A Good Principle from a Bad Example (2)

Luke 16:1–13 “He also said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do, so that when I am removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 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, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? And 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 he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.””

Introduction

In the film Catch Me If You Can, we meet Frank Abagnale Jr.—a teenage con artist who forges checks, impersonates a Pan Am pilot, a doctor, and a lawyer, and lives large while staying one step ahead of the FBI. He is charming, quick-witted, and remarkably inventive. Scene after scene, we watch him manipulate systems, invent identities, and turn desperate situations into opportunities. And even though we know everything he is doing is wrong, a part of us can’t help but admire the sheer shrewdness of it. We root for the chase. We lean forward when he outsmarts another adult. We find ourselves thinking, “That was clever.”

Jesus tells a story in Luke 16 that lands with a similar discomfort. There is no clear hero. The main character is a dishonest manager who has been wasting his master’s possessions. When he is about to be fired, he does not repent or try to make things right. Instead, he doubles down on deception. He calls in the master’s debtors and fraudulently reduces their bills so that, when he is out of a job, someone will take him in.

And then comes the surprise: the master commends him.

Not for his character. Not for his honesty. For his shrewdness. For the way he saw the crisis coming and acted decisively to secure his future.

Jesus then turns to His disciples and says, in effect: the people of this world are often smarter about preparing for their temporary future than the people of God are about preparing for eternity.

This evening we are going to look at a good principle from a bad example. We will see a strange story that makes us cringe, a surprising point that challenges our spiritual complacency, and a call to quiet, everyday faithfulness—especially with the money and resources God has entrusted to us. Because how we handle the temporary reveals where our hearts truly rest for the eternal.

I. A Bad Example - A Strange Story

The story makes us cringe, wonder - who is the hero? Is there a hero? what is there to like?

Interpretive options:

He is telling them to reduce interest which had been charged on the balance

However

the reduction of the oil (50%) means the interest would be astronomical and it stretches credulity

there’s no indication that he’s trying to right any wrongs of his own and he is described as the dishonest one—not the master

if he were righting a wrong why does the master praise him only for shrewdness?

he doesn’t speak of debt being forgiven, so it indicates a falsification of records, not a leniency on the part of the master

The manager’s character:

The manager doesn’t argue, he knows he’s been a cheat.

So on his way out he tries to ingratiate himself with his master’s debtors by instigating further deception

None of the possible alternative explanations really satisfy

We struggle because we want to take too much meaning from the parable, we want to find every aspect admirable

But this parable warns against this approach.

we might not value shrewdness the way this culture did

II. An Eternal Principle - A Surprising Point

manager is commended for his shrewdness not his character

The Gospel according to Luke The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (16:1–13)

The scene, to put it in modern terms, is that of a recently terminated middle manager who double-deals with company debtors on the main floor of corporate headquarters while his CEO sits in the boardroom upstairs. When the CEO learns what has happened, he says in admiring disbelief, “I’ve got to hand it to you. You’ve turned a pink slip into a promotion!”

He prepared for the future - prudent planning

he prepared for his future with more forethought and diligence than the typical religious person plans for his own eternal future with God

wise as serpents, innocent as doves

Jesus’ commendation to be wise and shrewd is not a call to be dishonest or immoral, to compromise our integrity

This manager displays shrewdness, ingenuity, which though used in dishonest ways is commendable.

The real commendation though is for his forethought. He is thinking ahead for his future and actively trying to do something about it.

The Gospel according to Luke The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (16:1–13)

In contrast to the parable of the Rich Man who amassed wealth without any thought of the future (12:16–21), the master praises the steward, scoundrel though he is, for his ingenuity in figuring out a way of providing for his future by using his soon-to-be-lost financial power. He is indeed a “son of this world,” but he is more prudent in planning for the only future he is concerned about than the typical religious person is in planning for his eternal future with God.

Jesus is directing this parable against those who think they don’t have to worry about the future.

This cheating scoundrel didn’t wait around for judgement to happen to him. He immediately acted as though his future depended on it, because it did.

He knew he deserved the coming judgment and so he immediately acted.

Jesus is not telling us that we can avoid God’s judgment for our sin by our ingenuity, by flattery or buttering God up. He’s not suggesting that the way to escape judgment is outsmarting God.

But he is saying that we need to devote the same energy, intention, and action this scoundrel did to doing evil, to obtaining favor with God. We don’t obtain favor with God through trickery, or even with impressive obedience upon our own merits and strength. What pleases God is faith. Trust in his promises. Resting on his sufficient grace, the salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ and applied by the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel according to Luke The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (16:1–13)

Thus, disciples, like the unrighteous steward, should use their wits and wealth in ways that please and serve God, for in so doing they will be received into the eternal tabernacle of God, rather than into the transitory earthly tents of debtors.

III. The Importance of Inconspicuous Faithfulness

Faithfulness is cultivated in the small, ordinary, mundane

this is about character which is not asking what can I get away with, who will know? instead it asks, what is right?

faithfulness in finances is important - not because of the great importance of money, but because of what it means for our other areas of life

Luke 16:9 “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”

At first this sounds like Jesus is saying you can buy your way into heaven. But we know that’s not the case because otherwise Jesus would never have gone to the cross. (Gospel tangent)

But we can also see that from this verse. He speaks of wealth failing. If wealth were eternal or could purchase eternal life, entrance into eternal dwellings, it would not make sense to speak of it failing.

Rather he is speaking about using wealth in this life while we have it for more than just temporary pleasures in this life.

Wealth is meant to be used in the service of greater ends.

Paul, reflecting on and elaborating on Jesus’ teaching here and elsewhere write to Timothy: 1 Timothy 6:17–19 “As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

Honoring God with your money means putting his kingdom first. It doesn’t mean giving it away irresponsibly, but it also doesn’t mean gripping it greedily.

Generosity is described as eternal investment. This is because generosity with our money orients our hearts towards God rather than ourselves. When we use money to love God, build his kingdom, and advance the gospel we are not buying a place in heaven, but we are moving our treasure from earth to heaven in order to direct our hearts to follow.

When our hearts are fixed on heaven, on God, we will have eternal life. Whereas when our hearts are fixed on earth, our lives will remain eternally worthless. The only way to live well on earth is to have your heart fixed on heaven.

The Gospel according to Luke The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (16:1–13)

This understanding is reinforced by the etymology of “mammon,” which almost certainly derives from the Hebrew aman (from which amen is derived), meaning “to place trust in.” Jesus earlier warned of the danger material possessions pose for disciples (14:33). “Mammon of unrighteousness” recalls “steward of unrighteousness” immediately preceding in v. 8, implying that believers should make friends with mammon as the steward did.

The word “mamon” seems to have linguistic roots in the “aman” which refers to putting your trust in it. We see that Jesus uses the word in relation to the exclusivity of one of two masters. Jesus says trusting in God and trusting in mamon is incompatible. It is a binary. If your heart is relying on wealth you won’t be trusting God.

But we shouldn’t let this binary make us think that in our experience we will be 100% one or the other. If we have some trust in God we don’t need to not worry about whether we are beginning to trust in wealth. Jesus is warning about the binary because it is the final outcome. It may begin small and subtle, but setting our hearts on wealth, placing our trust in it, relying on it for meaning, happiness, or security will eventually entirely crowd out reliance upon God.

These two loves insist on exclusivity within our hearts. Neither one will tolerate partial allegiance. This means God wants all your heart. It also means money won’t be content with partial trust, it will seek complete devotion.

We can see this by where he goes next. He speaks of faithfulness with wealth.

Jesus says our use of money is not disconnected, partitioned off, siloed from the rest of our Christian life.

The Gospel according to Luke The Parable of the Shrewd Manager (16:1–13)

When wealth and possessions control one, one has lost even the shrewdness of “the people of this world” and cannot be counted among “people of the light” (v. 8). The only way “mammon of unrighteousness” can be put in its proper place is to make sure that God alone is Lord and Master, and to signify that lordship by using money and wealth in God’s service.

So here is the good principle from the bad example: the dishonest manager was wrong in almost every way—but he was right about one crucial thing. He understood that his time was short, that judgment was coming, and that he needed to act now with everything he had left.

Jesus is not calling us to dishonesty. He is calling us to that same urgent, clear-eyed shrewdness—only redirected toward eternal realities. The sons of this world pour energy, creativity, and resolve into securing a future that will not last. How much more should the sons of light pour energy, creativity, and resolve into the future that will never end?

That shrewdness shows up in ordinary places. It looks like faithfulness with “unrighteous wealth”—the money and possessions that belong to this passing age. Not because money can buy heaven (it cannot; only the blood of Jesus can), but because the way we use it reveals and reshapes the direction of our hearts. When we treat resources as tools for God’s kingdom rather than as security or status, we are training our hearts to trust the only Master who can actually keep us forever.

You cannot serve two masters. Money will demand more and more of your trust until it crowds God out. God will not share the throne of your heart. The question is not whether you will serve a master—it is which one.

So examine your life honestly this week. Where are you shrewd for temporary things and careless about eternal ones? Where has money begun to function as a rival master—promising security, identity, or happiness that only God can give? And where might quiet, faithful stewardship—generosity, integrity in small things, open-handed trust—become an act of worship that points your heart toward the eternal dwellings?

The dishonest manager acted because he knew judgment was coming and his time was short. We act because we know a far greater judgment has already been borne by Another, and a far greater future has already been secured for us in Christ. Let that free you—not to be careless, but to be shrewd. Not to grasp, but to give. Not to serve money, but to use everything you have in service of the only Master worth serving forever.

May the Lord make us people who are wise as serpents and innocent as doves—faithful in little, single-hearted toward Him, and rich toward God. Amen.