1 Jesus also said to his followers, “Once there was a rich man who had a manager to take care of his business. This manager was accused of cheating him. 2 So he called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give me a report of what you have done with my money, because you can’t be my manager any longer.’ 3 The manager thought to himself, ‘What will I do since my master is taking my job away from me? I am not strong enough to dig ditches, and I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I’ll do so that when I lose my job people will welcome me into their homes.’
5 “So the manager called in everyone who owed the master any money. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe?’ 6 He answered, ‘Eight hundred gallons of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write four hundred gallons.’ 7 Then the manager asked another one, ‘How much do you owe?’ He answered, ‘One thousand bushels of wheat.’ Then the manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and write eight hundred bushels.’ 8 So, the master praised the dishonest manager for being clever. Yes, worldly people are more clever with their own kind than spiritual people are.
9 “I tell you, make friends for yourselves using worldly riches so that when those riches are gone, you will be welcomed in those homes that continue forever. 10 Whoever can be trusted with a little can also be trusted with a lot, and whoever is dishonest with a little is dishonest with a lot. 11 If you cannot be trusted with worldly riches, then who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you cannot be trusted with things that belong to someone else, who will give you things of your own?
13 “No servant can serve two masters. The servant will hate one master and love the other, or will follow one master and refuse to follow the other. You cannot serve both God and worldly riches.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, were listening to all these things and made fun of Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You make yourselves look good in front of people, but God knows what is really in your hearts. What is important to people is hateful in God’s sight.
16 “The law of Moses and the writings of the prophets were preached until John came. Since then the Good News about the kingdom of God is being told, and everyone tries to enter it by force. 17 It would be easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the smallest part of a letter in the law to be changed.
18 “If a man divorces his wife and marries another woman, he is guilty of adultery, and the man who marries a divorced woman is also guilty of adultery.”
Read Luke 16:1-18 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
Which comes first: God or money?
Is this a trick question? Not according to Jesus. He clearly states in verse 13: “You cannot serve both God and worldly riches.”
This passage also states that the Pharisee’s loved money (v. 14) and because of this, we can conclude that for many of them, money, stuff, and status were more important than God.
However, while money and God can be placed on opposite ends of the spectrum in our lives (either you are poor and with God or rich and far away from Him), Jesus does not actually make this conclusion. Instead, He pushes them (and us) to examine the motives and primary focus for what we do.
There are two baseline motives we can choose from: Serving God by serving others, or serving ourselves. When we place ourselves first, we shift into accumulation mode and we save and collect everything we can – both stuff and status. When we place serving God and others first, any accumulating we do is aimed at how this can be used to help someone else.
God loves blessing the people who view the world through the lens of how to help others. He knows that giving extra to those people is a good investment.
However, can serving God through serving others be taken too far? Yes.
If in our diligence to serve, we begin neglecting our basic needs, then yes it has been taken too far. We can illustrate this challenge with the warnings giving to those who have flown on an airplane: “In the event that there is a change in cabin pressure, oxygen masks will be released. Be sure to place your mask on first before assisting others around you.”
Is this self-centered behavior? Yes and no. It is true that you focus on yourself first, but we must ask the question of why.
If you place your mask on first only out of the self-preservation mindset – excluding the well-being of those around you – then yes, your actions are self-focused.
However, if you place your mask on first knowing that you can only help others effectively when your mask is on, the entire focus has shifted. You help yourself have the foundation necessary to help others effectively. This is helping from a position of strength, and it still retains the “other-focused” mentality.
The passage states that having money is not the issue, but the focus of the money is. We clearly read in verse 9, “Make friends for yourselves using worldly riches so that when those riches are gone, you will be welcomed in those homes that continue forever.”
Riches don’t last forever – but relationships do. Are your friendships made to support your wealth, or is your wealth used to expand your relationships?
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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