37 UNRIGHTEOUS MAMMON 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. 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. 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. 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? (Luke 16:1-12).
This is by far the most difficult to interpret of all of Jesus' parables.(1) It appears only in Luke.
The parable seems to recommend cleverness involving deliberate embezzlement. "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" (v. 9). Yet this message is utterly opposed to the overall message of Luke, namely, the danger of mammon. How can we make sense of this parable? By correctly identifying "everlasting habitations."
Joint Ventures in Fraud The parable tells the story of a rich man. As it unfolds, we find that this man is so enamored with self-interest as an ideal of human action that he praises a steward who had tried to defraud him. "And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely" (v. 8a). The Greek word for "commend" is elsewhere translated as "praise" or "laud."(2) The rich man was clearly unscrupulous. He recognized in his steward a fellow crook. The steward had offered kickbacks to the owner's debtors, so that they might reward him after his day of reckoning. Discovering this strategy, the owner praised the steward. The steward had done what he himself might have done, had he been in a similarly tight situation. His steward was almost as clever as he was. His main weakness was that he got caught.
Why would the rich man keep such a servant on his payroll? The obvious reason is that the steward could be called upon in the future to defraud others on behalf of his employer. Of course, the rich man would have to monitor the steward even more carefully than he had done in the past. But the steward might see the light and become faithful to his employer in his unscrupulous activities. After all, his master had discovered what he had done. It would be unwise for the steward to assume that he would not find out in the future. So, a mutually profitable arrangement was possible, one crook to another.
This parable offers a description of a criminal hierarchy. The person at the top must defend his interests from his subordinates. He must monitor them carefully. They are ready to defraud him. But their skills can be put to productive use. They can become agents of fraud.
In many of the parables, the rich man represents God. In this parable, the rich man represents Satan. He, too, is the master of a household. His servant is both incompetent and unscrupulous. Yet the master praises the servant. He is quite willing to employ such an unethical person. He does not intend to punish him or ask him to change his ways. He prefers these ways.
In the 1967 comedy film, Bedazzled, Peter Cook plays the devil. Cook's long-term partner in comedy, Dudley Moore, plays a man ready to exchange his soul for seven wishes. Cook initially brings Moore to his office, which is located in a below-street-level tavern. The tavern is filled with obnoxious characters: the devil's employees. One man is yelling. "Anger," Cook says. Another is asleep, his head on the bar. "Sloth," Cook says. "I just can't get reliable help," he complains. "It may have something to do with the wages."
Satan cannot trust his subordinates. This makes any delegation of authority risky to him. Nevertheless, he must delegate authority in order to extend his influence. He is neither omniscient nor omnipotent. He must rely on others: the division of labor. So, he must balance his need to monitor everything they do, which is impossible for him, with his desire to extend his power. When a creature attempts to be God, he creates problems for himself.
Eternal Habitations "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 (v. 9). Jesus here used sarcasm to make His point. He had already revealed the motivation of unrighteous mammon: personal advancement through corruption. He now tells His listeners to become friendly with corruption. Trust those who will defraud you. So, when you fail in the end, they will welcome you with open arms into their everlasting habitations.
There is no discussion in the Old Testament of eternity. Jesus introduced the doctrine of hell: a place of permanent agony for the departed souls of covenant-breakers (Luke 16:19-25).(3) When He spoke here of everlasting habitations, He had in mind the world beyond the grave. He was not speaking of heaven. He was speaking of the permanent place of residence of morally corrupt people.
Among His listeners were Pharisees. "And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him" (v. 14). Once again, Jesus was identifying the practices of His loudest critics, the nation's religious leaders. He was warning His listeners about the fraudulent dealings of His critics. They did not practice what they preached. In another context, we read: "Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers" (Matt. 23:1-4).
To speak of being received into the everlasting habitations of unrighteous mammon is to speak of the tender mercies of the devil and his host. Trust unrighteous mammon, Jesus implied, as you would trust a servant who defrauded you after he had wasted the resources that you had entrusted to his administration. In short, do not trust unrighteous mammon.
Injustice There are two ethical standards: faithfulness and injustice. Whatever men do in small matters reflects their ethical commitment. "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" (v. 10). We can indirectly observe a man's larger outlook by means of his specific performance in small matters.
There is no doubt that Jesus was criticizing the unjust steward. He was also criticizing the employer. The evil that the unjust steward did reflected the ethical commitment of both himself and the employer.
Then what is the meaning of this verse? "If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?" (v. 11). Does it mean that the righteous person should mimic the unjust steward? The employer regarded the efforts of his steward as wise. He seemed pleased. Is injustice in this case the pursuit of the employer's immediate preference (collecting whatever was owed to him) or his long-term preference (defrauding others)?
Jesus sided with the employer against his debtors. Jesus did not praise the unjust steward's acts of self-interested fraud. Being faithful to unrighteous mammon means adhering to the letter of contracts. Being faithful to the unjust employer means collecting whatever was owed on behalf of the owner.
A righteous steward's adherence to contracts is what secures his own possessions. "And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?" (v. 12). The unrighteous steward had sought to advance his own position by deliberately short-changing his employer. "And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given" (Mark 4:24).
Conclusion The parable of the unjust steward warns against fraudulent dealings. It also affirms competence as an aspect of faithfulness. The unjust steward began as an incompetent steward: ". . . the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods." The Greek word means "wasted" in the sense of "scattered." The steward had squandered the master's assets.
This parable uses sarcasm, which has created confusion in the minds of interpreters. Jesus said, "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 (v. 9). The everlasting habitations of the unrighteous are not where a covenant-keeper wishes to reside.
The parable recommends faithfulness to an unrighteous master. "If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?" If a person defrauds an unrighteous master, he himself is unrighteous. In doing so, he has placed his own possessions at risk. "And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?"
Footnotes:
1. Kistemaker calls it the most puzzling of all the parables. Simon Kistemaker, The Parables of Jesus (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1980), p. 228.
2. Romans 15:11; I Cor. 11:2; 17, 22.
3. Chapter 39, below.
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