Count Your Time, Not Money - Part 5

As shared in Part 4, the Parable of the Unjust Steward (or Shrewd Manager) reveals the unrepentant heart of the Pharisees when their wrongs were pointed out. They were unfaithful stewards of God's riches that were entrusted to them.

When the master (in this parable) called the steward to give an account of his stewardship (Lk 16:2), he tried to justify himself before men in order to be esteemed among them (Lk 16:4-7, 14-15).

Note: Some believe that the culture of those days practised interest, and thus, the steward was simply waiving off all the varying interests charged to the debtors. But that's not the point of this parable.

In v8, the master commended the unjust steward for dealing shrewdly. The Greek word 'shrewdly' means 'mind one's interest'. The steward was only concerned with his own interest (16:4). For this is how the sons of this world act (16:8).

Jesus contrasted this with His disciples (16:1) in verse 9 - "And I say to 𝐲𝐨𝐮, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥, they may receive you into an everlasting home."

In the Greek, it is not 'when you fail', but 'when (it) fails' ---- referring to finances. In other words, Jesus was saying to His disciples, "𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭. Use it to reach the lost, that when money eventually 'passed away', these friends will be with you in eternity."

If we are not faithful with the use of resources/finances on earth, we will not be entrusted with true riches of and in the kingdom (16:10-11). The Pharisees (unjust steward) were not faithful with what God had given, because they w̶a̶n̶t̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶i̶n̶a̶n̶c̶i̶a̶l̶ ̶i̶n̶d̶e̶p̶e̶n̶d̶e̶n̶c̶e̶  loved money; thus, they would not be entrusted with eternal riches. Their rewards were already paid in full by men (Lk 16:4, 16:8, 16:15; Matt 6:1-2).

Jesus' heart was always set on the lost and the kingdom. 𝐈𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧, 𝐰𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬. (16:13)

Financial stewardship, therefore, is not about counting your money. 𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭.

P.S: This is really a concise 5-part series. It would be good to dig deeper into this parable as there is so much more.