The Word This Week
Luke 16:1…
To be a ‘steward’ means being made a caretaker over someone else’s goods. None of the master’s goods belong to the steward. How the steward chooses to invest the master’s goods is under their control, but the master fully expects the investments made to be representative of his interest.
So, a good steward is one who manages their master’s resources they have been entrusted with in the same way the master would if he were managing them.
If we were to define what it would mean to be an ‘unjust steward,’ we might say it is a steward who contrives to misrepresent their master’s wishes, or mismanages their master’s resources, or worse – uses their master’s resources to gain financially for themselves.
In the parable of the ‘Unjust Steward,’ Jesus gives further definition in illustrative form as a continuation of His accusation against the Pharisees and scribes we saw in the previous chapter.
There is an unjust steward who has been willfully mismanaging his master’s accounts, and someone has accused him of doing so to his master. This is serious.
The steward is hauled before the master to give account.
It is only now the steward becomes aware his behavior of enriching himself with his master’s resources has been observed and reported to his master. He’s in a world of hurt. Embezzlement was as serious in Jesus’ day as it is in ours.
But stop for a moment and think about how God views our misuse of His Spiritual gifts for our own gain, or to bury those gifts in the ground rather than investing them. Or, how God may view any church seeking to enrich itself rather than being rich toward God, investing His bountiful riches in the people God loves, rather than in its own financial interests.
In the case of this steward, he recognizes the trouble he’s in and quickly figures out a solution. He thinks to himself what the master may ultimately desire – and immediately puts the plan in motion as a representation of the master’s desire for his resources to be employed as a blessing to the people rather than a curse.
Pastor Bill
To be a ‘steward’ means being made a caretaker over someone else’s goods. None of the master’s goods belong to the steward. How the steward chooses to invest the master’s goods is under their control, but the master fully expects the investments made to be representative of his interest.
So, a good steward is one who manages their master’s resources they have been entrusted with in the same way the master would if he were managing them.
If we were to define what it would mean to be an ‘unjust steward,’ we might say it is a steward who contrives to misrepresent their master’s wishes, or mismanages their master’s resources, or worse – uses their master’s resources to gain financially for themselves.
In the parable of the ‘Unjust Steward,’ Jesus gives further definition in illustrative form as a continuation of His accusation against the Pharisees and scribes we saw in the previous chapter.
There is an unjust steward who has been willfully mismanaging his master’s accounts, and someone has accused him of doing so to his master. This is serious.
The steward is hauled before the master to give account.
It is only now the steward becomes aware his behavior of enriching himself with his master’s resources has been observed and reported to his master. He’s in a world of hurt. Embezzlement was as serious in Jesus’ day as it is in ours.
But stop for a moment and think about how God views our misuse of His Spiritual gifts for our own gain, or to bury those gifts in the ground rather than investing them. Or, how God may view any church seeking to enrich itself rather than being rich toward God, investing His bountiful riches in the people God loves, rather than in its own financial interests.
In the case of this steward, he recognizes the trouble he’s in and quickly figures out a solution. He thinks to himself what the master may ultimately desire – and immediately puts the plan in motion as a representation of the master’s desire for his resources to be employed as a blessing to the people rather than a curse.
Pastor Bill