Here is the parable about the unrighteous steward and how I understand it. Do you agree? Or do you have any other explanation?
The Unrighteous Steward
LUK 16:1 Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.
2 So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'
3 "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg -
4 I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
5 "So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
6 "'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. "The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'
7 "Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?' "'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. "He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'
8 "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.
9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
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.
11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
13 "No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money."
The point of this parable was NOT about the servant being dishonest. Jesus is not talking about the virtue of honesty here. No, Jesus is talking about the way we are supposed to use the money. (the love of money vs. using it for good). The point was that the servant used the money to gain friends. (We are supposed to ignore that it was done in a dishonest fashion, because that is beside the point).
The servant used that which was temporarily given to him to achieve something for himself.
Well, the Lord gave us the money. And it is HIS money. But He is saying: use this money I gave you for gaining riches in heaven. Use the money that YOU have for gaining friends because it’s the wise thing to do.
And if you will use the money to gain friends (or for good deeds) then you will be considered faithful in little, and will be put in charge over much.
And if you will use the money for something else, then you will be considered unfaithful steward and will not be trusted with the true riches. Do not become lovers of money. Only users of it, for good.
A child wants a dog. The parents let him watch somebody else’s. If he does well, he’ll get his own dog. (If we are faithful with the worldly riches, the Lord will give us the real heavenly riches.)
God gives us money. To some He gives a lot and they are rich. To some, He gives only little. But like in a parable of talents, if we only have 1 talent, we should use it for good. And others have 10 talents and they also should use them for good.
The Unrighteous Steward
LUK 16:1 Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.
2 So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.'
3 "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg -
4 I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
5 "So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'
6 "'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. "The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.'
7 "Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?' "'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. "He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.'
8 "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.
9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
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.
11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?
12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of your own?
13 "No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money."
The point of this parable was NOT about the servant being dishonest. Jesus is not talking about the virtue of honesty here. No, Jesus is talking about the way we are supposed to use the money. (the love of money vs. using it for good). The point was that the servant used the money to gain friends. (We are supposed to ignore that it was done in a dishonest fashion, because that is beside the point).
The servant used that which was temporarily given to him to achieve something for himself.
Well, the Lord gave us the money. And it is HIS money. But He is saying: use this money I gave you for gaining riches in heaven. Use the money that YOU have for gaining friends because it’s the wise thing to do.
And if you will use the money to gain friends (or for good deeds) then you will be considered faithful in little, and will be put in charge over much.
And if you will use the money for something else, then you will be considered unfaithful steward and will not be trusted with the true riches. Do not become lovers of money. Only users of it, for good.
A child wants a dog. The parents let him watch somebody else’s. If he does well, he’ll get his own dog. (If we are faithful with the worldly riches, the Lord will give us the real heavenly riches.)
God gives us money. To some He gives a lot and they are rich. To some, He gives only little. But like in a parable of talents, if we only have 1 talent, we should use it for good. And others have 10 talents and they also should use them for good.
