Bible Questions Answered:
Why did the Lord praise the unjust steward, when he was basically crooked?
Sarah -/ Tehran, Iran
Bible Answers:
The scripture to which you refer is...
Luke 16;1-8 NLT
1 Jesus told this story to His disciples: "There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer's money.
2 So the employer called him in and said, 'What's this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.'
3 "The manager thought to himself, 'Now what? My boss has fired me. I don't have the strength to dig ditches, and I'm too proud to beg.
4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I'll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.'
5 "So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, 'How much do you owe him?'
6 The man replied, 'I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.' So the manager told him, 'Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.
7 "'And how much do you owe my employer?' he asked the next man. 'I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,' was the reply. 'Here,' the manager said, 'take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.
8 "The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light.
9 Here's the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.
On closer scrutiny, you will notice, that it was not the Messiah, who commended the manager, but his rich employer!
More than likely you are reading the KJV.
Luke 16:3 KJV
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.
Notice that the “l” in “lord,” is not capitalized, and it is not because it refers the the manager's employer “the rich man,” and not to Jesus Christ, who is merely relating the story.
The rich man praised his manager because he acted so “shrewdly” (vs. 8).
Now our Lord told us this story for a reason. And that reason is, we to0, should be shrewd- i.e. wise for the “kingdom of God!”
Well how can we be?
By following the example of the unjust manager, ...
vs. 9
“Here's the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.”
As Christians, we are to use our resources to build the “Kingdom of God.”
Using our money to witness to the lost, who do not know the Saviour.
First, we must be faithful to our church!
Then, we are to help those in need wherever they may be, and do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour.
One day when it comes our time to go home to be with the Lord, we will find many there to great us, who we have sent on ahead, through our love and giving!
