Luk 16:8-12 | KingComments | STEP | The steward has used his right to grant debt reduction and has done so with a view to his future. He did act without any consultation with his master. Yet his master praises him for his shrewdness and insight. By dealing with his master’s possessions in this way and doing good to others, he has secured future shelter. With his favors and indulgence he has won over these debtors, that they may take him into their homes, when his stewardship has been taken away from him. What the unfaithful steward has done is to use the present possession over which he had control and the present opportunity with a view to the future. Although he was unjust, he was wise. The behavior of the steward is the behavior of someone who lives in the world and by circumstances becomes wise in the stewardship of what has been entrusted to him. He had previously been unjust by squandering his master’s possessions. Now he is dealing with them wisely. Unfortunately, the Lord must say that the believers, “the sons of light”, are generally not that wise. Those who are certain of a future with the Lord often forget to live with that in mind. “The sons of this age”, the unbelievers, are often more shrewd. They set themselves a goal and do everything in their power to achieve it. They save and deny themselves current benefits to be able to buy whatever they want later. They train and deny themselves all kinds of pleasures to be able to deliver a top performance in the future. They study intensively and do not go out to have a good job in the future. The Lord connects to the actions of the unjust steward the lesson for His disciples that they will use their money and goods to make friends with them for the future. The Lord calls the money “the unjust mammon“. ‘Mammon’ is an Aramaic word for ‘wealth, money’, and is presented here as a person. The love of money, the craving for riches, is “a root of all sorts of evil” ( ). Money is always coveted and misused by the people of the world, and also to many believers money has a great attraction. For disciples of the Lord, it is a means to make friends with it. We do this by giving it away. Then we show that our hearts are not attached to it. We show that we see the relativity of it. Money and possessions can escape us just like that ( ) and if we die, we cannot take anything with us ( ). What goes beyond this is that the way we deal with our money determines where we will be in eternity. The Lord Jesus speaks of “the eternal dwellings”, which are the dwellings in heaven. It’s not about perishing if we misuse our money once. It’s about the way we deal with our money which shows what our life is focused on. The Christian’s life is focused on the future. If someone who professes to be a Christian lives for here and now and uses everything for himself, he shows that he is not born again. Even if he occasionally gives away something, it is only to reassure his own conscience and not the result of thinking about the future. The Lord connects to His teaching some important principles. First and foremost, it is about faithfulness. Our faithfulness is tested in our dealings with “a very little thing“, which are the earthly things, like money and possessions. If someone is faithful in this, he will also be faithful in “much”, these are the many spiritual blessings that a believer has received. Conversely, whoever is unjust in earthly things is also unjust in spiritual things. If we are not faithful in the stewardship of the unrighteous mammon or wealth, the money, we cannot be entrusted with the “true”, that is, the spiritual riches. The money is “that which is another’s”. Everything we have received we have received from God and He asks us to be accountable for it. It is about borrowed goods. If we treat it as if it were our own, we use it wrong. How then will we get what really belongs to us, which is “your own”? By “your own” the Lord means the spiritual blessings God has in His heart to give to those who give their life to Him with all that goes with it. Also the spiritual blessings belong to God, but He gives them to us forever. He does not lend us the spiritual blessings, but grants them to us. Every man is God’s property with all that he possesses. We get our life and our property on loan. Our dealing with money shows whether we are aware of this. Then the question is not what we will give to the Lord, but what we may use for ourselves, for everything belongs to the Lord. Whoever is aware of this will receive “the true”, “your own”. In this light, the importance of earthly wealth is completely lost. For those who realize this, it is already gone, for they are in possession of their true riches that cannot escape them. The Lord concludes His teaching on this subject with the truth that no servant can serve two masters. It simply cannot be done. If he does, the one or the other one falls short. The masters are not equal parties, but each other’s opposites. God and the god of money are opposite each other. Whoever thinks he can serve God and at the same time live the life of a rich fool ( ), indicates that he hates God and loves the money. We either hate God or the money. It is impossible to love a little bit the One and to love a little bit the other.

‏ Luke 16:8-12

The Lesson

The steward has used his right to grant debt reduction and has done so with a view to his future. He did act without any consultation with his master. Yet his master praises him for his shrewdness and insight. By dealing with his master’s possessions in this way and doing good to others, he has secured future shelter. With his favors and indulgence he has won over these debtors, that they may take him into their homes, when his stewardship has been taken away from him.

What the unfaithful steward has done is to use the present possession over which he had control and the present opportunity with a view to the future. Although he was unjust, he was wise. The behavior of the steward is the behavior of someone who lives in the world and by circumstances becomes wise in the stewardship of what has been entrusted to him. He had previously been unjust by squandering his master’s possessions. Now he is dealing with them wisely.

Unfortunately, the Lord must say that the believers, “the sons of light”, are generally not that wise. Those who are certain of a future with the Lord often forget to live with that in mind. “The sons of this age”, the unbelievers, are often more shrewd. They set themselves a goal and do everything in their power to achieve it. They save and deny themselves current benefits to be able to buy whatever they want later. They train and deny themselves all kinds of pleasures to be able to deliver a top performance in the future. They study intensively and do not go out to have a good job in the future.

The Lord connects to the actions of the unjust steward the lesson for His disciples that they will use their money and goods to make friends with them for the future. The Lord calls the money “the unjust mammon“. ‘Mammon’ is an Aramaic word for ‘wealth, money’, and is presented here as a person.

The love of money, the craving for riches, is “a root of all sorts of evil” (1Tim 6:9-10). Money is always coveted and misused by the people of the world, and also to many believers money has a great attraction. For disciples of the Lord, it is a means to make friends with it. We do this by giving it away. Then we show that our hearts are not attached to it. We show that we see the relativity of it. Money and possessions can escape us just like that (Pro 23:4-5) and if we die, we cannot take anything with us (1Tim 6:7).

What goes beyond this is that the way we deal with our money determines where we will be in eternity. The Lord Jesus speaks of “the eternal dwellings”, which are the dwellings in heaven. It’s not about perishing if we misuse our money once. It’s about the way we deal with our money which shows what our life is focused on. The Christian’s life is focused on the future. If someone who professes to be a Christian lives for here and now and uses everything for himself, he shows that he is not born again. Even if he occasionally gives away something, it is only to reassure his own conscience and not the result of thinking about the future.

The Lord connects to His teaching some important principles. First and foremost, it is about faithfulness. Our faithfulness is tested in our dealings with “a very little thing“, which are the earthly things, like money and possessions. If someone is faithful in this, he will also be faithful in “much”, these are the many spiritual blessings that a believer has received. Conversely, whoever is unjust in earthly things is also unjust in spiritual things.

If we are not faithful in the stewardship of the unrighteous mammon or wealth, the money, we cannot be entrusted with the “true”, that is, the spiritual riches. The money is “that which is another’s”. Everything we have received we have received from God and He asks us to be accountable for it. It is about borrowed goods. If we treat it as if it were our own, we use it wrong. How then will we get what really belongs to us, which is “your own”?

By “your own” the Lord means the spiritual blessings God has in His heart to give to those who give their life to Him with all that goes with it. Also the spiritual blessings belong to God, but He gives them to us forever. He does not lend us the spiritual blessings, but grants them to us. Every man is God’s property with all that he possesses. We get our life and our property on loan. Our dealing with money shows whether we are aware of this.

Then the question is not what we will give to the Lord, but what we may use for ourselves, for everything belongs to the Lord. Whoever is aware of this will receive “the true”, “your own”. In this light, the importance of earthly wealth is completely lost. For those who realize this, it is already gone, for they are in possession of their true riches that cannot escape them.

The Lord concludes His teaching on this subject with the truth that no servant can serve two masters. It simply cannot be done. If he does, the one or the other one falls short. The masters are not equal parties, but each other’s opposites. God and the god of money are opposite each other. Whoever thinks he can serve God and at the same time live the life of a rich fool (Lk 12:16-20), indicates that he hates God and loves the money. We either hate God or the money. It is impossible to love a little bit the One and to love a little bit the other.