How do you make friends with unrighteous wealth?

A bible teacher that I really respect and listen to a lot says the parable of the shrewd steward stumps him. It has always stumped me because it seem difficult to glean meaning from it, primarily because the stewards action in cheating his boss for his own benefit is *commended*.

Who knows.

Hi Caleb. Good question I just don't have a good answer right now.

I'm glad you made it through the cold. I'm in Bemidji, MN. The day of all the wind the wind chill had things at nearly 60 below around here!

I'll see what I can find regarding your question.

This is what brother John Wesley had to say of the same on his Commentary. Given his great evangelistic exploits, I have always judged his Bible commentaries to be well worth every evengelical Christian's time/attention. Not authoritative as such but often helps in cases of buffling passages such as the one in question.

[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.

And I say to you ”” Be good stewards even of the lowest talents wherewith God hath intrusted you. Mammon means riches or money. It is termed the mammon of unrighteousness, because of the manner wherein it is commonly either procured or employed. Make yourselves friends of this, by doing all possible good, particularly to the children of God: that when ye fail, when your flesh and your heart faileth, when this earthly tabernacle is dissolved, those of them who have gone before may receive, may welcome you into the everlasting habitations.

I don't see it as John Wesley sees it. First off, he's not addressing Christians he's addressing greedy Pharisees.

He's telling them, in their condition of heart, take a good lesson from a dishonest servant, use your possessions to gain favor with those like yourself, so when you come to poverty those whom you helped will help you back.

In all the epistles this is never taught to the Christian, that is why (as I see it) the idea 'giving to make friends so they will help you in bad times' is a worldly idea.
Jesus teaches the man who would honor God...
Luke 14 :12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.
13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

In this teaching Jesus is telling those who would honor God to "13 But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:
14 And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee:"

But with another kind of person, those with hearts that love money...

Jesus is offering the Pharisees some little grace seeing they were unfaithful in God's employment, God will judge them so as to 'fire them'. The parable is directed at those who trust in riches, therefore Jesus is telling those who trust in riches that if they use them to procure some safety for themselves when they fail, they will have a place to go (depending entirely upon the gratitude of his beneficiaries).
But, even here, paradise is not being offered only the 'company' of those who were benefitted by a shrewd 'unfaithful steward'.

Jesus is not done with unfaithful spiritual leaders, as they were lovers of money and unfaithful to God as he employed them, the parable of the rich man and lazarus was added to show, the rich man will eventually lose all that he has and will (because of his greed and uncaring heart toward the poor) end up in hell unable to cool even his tongue, the poor cannot receive him nor help him seeing as God has placed an impassible gulf between those comforted and those tormented.

This I believe more clearly explains Luke 16, than Wesley explained.

//First off, he's not addressing Christians he's addressing greedy Pharisees.//

Hey Marvin where do you get this from- vs 1 says he was talking to his disciples.

Hi Todd: It does, thanks for the ability to clarify.

yes, the disciples were the primary students, but the Pharisees were the primary subject, not the disciples.

I suppose if the disciples were to follow the errors of the Pharisees, that teaching would be applicable. But if they do not follow the errors of the Pharisees, Luke 14 is a more appropriate way for a righteous man to 'give and expect nothing back' as was also stated in the sermon on the mount.

There is no teaching from any of the disciples that enjoin us to 'give to get favor with others so when we go bust we have a place to stay'. So, with that in mind, I relegate Jesus teaching here to what I would call an 'antithesis'.

In the final analysis, the Pharisees were unfaithful to God, and not shrewd enough to be faithful to themselves either.
At least the 'shrewd unfaithful servant' was faithful to himself and provided for himself what is needful.
The Pharisees didn't provide to God what he wanted, and didn't even provide for themselves what they need. They trusted in riches...but as we see in Lazarus and the rich man...their riches were gone and they were received into hell and abode with men just like themselves.

Maybe I'll just put it into common vernacular.

This is a lesson on what not to do. Don't live like the Pharisees. and if you do live like them, the best you can do is follow the pattern of a 'shrewd unfaithful servant' and go make friends with what money you have so you have some place to go when God pulls the rug out from under you.

Clear as mud? I hope this helps.

I think that’s the only way it can be taken, otherwise it appears Jesus is telling us it’s ok to take advantage of others for our own benefit. Just hope his disciples understood he was talking with tongue firmly planted in cheek🧐

Marvin: I think you may have just nailed it brother.

Brother Caleb,
As i read this post I believe that it is about being yoked to anything unrighteous..
Unrighteous wealth" It reminds me of yes the pharisees who were clean on the outside but inside I believe JESUS called them full of dead mans bones.
Matt 23: 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
Anytime there is a WOE we must pay attention I believe.
Anything unrighteous is of course ungodly. like Psa 1:1
Blessed are those who walk NOT IN THE way of the ungodly..
I believe making friends with unrighteous wealth is like hooking up with an unsaved person for counsel, or business transactions.. Any wealth not worked for will leave proverbs teaches us.. So just my little take.. on making friends with unrighteous wealth..
thanks for the post made me think about joining with any unrighteous anything.. ugh..scary and definitely a WOE i'm sure from our precious JESUS..
His handmaiden
sister Frannie

Regarding Unrighteous wealth - Jesus's standard on earth was so high that he considered wealth itself as unrighteous!

Luke 6 :24- 24But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.

2 Cor 8-9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.

So we are rich now because of Christ becoming poor. Clearly this verse based on context talks about physical richness. It means God will meat all our needs and we will not be lacking in any needy thing. But Luke 6:24 Jesus says it is a woe to be rich.

This is how I see, whenever I receive money even if it is to meet my needs, I still see the woe behind it. I give the glory to God and see how it this wealth can bring a woe to me if I put my trust upon it.

So it is clear that wealth or richness can easily be a woe to us and we have to be very clarefull when we make money no matter what quantity it is.

Now Luke 16:9 is after the parable. The essence of the parable is, just like the unrighteous manager made friends with people using the unrighteous wealth. He knew clearly that he is going to be fired. We too know that this world is passing away and hence instead of storing wealth for our self, we need to use this to gain friends for Eternity.

Luke 16-8 And his [f]master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own [g]kind than the sons of light.

The key is in what Jesus said about the son's of the world are more shrewd than the Children of light or Children of God. What it means is the worldly people who live for the world are shrewd in making worldly deal that will make them rich in world. It is impossible for us to have a good deal with a business man, they always take the lions share. But we who are called to be Children of light, are we shrewd the same way with eternal things? Are we quick to gain eternal wealth? There is wealth in eternity, there will be people who are poor in eternity and people who are rich in eternity. Not all will be equal. Those who invest the perishing wealth for eternal gain like spreading of Gospel will definitely be rich in eternity.

Luke 12:21- This is how it will be for anyone who stores up treasure for himself but is not rich toward God.”

The purpose of the whole parable is to teach disciples to be shrewd like wordly people (but) in the matter of eternity so that they can be found rich towards God.

Great post Sreeram! Best interpretation of this parable that I have heard, anywhere!

Blessings

Sree-

The problem with your interpretation is this verse:

9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.
Luke 16:9

Who are the friends? What is the wealth? Who are the "they?” What are the eternal dwellings?

Taken on its face the statement seems to mean that you should buy friends with money because when your money is gone they will welcome you into heaven. Of course this is nonsensical, which makes the parable so troubling to understand.

TMK, the key is the word Eternal dwellings. Jesus also said what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven. So it means use your wealth to spread the gospel and there by binding people on the earth. This way they will be bound in heaven as well.

In other words use your wealth for eternal goodness.

The key in the parable is very simple. The manager did nothing to keep his job which any sensible person would have done. But instead he took for granted that he is going to be fired and started planning about life outside work. Same way are we shrewd enough to plan for eternity knowing that this world is passing away.

These words are clearly for disciples. Generally anyone who gives any interpretation saying Jesus did not give it to disciples, stay away from it. Every verse is applicable to disciples. Even Matthew 23 if you focus clearly there are marks of Pharisee in us as well.

So the "friends” are converts. Got it. Makes better sense now.

Sree: Thanks for jumping in here.

A couple of things.

The friends are not converts, you have to completely remove the literal meaning from the text to draw that conclusion. The subject is the deeds of the Pharisees and their love for money. Of course the students are the disciples and they are being taught how the Pharisees are so blinded by love of money they neither make friends with God or friends of the unrighteous mammon.

But your interpretation of the text completely inverses the actual meaning and transforms it into a positive teaching on discipleship. While it does sound good, it's not exegetically correct, nor can you successfully argue that Jesus intent was to train his disciples in planning for eternity.

While all those things are completely true in other contexts, there is no argument there, but this context is not positive, nor can you inverse it without making a big assumption.

From 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.
10 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.
11 If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?
12 And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?
13 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.
14 And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

IMO

I think that these verse give the key to the whole parable. It is the punchline so to speak. Jesus is making a point to the Pharisees. Their love was money. So he tells a story about a man who did not use his master's money wisely. When he was called on it, he thought quickly and hatched a plan so that when he was fired, at lease he had made friends using his master's accounts that would see that he did not starve, but would owe him something big that would assure him survival after being fired.

The master commended the servant, not because he had done what was right, but because, in my opinion, he had finally realized the place money has in the whole grand scheme of things, to provide for his needs.

Jesus then gives the punch line. He that is faithful in what is least, will be made ruler over much. Money is least. But the true riches are the things of the kingdom. Then he tells the pharisees that they cannot serve both their own covetousness and God at the same time.

The servant is one who the pharisee would have disdained. "What, he is praised? What for? He wasted all of my..ahem, I mean his masters, money." They could easily have internalized this story and made this unfaithful servant their own servant. But Jesus says that this servant did something wiser than the Pharisees would have done. He finally realized that money has a purpose and is a tool to buy something much more valuable and everlasting than itself. This shows that money is the least, and the eternal things are the true riches. But the Pharisees were throwing away the true riches to lust after the things of this earth that their position could gain them.

Interestingly, the term mammon is not exclusively money, but the word is derived from covetousness itself, which is the desire for anything.

I think what we are doing here is a great way to unpack sticky and sometimes troublesome texts of scripture.

When I exegete some text, I need to let is say exactly what it says, I need to understand exactly what is being said.

When I interpret the text I need to rehearse the text in it's context and meaning so as to convey the writers intent. I refuse a deconstructionist manner of interpretation.

Now, when I seek to apply the text or even connect the text to other similar veins of thought, I still need to keep the context and intent the same, but I broaden the scope application and usage by allowing the nuances of the text to direct me to scripture connections elsewhere.

What I should not do is switch the 'derived understandings' that I gain from the text for the actual exegesis of the text itself.

Other texts such as "if your hand offends you cut it off", I must allow to stand as is, what is the context and what is the intent? Is the intent
cutting off hands and feet and gouging out eyes? No, I suppose if that were true, there would be only one or two men in a whole congregation that would not be walking with a crutch reading braille.

It is good we see many good and wise things from this wonderful teaching of Jesus, but I don't want to inject what I derive from the text as the exegesis of the text itself.

GloryandGrace, I appreciate your perspective but I think the straightforward meaning is to take the positive aspect. Negative aspect or context cannot be achieved if you give weight age to the correct verse.

I assume the negative context comes because the manager started doing bad and then ended doing something worse. Never really repenting or doing anything that can be considered good.

But that does not make this story a negative example. If we go by same logic even the prodigal son's parable can be considered negative. He started bad and ended up coming home empty handed. But what changes it positive is the response of Dad. If you cut that part it is a negative story on never to be a prodigal like him!

Here too what changes the context positive is the response of his master who appreciated him for being shrewd.

Luke 16-8:- And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted SHREWDLY; for the sons of this age are more SHREWD in relation to their own [g]kind than the SONS OF LIGHT.

One has to totally take this verse out to paint a negative picture! Jesus did not add that appreciation part just for fun or without any meaning!

Also Jesus wants this Shrewd nature in Son's of light. Which is very clear. No one can agrue against it. Now the question comes who are the Son's of light? I do not understand how that refers to Pharisees as stated by few here? Jesus called the disciples light of the world in sermon on the mount. Even the Epistle of John calls disciples as Children of light. So no way Jesus was referring to Pharisees here! Again one has to throw this word 'Sons of Light' outside the window to make it a negative lesson!

The appreciation of the manager is for being Shrewd, which is lacking in disciples in things to eternity. We are not smart in preserving and investing in things of eternity as the people of the world are smart in investing in the world!

Friends is not only converts. I never said that. Buying friends means to buy things worth eternity example using our money to spread the Gospel which is worth Eternity. In other words investing in Eternity. We cannot find exact equivalent for Friends.

Hi Sree: I really like your explanation here and I appreciate getting a different look at it than my own.

This is a gem..."We are not smart in preserving and investing in things of eternity as the people of the world are smart in investing in the world!"

Thanks for working with me on this.