Parable of the Shrewd Manager

Let’s look at Luke 16:1-15. First, we will read through the verses and try to figure
out what Jesus meant. Then we will figure out how this applies to us today.

1Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting
his possessions. 2So 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.'

The manager was wasting his master’s possessions and so was going to be
dismissed. The manager is put into a difficult position. He knows that he will not be able
to justify himself to his master. He needs to figure out what he’s going to do.

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— 4I 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.'

The manager assesses his situation. He has a short amount of time, but still has
some opportunity to ensure his future welfare. If he doesn’t think fast, he’s going to be in
a very difficult position after he loses his job.
He calls in the people who owe his master and uses his authority to renegotiate
their debt in very favorable terms.

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. 9I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that
when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

The master commended the manager because he was clever, or shrewd—not

because he was dishonest. Jesus said that people in this world are clever when it comes to
thinking about their future here and making the most of every opportunity. Smart people
are always on the look-out for ways to help themselves. They are going to school or
working hard to get a promotion. They are people who are going places.
Now, here is the point of the parable. Jesus says that Christians should similarly
use their ingenuity to make the most of their available resources and opportunities. Jesus
says they should do everything they can here on earth to prepare for their future in
heaven.

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. 11So if you have not been
trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you
have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of
your own?

Jesus explains that God will reward people who are faithful here on earth. God
has a purpose for Christians. We are not supposed to waste our time and resources.
2 Timothy 2:4-6 says that a good soldier is one that avoids getting distracted in
civilian affairs, but focuses his attention on the commands he’s received. An athlete can
only win the prize if he competes according to the rules, and a farmer must work hard to
receive his share of the crop. Christians need to faithfully make use of their time and
resources.
Jesus says Christians need to faithfully handle worldly wealth. Each of these
examples apply: the soldier is disciplined, the athlete is energetic and mindful, and the
farmer is patient and hard-working.

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."
Jesus explains why worldly wealth is the test of faithfulness. It is impossible for
someone to be wholly committed to God and also wholly committed to money. No
servant can serve two masters.

14The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering
at Jesus. 15He said to them, "You are the ones who justify
yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is
highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight.
The Pharisees sneered at Jesus and dismissed what he said because they loved
money and wanted to justify themselves. To sneer is to laugh at with contempt. They
criticized what Jesus said and tried to justify their love of money, and to do this they
appealed to things that people normally value highly but are worthless in God’s sight. But
Jesus wouldn’t let them get away with that. He warned them again that their justifications
were not acceptable to God.

Application
What can we learn from this parable? How should we apply this parable to our
own lives? I can see two things.

1. We must be aware of the time we have—it is a resource and

opportunity.
• This will affect our hobbies. We cannot spend too much time on things that don’t
add eternal value. We cannot afford to have too much “free time.” Think of the
Amazon.com example. That person did not waste time, but was always looking
for opportunities and thinking about the finish line. We need to be disciplined like
the good soldier that doesn’t get involved in civilian affairs.
 • This will affect our career. Our jobs take up the most of our time. We cannot
spend too much time and energy on our career for the sake of our career. It is a
matter of being Kingdom-minded. For some people, their career is their calling,
because God wants to use them to finance God’s kingdom or expand God’s
kingdom through business. But for all of us … we need to remember that our true
boss is Jesus. We need to ask Him what He wants us to do in terms of our career
and trust Him to give us what we need materially.
• This will affect our education. Young people need to decide now what they are
going to do in their lifetime. You have a lot of time to prepare yourself to make a
big impact for God’s kingdom. Realize that your school will prepare you for
work, but the church can prepare you for spiritual work.
○ I believe that young people can be caregroup leaders. It is good training
for a life of ministry. Even though I appreciate parachurch ministries, I
don’t believe they do the best job of making sure young people are ready
to serve God after they graduate. Ministries like Campus Crusade and
YWAM were necessary for a time because the church was not doing its
duty on campus. Those groups served as a crutch. God’s intent is to work
through the local church. Help build up God’s church, not just while you
are in the university, but all throughout your life!
○ Young people can be church planters! You need to use this time to prepare
yourself—get trained, develop good spiritual habits.
• This will affect who we marry. Who we marry is probably the most important
decision we’ll ever make, besides becoming a Christian. We need to think about
this before you tell your partner, “I want to be a church planter.”

The point is that the time we have is short, just as the time the shrewd manager
had was short. Let’s look in 1 Corinthians 7:29-31.

2. Jesus says the key test of our faithfulness is worldly wealth

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. 9I 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. 11So if you have not been
trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12And if you
have not been trustworthy with someone else's property, who will give you property of
your own?

Our own pastors have learned this lesson already. During the course of their
Christian lives, they’ve completely emptied their bank accounts three times for God. We
need to be wise in handling worldly wealth. Jesus says most Christians are unwise
because they are not thinking of preparing for eternity.
More and more, I’m thinking that I don’t want to have lots of money sitting
around in my bank account when Jesus returns. I don’t want Him to and say, “Oh, let’s
see what Tyson has been doing with the things I’ve blessed him with. Hm … most of it is
still here, sitting around.”
I want to put my money in my heavenly bank account by using it here and now
for God. Some people may have a big account with Bank of America, but I want to have
a big account with the Bank of Heaven!
God gives us resources to use. 1 Timothy 6:17-19.

Moreover, we need to be wise in what we do with our money. We should not go

into debt, because then our hands our tied in terms of what we can do for God’s kingdom.
Romans 13:8 says, “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love
one another …” We should use our money wisely so that we can be free from debt to do
God’s work. We should not “finance our wants, and beg God for our needs.”
Don’t spend your money on things, and don’t buy into our modern religion of
consumerism. Not everything has to be new and improved. We need to learn what it
means to be content with what we have, so that we can use the excess to bless others who
are in need. 1 Timothy 6:6-8.
Read the goat story. Promote the book Revolution in World Missions. It says that
we can finance one Indian missionary for something like $30 per month. After you saw
the pictures from Myanmar, did you regret giving, or regret not giving more?

Conclusion
Christians need to start acting like they know what’s up. Our time here is short,
and we need to make the most of it. Don’t sneer at the ideas that I’ve talked about today,
because they’re all clearly supported in the Bible. “What is highly valued among men is
detestable in God’s sight.”
I want to close by reading two verses: Matthew 16:27 and Revelation 22:12.