They lost sight of the spiritual goal and made a priority of living in the physical realm. Not unlike many believers today. They get caught up in their lives, a better job (more money), a better house (more money), a nicer car (more money), holidays (more money), birthdays (more money), the list goes on and on. Sooner or later they lose sight of the spiritual goal and make a priority of living in the physical realm.
“No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.” (Vs. 13) Something must give. You have to make a choice regarding who you will serve.
And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided (ridiculed or criticized) him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God. (Luke 16:14-15)
7. What will you do with the life God has loaned to you?
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