Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 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; I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And 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?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of 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 else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (16:1–13)

Of the nearly forty parables told by the Lord Jesus Christ in the Gospels, about one third of them deal in some way with money. That money played such a prominent role in the teaching of Jesus is not surprising, since it has a dominant role in society and the lives of individuals. People spend much of their time thinking about money; how to acquire it, spend it, save it, invest it, borrow it, keep track of it, and sometimes give it away. The widespread preoccupation with money that dominates today’s society results in anxiety, covetousness, selfishness, greediness, discontent, idolatry, and pride.

Scripture has much to say about money, including how to obtain it, how to regard it, and how to use it.

The Bible reveals both right and wrong ways to obtain money. The most important way to make money is through work. Proverbs 14:23 says, “In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty” (cf. 6:6–11; 20:4; 28:19), and Paul wrote that those who refuse to work should not eat (2 Thess. 3:10).

Second, money can be obtained by saving for the future. “There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise,” wrote Solomon, “but a foolish man swallows it up” (Prov. 21:20; cf. 30:24–25).

Third, money can be obtained through proper assessment of one’s resources and wise planning. Solomon advised, “Know well the condition of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds; for riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations” (Prov. 27:23–24).

Finally, money can be obtained through gifts (Phil. 4:16).

On the other hand, there are wrong ways to get money, including stealing (whether directly [Ex. 20:15; Eph. 4:28], or by fraud [Ps. 37:21; Hos. 12:7; Amos 8:5; Mic. 6:11]), charging exorbitant interest on loans (Ex. 22:25; Lev. 25:36–37; Neh. 5:7, 10; Ps. 15:5; Prov. 28:8), withholding from others what is due them (James 5:4), or gambling, which foolishly trusts in chance rather than in the providence of God.

Scripture reveals both the right way and the wrong way to regard money. The right attitude is to acknowledge that God owns everything (Ps. 50:10; Hag. 2:8), and is the source of people’s ability to earn money (Deut. 8:17–18; cf. 1 Tim. 6:17).

The wrong way to regard money is to love it, which leads to disastrous consequences (1 Tim. 6:10). Loving money is destructive (1 Tim. 6:9), numbering among its victims Achan (Josh. 7:1–25), Balaam (Num. 22–24), Judas (Matt. 26:24; Acts 1:25), and Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5:1–10). Loving money leads to a lack of trust in God (Job 31:24–28; Prov. 11:28; 1 Tim. 6:17), results in ungratefulness and pride (Deut. 8:12–17), and causes people to behave foolishly (Luke 12:16–21), rob God (Mal. 3:8), and be indifferent to the needs of others (1 John 3:17).

The Bible also establishes the proper use of money. People are to earn it to support themselves (2 Thess. 3:10–12), their families (1 Tim. 5:8), and their nation (Rom. 13:6–7), as well as to help people in need (Matt. 6:2–3; James 2:15–16).

Above and beyond those things, there are some necessary biblical prerequisites to giving to kingdom purposes. First, those who would truly honor God in giving must transfer ownership of their money, possessions, time, and talents to Him. Second, they must make exalting Christ and proclaiming the gospel the supreme purpose of their lives. Finally, they must put themselves in a position to use their money to honor God by taking steps to get out of debt (paying bills, prioritizing spending, eliminating nonessential spending, selling items that perpetuate debt, refusing to borrow money for luxuries, pursuing contentment, etc.).

Several principles mark New Testament giving. First, Christian giving is entirely voluntary (cf. 2 Cor. 9:7). The argument that Christians are biblically mandated to tithe ten percent of their income is based on a flawed understanding of the Old Testament. (For a discussion of tithing, see 2 Corinthians, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 2003], 281–83; Whose Money Is It, Anyway? [Nashville: Word, 2000].) Far from being legalistic, giving is to be willing, joyful, eager, enthusiastic, and from the heart. It is also to be secret, unlike the showy public giving of legalists and hypocrites (Matt. 6:2–4), regular and systematic (1 Cor. 16:1–2), and motivated by love, not legalistic compulsion (2 Cor. 8:8).

In this parable and His application of it, the Lord redirects our attitudes and establishes His will for believers concerning wealth.

THE PARABLE

Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as squandering his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 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; I am ashamed to beg. I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And 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?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. (16:1–8)

Jesus, the unequalled storyteller, was very adept at teaching both from the expected, and the unexpected experiences of life. The main character in his fictional story is an unrighteous manager, guilty not only of incompetence, but also of embezzlement. However the Lord created him to teach a positive spiritual principle. Recognizing that incongruity, some have attempted to read between the lines to find a way to recast this man in a positive light. But there are no hidden details in this straightforward narrative, nor is there anything more to it than the details He gave. And it is precisely the surprise ending, in which the master praises the unrighteous manager instead of punishing him, that provides the point of the story. The unexpected response is a pattern that Jesus often used, following the rabbinic pattern of reasoning from the lesser to the greater. His point was that if an unrighteous man was shrewd in using money for his own selfish interests, how much more should righteous believers use all they possess for God’s kingdom?

This parable was not addressed to the scribes and Pharisees, as the previous three had been (15:1–3), although they were still present and heard it (16:14). The primary audience was the disciples. The Lord turned from three evangelistic parables, in which He called those who rejected Him to repentance and salvation, to one aimed primarily at believers. He moved in a sense from giving a salvation message to one on discipleship.

The rich man was wealthy enough to have hired a manager, a steward or administrator who oversaw at least one aspect of his business. He would have been a free man, not a slave, of high social status, and bearing great responsibility. The debts that were owed to the rich man were too large to have been incurred by tenant farmers, which gives further testimony to the size of his operation.

That he had a manager overseeing his farming operation suggests that the rich man was probably an absentee landowner. That would help explain why he was unaware of what was happening until the manager was reported to him. Diaballō (reported) is related to the noun diabolos, which means “slanderer,” or “accuser,” and is the word translated “devil.” Diaballō means “to accuse” or “bring charges” with a hostile intent. The accusation eventually reached the rich man that his manager was squandering (the same word used in 15:13 to describe the younger son’s wasting his share of the estate) his possessions. Having found out about the situation the rich man took immediate action to protect his interests. He called the manager and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ But having fired him, he allowed him to remain until he compiled a final accounting of his management. That gave him opportunity to do more harm.

The embezzling manager was now in a quandary, as expressed by his question, “What shall I do?” (cf. 3:10–14; 12:17; Acts 2:37). After his master took the management away from him he faced two unpleasant alternatives. On the one hand, he was not strong enough to dig. He was, in contemporary terms, a white-collar worker, and not capable of hard manual labor. Further, he no doubt saw such labor as beneath his dignity. The other alternative was equally unacceptable. If manual labor was beneath him, how much more would he have been ashamed to beg? The future looked bleak, and he saw no way out of his dilemma.

Then he had a sudden flash of inspiration; a “eureka moment,” or epiphany. “I know what I shall do,” he exclaimed, “so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.” The people to whom he referred were his master’s debtors, with whom he had done business on behalf of his master. The solution he came up with would provide all the things he would need: a place to live, income, and status.

In addition to his mismanagement, the manager launched a new scheme to rob his master. He summoned each one of his master’s debtors in turn and renegotiated their deals to lower the amount they owed. Since his master had not terminated him immediately, he still had access to their contracts. Apparently his absent master had not yet rescinded the manager’s authority to act on his behalf, or word of that had not yet reached his debtors. The debts involved commodities, and were due to be paid at harvest time. By reducing what they were obligated to pay his master, he put them under obligation to him. Reciprocation was an integral part of Jewish society; if someone did a person a favor, that person was obligated to do one for him.

Jesus then gave two examples of the manager’s deceitful dealings. To the first he said, “How much do you owe my master?” And he said, “A hundred measures of oil.” And he said to him, “Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.” One hundred measures of olive oil was 875 gallons, or the yield of about 150 olive trees, and was worth about one thousand denarii—more than three years’ wages for a common laborer. The new deal, which cut the debt in half, created a significant loss for his master. The second debtor owed a hundred measures of wheat. The manager reduced his bill by twenty percent to eighty measures of wheat, once again defrauding his former master of a considerable amount of money (a hundred measures of wheat would have been equivalent to eight to ten years’ wages for a common laborer). These were not cases where a debt was restructured due to extenuating circumstances, such as crop damage from weather or locusts, or price fluctuations. This was done solely to benefit the manager, by making the debtors to the master debtors to him.

Then came the shocking, unexpected conclusion to the story: his master praised the unrighteous manager. To those listening to the Lord relate this story, it would have seemed that he had taken leave of his senses. But the master did not praise the manager because he was wasteful, irresponsible, or a thief. He praised him because he had acted shrewdly. Phronimōs (shrewdly) means to act wisely and with insight. The manager took advantage of his opportunity, carefully working the situation to his own advantage. Since the debtors were now obligated to him, his future was secure.

The point of the parable is simple. “The sons of this age” (sinners; those outside of the kingdom of God), Jesus said, “are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light” (believers; cf. John 12:36; Eph. 5:8; 1 Thess. 5:5). Sinners are more skilled and diligent in securing their temporal future in this present age than those whose citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20) are in securing their eternal reward in the age to come. Believers should be far more shrewd in preparing for their eternal futures.

THE APPLICATION

“And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? And if you have not been faithful in the use of 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 else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (16:9–13)

The Lord drew three lessons from the parable concerning believers’ attitude toward money: how they view their money in relation to others, themselves, and God.

In relation to others, Jesus exhorted His hearers to make friends for themselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so called because it belongs to this unrighteous, passing world. Unbelievers, like the unrighteous manager, often use money to buy earthly friends. Believers, on the other hand, are to use their money to evangelize and thus purchase heavenly friends. The wealth of unrighteousness, being an element of fallen society’s experience, cannot last past this present life (cf. Luke 12:20). When it fails, the friends believers have gained through investing in gospel preaching will welcome them into the eternal dwellings of heaven. Those friends will be waiting to receive them when they arrive in glory because through their financial sacrifice for reaching the unconverted they heard and believed the gospel.

The Lord calls for Christians to use their money for eternal purposes to produce a heavenly reward. In the familiar words of the Sermon on the Mount, He commanded,

Where they invest their money reveals where people’s hearts are. Endless personal accumulation is sinful, wasteful, and robs those who pursue it of eternal blessing.

Concerning their attitude toward money as it relates to themselves, Christ exhorted believers to be faithful to make eternal investments. His statement, He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much, is axiomatic. Some claim that if they had more money, they would give more. But the truth is that character, not circumstances, determines faithfulness. Some, like the poor widow described in Luke 21:1–4, who have nothing give everything; others who have everything give nothing. The issue is not finances, but integrity and spiritual character. Those who are faithful with the very little they have would be faithful if they had more; those who are unrighteous—selfish, proud, indulgent—in the use of what little they have would be so if they had much. The determining factor is not how much people possess, but how strong their commitment to the gospel of salvation is.

People’s perspective on money and their resulting faithfulness or unfaithfulness has implications for their eternal reward. If you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, Jesus asked, who will entrust the true riches to you? It is foolish to imagine that God will reward those who sinfully waste their opportunity to be faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth in this life. Those who fail to invest their wealth in the work of redemption impoverish themselves forever. Eternal reward comes to those who are faithful.

The Lord’s question, If you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own? reveals the importance of stewardship; acknowledging that all we have belongs to God, and we are responsible to manage it to His glory (cf. Matt. 25:14–29).

Finally, Jesus spoke of believers’ attitude toward money as it relates to God, using another obvious, common sense example. No servant can serve two masters; He warned, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. Douleuō (serve) refers to serving as a slave. Slaves, unlike modern workers, did not have the option of working at a second job for a second employer. They were the property of a master who had singular and absolute control over them. That kind of exclusive service could not be rendered to two masters at the same time.

In the same way, a person cannot be both the slave of God and of material wealth. They cannot be co-rulers in the same heart, for as John Calvin notes in his commentary on the parallel passage in Matthew 6:24, “Where riches hold the dominion of the heart, God has lost his authority.” Conflicting demands will inevitably produce conflicting emotions and attitudes. Those who love money will despise and resent what God demands of them regarding it. But those who love Him will choose to honor Him by not making earthly wealth their master. Instead of using it to selfishly gratify their desires, they will seek to manage the money He has entrusted to them for the salvation of souls to the glory of God.