Luke 16:1–15
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.’
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—4 I 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 “‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
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.’
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. 9 I 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.11 So 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?
13 “No one can serve two masters. 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.”
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
Life-Changing Generosity
The parable of the shrewd manager has always fascinated me, precisely because it felt so wrong, so anti-Jesus. If you peek through commentaries (there are many to pick from), it’s clear that so many people struggle with this story. When Jesus tells parables, God is usually cast as the master. So why would the Holy, Just God commend somebody for cooking the books, especially when he’s the one who has been defrauded. It raises so many questions.
Right before this parable, Luke pairs another parable about wasteful spending. The parable of the wasteful. Keep that in mind because these stories weren’t told in isolation, they go together to paint a bigger picture.
Many commentaries spend time unpacking the details and asking questions. Was the fraudulent debt the manager’s commission, was he stealing from the owner, or did he give the items at cost? Those academic exercises are interesting, but I think they are a distraction. Keep in mind that this isn’t a modern, Western parable—it’s an ancient Near Eastern one.
Don’t get stuck on the details of whose money it was and miss the point. Luckily for us, Jesus concludes with, “For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light” (16:8)
We, the disciples of Jesus, are the people of the light. Jesus tells parables of lights on lampstands and cities on a hill. All throughout the Gospel, Jesus makes it clear that we are the people of the light. And the other thing Jesus does when he explains this story is admonish us for our lack of imagination.
I lived in China for a few years, teaching English and studying Chinese. I was good at neither of those things, and that’s why I’m here in Canada. But in China, there was a concept that was hard to wrap my mind around: guānxi (关系). Guānxi was how the world worked. It was like a magic word that explained everything and everyone’s motivation. It kind of means relationship meets quid pro quo meets reputation. At first, I thought it meant that if you did something for somebody, they owe you in return—and that felt wrong in my western frame. And it could mean that, but guānxi also works for generosity, caring for others, and making the world a better place; you can win friends because you care for people, and it becomes an ever-growing arms race of generosity. I quickly learned I couldn’t out-give my Chinese friends.
I like this parable because no matter the situation we find ourselves in, we aren’t victims of circumstance. The shrewd manager, on the edge of employment, understands that another world is possible, and he creates an alternate reality through generosity. When I feel threatened, like scarcity is around the corner, I withhold. But that’s not what the shrewd manager did at all. When he was on the verge of losing everything, that’s when he opened up and shared.
900 gallons of olive oil would be worth about three years of wages. In 2022, the average Canadian wage was $57,100 . If this happened in our modern context, that’d be similar to the manager cutting a debt of $171,300 in half. If you show up to the bank to make your minimum monthly payment, only to discover that they credited your account $85,000, you’d call everyone you know and tell them to switch banks immediately.
The shrewd manager’s act of generosity changed the course of his life and the lives of his friends. Maybe he did forfeit his commission as a manager, or maybe he was generous with the master’s things—whoever the debt belonged to isn’t the point. The point is that those brazen acts of generosity changed the course of their lives.
That’s what Jesus wants us to take from it. Use your wealth to create heavenly wealth. Forgive debts. Change the world with radical acts of generosity.
Jesus goes on, through the rest of the passage, to talk about money in terms you’d expect of Jesus. People who are dishonest in few things will be dishonest in many. Jesus isn’t a fan of dishonesty, but he is a big fan of generosity.
So how are we doing, as children of the light? Are we using our wealth, our lives, our talents, our imagination generously for the sake of the kingdom, to love those around us, to the fullest extent possible? I’m not, but I want to be.
But what if we did? What if we used our imagination—not to worry about not having enough—but rather, to dream of what is possible when we’re generous.
Pray:
• God grow my imagination of what’s possible in your kingdom.
•God, where am I living in a scarcity mindset?
• Forgive me for valuing things above you and your kingdom.
• Who are the people that I should use my wealth, time, or resources on today?
• I have enough to share. You always provide.
Author Bio
Eric Crow is the Communications Manager for The Alliance Canada national office. He lives in Toronto with his wife, Emily, and their three boys. He loves coffee, running, and gardening.
Luke and Acts taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®
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