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A Dishonest Manager
Luke 16:1 He also said to His disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. :2 So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’
The Lord Jesus now turns from the Pharisees and scribes to His disciples with a lesson on stewardship. This paragraph is admittedly one of the most difficult in Luke. The reason for the difficulty is that the story of the unjust steward seems to commend dishonesty. We shall see that this is not the case, however, as we proceed.
The rich man in this story pictures God Himself. A steward is one who is entrusted with the management of another person’s property. As far as this story is concerned, any disciple of the Lord is also a steward. This particular steward was accused of embezzling his employer’s funds. He was called to account, and notified that he was being dismissed.
Luke 16:3 “Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. :4 I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’
Luke 16:5 “So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ :6 And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’
Summary of Scheme: The steward did some fast thinking. He realized that he must provide for his future. Yet he was too old to engage in hard physical labor, and he was too proud to beg (though not too proud to steal). How then could he provide for his social security? He hit upon a scheme by which he could win friends who would show kindness to him when he was in need. The scheme was this: He went to one of his employer’s customers and asked how much he owed. When the customer said a hundred measures of oil, the steward told him to pay for fifty and the account would be considered closed.
Luke 16:7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’
Luke 16:8 So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.
The shocking part of the story occurs when the master commended the unjust steward for acting shrewdly. Why would anyone approve of such dishonesty? What the steward did was unjust. The following verses show that the steward was not at all commended for his crookedness, but rather for his foresight. He had acted prudently. He looked to the future, and made provision for it. He sacrificed present gain for future reward.
In applying this to our own lives, we must be very clear on this point, however; the future of the child of God is not on this earth but in heaven. Just as the steward took steps to insure that he would have friends during his retirement here below, so the Christian should use his Master’s goods in such a way as to insure a welcoming party when he gets to heaven.
The Lord said, “The sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.” This means that ungodly, unregenerate men show more wisdom in providing for their future in this world than true believers show in laying up treasures in heaven.
Luke 16:9 “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.
We should make friends for ourselves by means of unrighteous mammon. That is, we should use money and other material things in such a way as to win souls for Christ and thus form friendships that will endure throughout eternity.
Pierson states, “Money can be used to buy Bibles, books, tracts and thus, indirectly, the souls of men. Thus what was material and temporal becomes immortal, becomes non-material, spiritual and eternal. Here is a man who has $100. He may spend it all on a banquet or an evening party, in which case the next day there is nothing to show for it. On the other hand, he invests in Bibles at $1.00 each. It buys a hundred copies of the Word of God. These he judiciously sows as seed of the kingdom, and that seed springs up into a harvest, not of Bibles but of souls. Out of the unrighteous, he has made immortal friends, who when he fails, receive him into everlasting habitations.”
By the wise investment of material possessions, we can have part in the eternal blessing of men and women.
We can make sure that when we arrive at the gates of heaven, there will be a welcoming committee of those who were saved through our sacrificial giving and prayers.
These people will thank us saying, “It was you who invited me here.”
Darby states, : “Man generally is God’s steward; and in another sense and in another way Israel was God’s steward, put into God’s vineyard, and entrusted with law, promises, covenants, worship. But in all, Israel was found to have wasted His goods. Man looked at as a steward has been found to be entirely unfaithful. Now, what is to be done? God appears, and in the sovereignty of His grace turns that which man has abused on the earth into a means of heavenly fruit. The things of this world being in the hands of man, he is not to be using them for the present enjoyment of this world, which is altogether apart from God, but with a view to the future. We are not to seek to possess the things now, but by the right use of these things to make a provision for other times. It is better to turn all into a friend for another day than to have money now. Man here is gone to destruction. Therefore now, man is a steward out of place.” What are your thoughts?
Luke 16:10 He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.
If we are faithful in our stewardship of what is least (money), then we will be faithful in handling what is much (spiritual treasures).
On the other hand, a man who is unrighteous in using the money which God has entrusted to him is unrighteous when bigger considerations are at stake.
The relative unimportance of money is emphasized by the expression what is least.
Luke 16:11 Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
Anyone who is not honest in using unrighteous mammon for the Lord can scarcely expect Him to entrust true riches to him.
Money is called unrighteous mammon. It is not basically evil in itself. But there probably wouldn’t be any need for money if sin had not come into the world.
And money is unrighteous because it is characteristically used for purposes other than the glory of God. It is contrasted here with true riches. The value of money is uncertain and temporary; the value of spiritual realities is fixed and eternal.
Luke 16:12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?
Verse 12 distinguishes between what is another’s and what is your own. All that we have, our money, our time, our talents—belong to the Lord, and we are to use them for Him.
That which is our own refers to rewards which we reap in this life and in the life to come as a result of our faithful service for Christ.
If we have not been faithful in what is His, how can He give us what is our own?
Luke 16:13 “No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
It is utterly impossible to live for things and for God at the same time.
If we are mastered by money, we cannot really be serving the Lord.
Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 121). Nashville: Thomas Nelson. MacArthur, J. F., Jr., MacDonald, Farstad, Believers Bible; Hindson, E. E., & Kroll, W. M. (Eds.). (1994). KJV Bible Commentary (p. 2195). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
