I recently read Luke 16 in my morning Bible reading.
This chapter presents what we call the Parable of the Unjust (or Shrewd) Steward. In the parable, a steward, or manager, is discovered squandering his master’s wealth. The master decides to fire him, and the steward finagles some accounts with his master’s debtors, reducing the amount they owe, in hopes of gaining himself security from these other men after he’s fired. When the master finds out, he commends the steward’s shrewdness, the way he takes the long look and acts in the present to protect his future.
Jesus gave His main points and application of this parable in verses 9-13:
“And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon [money], that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home. 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. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?
“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.”
This is a remarkably tough parable to understand, and I nearly abandoned it in my devotions. Yet the Holy Spirit prompted me to dig deep and study it, and what I learned impacted me with themes of Kingdom stewardship in light of chronic illness.
Let’s dig in together.
Kingdom Stewardship: A Matter of Perspective
Matthew Henry writes about the chapter as a whole,
The scope of Christ’s discourse in this chapter is to awaken and quicken us all so to use this world as not to abuse it, so to manage all our possessions and enjoyments here as that they may make for us, and may not make against us, in the other world; for they will do either the one or the other, according as we use them now. I. If we do good with them, and lay out what we have in works of piety and charity, we shall reap the benefit of it in the world to come. . . . II. If, instead of doing good with our worldly enjoyments, we make them the food and fuel of our lusts, of our luxury and sensuality, and deny relief to the poor, we shall certainly perish eternally, and the things of this world, which were thus abused, will but add to our misery and torment.
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol V, p. 751
Note how these ideas are found in other passages of Scripture:
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.
2 Corinthians 5:10
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Matthew 6:19-21
Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
1 Corinthians 3:12-15
If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.
Colossians 3:1
Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.
James 1:27
“Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
John 6:27
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
Hebrews 13:15-16
While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:18
As these passages make clear, God wants us to view our resources–financial and otherwise–not as an end but as a means to an end: the end of glorifying God, furthering His Kingdom, and investing in eternal rewards.
My Nelson NKJV Study Bible sums it up well in the notes to Luke 16:
Mammon, or money, should be used generously to build works that last.
p. 1730
Let me reference Matthew Henry again:
If we do not make a right use of the gifts of God’s providence, how can we expect from him those present and future comforts which are the gifts of his spiritual grace? . . .
Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, Vol V, p. 754
The riches of this world are the less; grace and glory are the greater. Now if we be unfaithful in the less, if we use the things of this world to other purposes than those for which they were given us, it may justly be feared that we should be so in the gifts of God’s grace, that we should receive them also in vain, and therefore they will be denied us: He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much. He that serves God, and does good, with his money, will serve God, and do good, with the more noble and valuable talents of wisdom and grace, and spiritual gifts, and the earnests of heaven; but he that buries the one talent of this world’s wealth will never improve the five talents of spiritual riches.
I believe these Bible passages and commentary texts offer two points of application: 1) how we use our material resources both reflects and determines how we use our spiritual resources; and 2) what earthly goods we have should be used for heavenly purposes.
Let’s look at another application from another source:
Kingdom Stewardship: A Matter of Love
My research also led me back to two episodes from The Thinklings Podcast in which co-host Charlie Carter shares the results of his study on this very passage.
In these episodes, Thinkling Carter suggests that
- The original audience of this parable was not Jesus’ disciples but the Pharisees.
- Jesus’ purpose for this parable, and the others before and after it, was to challenge the Pharisees’ self-righteousness, their love of money in particular.
- Consequently, the primary application of this parable belonged to the Pharisees. However, the disciples could still glean valuable insight from this passage, as can we believers today.
In the first episode, Thinkling Carter gives the context, an overview, and some general application of the parable. The big idea, he says, is this:
You could say it negatively or positively: you are a disciple, and you demonstrate you are a disciple by the way you don’t love money, you love God. Or if you’re not a disciple, you demonstrate that you’re not a disciple by the way that you love money or you live an unrighteous life. . . .
A direct application for us is, do we think that we’re righteous when we’re actually not? I think the heart of this passage is: one of the ways I demonstrate my being a disciple, the righteousness of Christ at work in me, is in regard to how I love money, how I use money.
In the second episode, Thinkling Carter digs deeper into the parable itself and what it means for us, pointing out that, on both sides of Pentecost (that is, in the Old Testament and the New Testament), the command is the same: love God and love others. He says, “The law of loving God first doesn’t go away. I should love God, and if I love my money more, that’s a problem.”
He also asks the following questions:
Is the way that I as a Christian give–and that includes why I’m giving, what I’m giving to, what I’m loving, all of those inside parts of the external action–does that affect eternal reward? In the parable, it’s not talking about rewards in the sense of a Christian being rewarded for his service; it’s talking about eternal dwelling–salvation I think is the point. . . . Are there ways that a Christian can carefully think about their future? And the way that they think and their perspective of eternity, would that change the way they’re using their money now? The answer is absolutely yes.
Finally, in his concluding remarks, Thinkling Carter challenges us:
You might love money because you’re not redeemed and you think you are. . . . If you are a Christian and you’re wanting to not be a lover of money but a servant of God . . . think about the way you give, how you give: do you love meeting other people’s needs, or are you really content to serve yourself with money?
Money is a great servant, but it’s a horrible master. Don’t live your life for it. Love God, not money, because you cannot serve two masters.
You might be thinking, “I’m chronically ill. I can’t work full time. I have no money (or very little money)–this discussion doesn’t apply to me.”
I hear you! It’s easy to think that way.
Yet even we who have chronic illness are not exempt from biblical commands and principles, both in regards to our money and in regards to other resources like our “spoons”–our energy and physical capacity.
Come back in two weeks for another parable about stewards and more discussion on exactly how Kingdom stewardship applies to us with chronic illness–and what spoons have to do with it.
In the meantime, let me leave you with these questions that have also challenged my own heart:
What does your use of your material resources–money, things, etc.–say about your heart: your allegiance, your love, and your priorities? Do you hoard the things of this world to yourself or do you hold them loosely? Is God the first love of your life (Rev 2:4)?
The Valley 