All of us have opinions about money. All of us believe certain things about money. Over these three blogs we’ll dive into Jesus’ teaching about money and what we’ll find is that it’s highly counter-cultural. Underlying it is the loving heart of a Heavenly Father who wants his children to live with joy and freedom.
When you see it in that light and embrace the truth of God’s word, there is freedom and blessing in this area that is often a cause for stress, anxiety, and conflict.
In Luke 16 Jesus is speaking with his disciples and he tells them a parable.
Usually, you learn good lessons from good examples in parables. Here, it appears that Jesus is commending bad behaviour.
In Jesus’ day there were many absentee landlords who would hire a manager to run the operation. They were entrusted with the management of the business (which was usually farming.) They took care of the day to day running of the business and made sure that all the workers were cared for.
In this story the owner got word that his manager was wasting his possessions. The owner calls in the manager and lets him know that after the audit he’ll no longer have a job.
The manager begins to scheme and plan for his future, and he comes up with a clever plan. He goes to his master’s debtors—likely tenants who rented land—and he makes them a great offer. To the one who owed 900 gallons of olive oil, he reduced it to half. To the one who owes 1000 bushels of wheat, he knocked off 20%.
He knew that he would soon be without a job, and he was looking after his future by making some friends, so that down the road he could collect on the favours.
You’d think that the owner would be furious but in verse 8 the owner commends the dishonest manager. Notice that he commends him for his shrewdness. The dictionary defines “shrewd” as “having sharp powers of judgement” or “to be astute.”
He was intensely practical and forward looking. What he did, though wrong, was very creative. So that we’re clear, Jesus is not saying that it’s alright to cheat if you’re creative about it.
I want us to see three things that we learn about money:
We are managers of money that is not ours.
Using money to make friends is smart.
How you use money reveals what’s in your heart.
1. We are managers of money that is not ours.
Jesus’ reference to owners and managers is: when it comes to money, time, energies, etc. I am not the owner. I’m a manager who has been entrusted with the owner’s resources.
The consistent message of the scriptures is that God owns everything. Whatever I have in my hands belongs to Him, and it comes with the responsibility to manage it on behalf of the owner.
When it comes to money and possessions, Jesus’ radical teaching is to “stop acting as if it’s yours.” I can hear the objection: “It’s my money. I earned it. It’s mine to do with as I please.”
Let me push back with this: it all comes from God. Our very breath comes from Him. All I have comes from the hand of Creator God.
In 1 Chronicles 29 King David prays a powerful prayer, “Everything in heaven andearth is yours. Wealth and honor come from you; you are the ruler of all things, in your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.” David understood where wealth came from. He understood that everything belongs to God.
There are all kinds of implications to this truth:
When the car breaks down or a possession is damaged—if its mine, it can be devastating. If it’s God’s car, it’s His problem that I get to manage with His wisdom and His provision.
If God is my source, then I can be content with what He chooses to provide. If it all depends on me, I’m overwhelmed, and I won’t be able to sleep at night worrying about how I’m going to make it.
If God is my source, then I can live in the joy, peace, and security that my Heavenly Father knows what’s best for me and will give me what I need when I need it.
2. Using money to make friends is smart.
I know this sounds strange but understand the point Jesus is making. Jesus is not advising us to buy friendship. In verse 9 he says to use worldly wealth to gain friends. The reason is “so that when it is gone you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.”
The dishonest manager, when confronted with the reality that his money was going to be gone, did what he needed to do to have a good future. He was thinking ahead.
In verse 9 Jesus takes the idea of our future and says that when we think of money, we need to think beyond this life and keep eternity in view.
Obviously, we need a certain amount of stuff to live—a place to live, clothes, food—but one day all will be taken from us. Nothing in this world lasts, with one notable exception: people.
Jesus is making the point that when you use money to enhance and cement friendships that make an eternal difference in people’s lives, you’ll be able to enjoy your money long after this life is over.
Regardless of how much God entrusts you with, be wise. Use it in such a way that you’ll be welcomed by many, many friends when you enter eternity. We use money to love people and to make an eternal difference in lives.
There are a few other implications to consider:
Never make money at the expense of people.
Invest in people.
We use money to connect people to the word of God.
3. Guard your heart.
From verse 14 we see that Jesus is teaching within ear shot of the Pharisees. It says, “The Pharisees, who loved money heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.” In the verse immediately before, Jesus has said, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one anddespise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Jesus gets at the insidious power behind money. Money wants to be a competing god in my life. Jesus didn’t say you shouldn’t serve God and money, He said you can’t. It’s not possible.
Jesus’ call was to have an honest, unvarnished assessment of the condition of one’s heart. To help do that, I ask questions like:
What place does money have in my life?
Am I trusting in it?
Is it my security?
Am I constantly looking to money to satisfy?
Who am I living for?
What am I investing in?
A master demands allegiance. So why should it be God and not money? Because in giving myself wholeheartedly to Him, everything else makes sense for time and for eternity.
— Notes from Pastor Marvin Wojda’s sermons on March 12th and 13th, 2022.
CLICK HERE to watch the sermon on YouTube.