In the lands and times of the Bible many people had stewards that ran their businesses and their households. These stewards were given complete autonomy over the affairs of their masters. They could buy and sell in their master’s name and conduct business on his behalf. Their job was to serve their master and have his best interests at heart. Joseph, in the Old Testament, would be a good example. He was bought as a slave and yet attained the stewardship of his master’s house. The master in return took care of all of the steward’s needs, housing, cars, sending his kids perhaps to a private school, and clothing, everything the servant could need.

With that in mind let’s read the record in Luke 16.

• Luke 16:1-3 And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

Perhaps he had a nice lifestyle — three bedroom house, a couple of car payments and a kid or two in college. He could not pay for all that on a ditch digger’s wages.

• Luke 16:4-8 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.  So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

He still had complete authority over the affairs until the books were audited, so the record here tells us what he did to provide for himself and his family in the event he was fired. He had the right to do this according to the standard of stewardship of the time. Apparently, the books were found to be in order and that he had done nothing wrong. His master felt that the steward had done wisely.

But here is an interesting thought. When he had the debtors write down their accounts, whose business was the steward taking care of? His master’s or his own? That is worth thinking about.

• Luke 16:9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

This verse now makes for some confusion. EW Bullinger in The Companion Bible,  notes on this verse that it should read as a question: “Is this what I have taught you? NO!” It is a rhetorical question. I don’t believe you can find another record where Jesus Christ taught his disciples to make friends with the things of this world, money, or the mammon of unrighteousness.

Thus the steward was faithful in the eyes of his master and perhaps he had done wisely according to the times in which he lived, but according to Jesus the steward was unjust or not faithful. So now Jesus explains why he taught this parable.

• Luke 16:10-15 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall 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 hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

The Pharisees did have charge of the money that came into the temple, but their main job was to serve God and his people, to teach the people God’s Word. But the Pharisees were covetous men who loved silver more than God. They were more concerned with themselves, their position, their prestige, and their prosperity than with the things of God.

They were not faithful men. Jesus was using this story to show them you can only serve one master, either God or the unrighteous mammon, money and the things of this world. ….. but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.

Being wealthy and providing for yourself is highly esteemed among men, but God values faithfulness much higher. The steward had been faithful according to the standard of his master and his time, but he in the end was serving himself not his master. Thus according to God he was unjust, unfaithful. The Pharisees were exactly the same. So remember what Jesus said:

• Luke 16:10-13 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall 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 hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon

Jesus thus encourages us to be faithful in our use of money or material things. Faithful to give some, faithful to save some, faithful to be diligent in our finances and faithful to keep God first and serve him in our lives.

The record then says that if we learn to be faithful in these small things we can be trusted to be faithful with much more – the true riches. But he says that if we are unjust in the least, as the steward and the Pharisees were, we will be unjust in much. So if we want the true riches committed to us, we need to learn to be faithful in the material things.

In our pursuit of The Prosperous Life, we are in pursuit of the true riches, an understanding and knowledge of God’s Word.