The Parable of the Dishonest Manager
Luke 16:1-7 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. 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. 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. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. 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.
In this culture, the steward had a perfect right to do this. But was he prospering his master? Was he taking care of his master’s business OR providing a place for himself at his master’s expense? At the end of the year was his master ahead in his accounts OR at a loss?
We will see in a minute that the Pharisees that loved money were listening to this parable, too, and they got upset most likely because they knew Jesus was really talking about them. They had the charge of the temple money and were making themselves rich rather than taking care of God’s business. They did have the right to do so, but we will see in a bit what God had to say about that.
Luke 16:8 And the lord commended the unjust steward (note here that God, the author of the scriptures called the steward UNJUST), because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.
The lord here is the steward’s master not the Lord Jesus Christ. In their culture, this was considered just and wise.
Luke 16:9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness (money); that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.
EW Bullinger in his Companion Bible says this should read as a question. Jesus: “Is this what I taught you to do, make friends with the things of this world?”
Luke 16:10 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.
This steward here had not been faithful or just to his master in managing his master’s accounts for a profit. He had actually cost him money to the sole benefit of the steward himself.
Luke 16:11-15 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall 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 the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided 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.
God’s assessment of the situation with the unjust steward and the Pharisees was that they were not faithful nor just. That even though men thought this was great, even though it was part of and acceptable in the culture, God said what they had done was an abomination.
This is a great example of not being faithful. The steward had cost his master a loss. It was easy to see; they just sat down and looked at the numbers.
Faithful is in part the Greek word “pistis” translated into English many times as “believe.” So, in part faithful means to believe the instructions that are given BUT also to DO what you have been told. If you believe and do as instructed, that is the essence of the word trustworthy, another definition of faithful.
An example would be Moses.
Numbers 12:7 My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house.
Now in order to see how Moses was faithful and learn from that, we would have to read a lot about Moses. For a short blog that is not practical. So, let’s go the Luke.
In this next record, you can see how the nobleman came to “trust’ two faithful men.
Luke 19:11 And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear.
Note: In looking at these parables, we are not trying to ascertain the meaning of the parable. We are just looking at the use of the word “faithful” within them.
Luke 19:12-17 He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy (carry on business) till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.
In this parable, Jesus uses money to teach about being faithful. Money is a very quick way of teaching what faithful is compared to using prayer or forgiveness, etc. With money you can just count and see the answer/results with little explanation.
With this faithful man, he increased his master’s money by 1000 %. Quite the opposite of the first parable where he cost him money.
Luke 19:18-19 And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities.
Remember what we read in the previous parable: “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much.”
It is easy to see the faithfulness of these two men because we can count — 1000% and 500%. It takes quite a few attributes to be a faithful person in this situation. Things like:
Integrity — they gave the money back;
Diligence — they got the job done;
Trading — they had to know their business;
Saving — they did not spend all they made;
Appearance — they had to know how to dress and present themselves in their field of business;
Knowledge — what they did not know about their business, they had to go learn;
Accounts — they had to have kept strict accounts;
Confidence — they had to have confidence in their ability;
Focus — they had to focus on the task at hand and not get distracted.
There may be other attributes, but this is enough for the point.
The master knew that as they had applied the principles necessary to gain the profit they did, that these men would also apply the same principles if given a much larger responsibility. Faithful in little, faithful in much.
It reminds one of what the Apostle Paul wrote — God counted him faithful putting him into the ministry. Paul was out capturing Christians, throwing them into prison and having some killed. God knew that Paul would apply the same diligence, commitment and other attributes in service to God as he had in the past when he was on the wrong side of the fence. God counted him a faithful man.
Next, we have a small example of not faithful:
Luke 19:20-26 And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, (table, money changers) that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury (interest)? And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. (And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him.
This last verse is fascinating. To those that have, more shall be given. And from him that hath not, even that which we hath shall be taken away. This is written here in the context of money. It is a principle of life. In our vernacular, we might say, “Use it or lose it.”
We could also see that as Christians begin to apply these principles, they acquire more and more. But those that do not apply them continue to have lack.
This expression also occurs in:
Mark 4:25 For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not,
Here the principle is used of knowledge and understanding. If you have gained some knowledge and understanding — think about it, incorporate it into your life, God will give you even more. If the knowledge and understanding go in one ear and out the other, you will lose what you do have.
As you apply those things in the area of money, you are much more likely to apply them in other fields as well. So Remember:
Luke 16:10 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.
So, as a Principle of Prosperity, Faithful may include:
Giving,
Saving,
Staying out of debt,
Diligence in business and personal finances,
Trusting God,
And other things.
Everything really belongs to God anyway and as in the parables, we are stewards of that which God has entrusted to us. As we learn to incorporate these principles of faithful stewardship into our lives, we will show ourselves to be faithful/just stewards.. Then He will be able to trust us with even more.
May God bless you, and thanks for reading.
Roger B.