Luke 16:13 “No one can serve two master. Either you will hate the one and love the other or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
There is much talk about money and wealth these days. Much is aimed at the people at the top of the pile, those who control so much wealth. And this isn’t just a conversation that is taking place in the USA. Even China has it billionaires who have become a target.
What is it about wealth that gets some people so upset? We know that money is just a tangible symbol of labor, or at least that is the way I think about it. You do a days work and you get paid a days wage. This for that.
But our world is not a christian world. And to expect wealth to be handled in a christian way is folly. Sin and selfishness rules our world. That doesn’t mean that everyone with wealth hasn’t earned it and isn’t being a good steward of that wealth. It does mean that for the vast majority of the most wealthy, they are not guided by Scripture in their management of their wealth.
And why talk about only those at the top. Aren’t we all responsible for the way that we handle what ever wealth we do have? Aren’t we just as liable for the ways we spend money as those who are rich?
Our passage today seems on the surface to be puzzling, at least to me. Jesus tells the story of a manager who did a very poor job of managing the wealth in his care. He wasted it. He didn’t handle the wealth he had in a way honoring the LORD.
So what does he do? He in essence steals even more from his master by forgiving some of the debt others owe the master. He brings in some people who owe his master money and he prorates their debt in order to gain their favor.
And when the master finds out about it, he commended this dishonest manager. Embezzling is a good thing? But who benefited in the long run from this manager’s dishonest efforts? The manager? The owner? Both?
Trustworthiness in financial stewardship is independent of the size of the amount. If we handle small amounts well, then we are also capable of handling large amounts well. That is because we have one thing in common with the dishonest manager.
Wealth is a tool. It can be used for good or for evil. The same dollar bill gets used stuffed down a pole dancer’s outfit and for the young child going to Dollar Store to purchase a present for a birthday party. The same dollar bill can be used for both.
But money does shine a light on our inner world. It can reflect what we value and to what we are slaves. Wealth gives us a picture of the condition of our heart.
But I fear too many of us are operating from a split personality when it comes to wealth. We want the people at the top to be generous and bear the burden of societal and governmental irresponsibility, but we are not willing to admit our part of the problem.
We must become worthy stewards of the wealth we do have and not wait for the ultra wealthy to rescue us when we have the means to lift the needy out of poverty by showing them what responsible stewardship looks like.
The Arnold Journey 