"The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light in dealing with their own people. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of worldly wealth so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings." Luke 16:8-9 (CSB)
This is easily one of the most confusing, if not troublesome, recorded parables of Jesus. Jesus begins his illustrative lesson without telling them the point being made. Luke records Jesus just opening up the conversation with the introduction of a wealthy man who had a house manager who was essentially stealing from him. The rich man didn't know it, but upon being informed of his employee's dishonesty called him on the carpet and demanded him to give an account of the commodities he was managing with the promise of termination upon completion of the presentation.
I can imagine the disciples following the story, wondering where Jesus could possibly be going with this. Peter was probably already in a low chuckle as he anticipated the unjust steward getting what he deserved. Judas may have started to sweat a little, wondering if Jesus had somehow found out that he was skimming off the top of the money bag as he slowly slips behind the other 11 to avoid direct eye contact with Jesus and perhaps avail himself to a head start if he was called on the carpet himself by the parable's end. Jesus continues on to paint the dishonest manager as physically weak (and/or lazy) to perform physical labor and too proud to ask others outright for help and support but cunning enough to go all in to his con of his master in order to ensure he has a "pension". He goes to people, has them alter their debtor's note to their benefit and his soon-to-be ex-master's harm. He understands that by doing this, he not only suffers no hurt (he has nothing to lose), but places those who are now complicit in his scheme to be obligated to support him when he finds himself unemployed. Pretty shrewd fella!
Peter, by this point is probably slapping his leg, elbowing John with a "Can you believe that guy?! Talk about really digging himself a deep hole!" John rolls his eyes, reminding himself that Peter is sometimes a bit obnoxious, and waiting on Jesus to rebuke him as He typically does when Peter starts running his mouth. Judas is about to come up with a "task" he forgot to do so he can extricate himself from the situation before things get escalated. Then Jesus says, "The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly." Judas stops, shocked and begins to re-enter the eleven's circle, his anxiety turned to interest. Peter's belting laugh abruptly stops as he exclaims, "Wait! WHAT?!"; and the usual embarrassing flush he would often feel begins to creep up on him. John quietly smirks as once again he is proven right, "Peter never learns".
This is also where we try to manipulate the situation in order to make sense of what we just heard/read. Some people reason that the dishonest manager wasn't really dishonest, but perhaps falsely accused. However when he is confronted with his dishonesty, he owns it and then goes and commits more fraud. Some may try to reason he had the right to give away his master's commodities, perhaps he is only forgiving the outrageous interest that he was charging. While that could be inserted into the text, there isn't any support for it. While more difficult to interpret, it is recommended nothing be added to the story to make it make sense as if it were needed, Jesus would have included the details since He is the master communicator. No, we are shocked because up to this point we clearly understood what was clear. The manager was dishonest and a thief. The only reason we try to re-frame the situation is because we are just as shocked as the disciples to hear praise coming out of the robbed and slighted master.
Jesus doesn't abandon them, or us, to solve this moral dilemma ourselves. He follows it by giving us the actionable truth the parable is to communicate, "For the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light in dealing with their own people. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of worldly wealth so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings." The manager wasn't praised for being dishonest. He wasn't praised for making others complicit in his schemes. His ex-boss was praising him for acting shrewdly.
Shrewdness isn't necessarily negative, although we often see it as such. This soon-to-be unemployed man realized his current situation, he was aware of the resources still at his disposal, and took swift action in order to obtain that which was of value to him. This took discernment and a level of wise, or prudent, decisive action. This is what he is being praised for. This is what Jesus tells us to imitate. We are to understand our current situation. We are to realize the "commodities" we have at our disposal, or better yet under our stewardship, is not ours, but our Master's. We are to utilize those resources as means to influence the lives of others and further the kingdom of God. Using God's resources wisely will produce an end result of our being received into the kingdom by the friends we have made here on earth who are there as a result of God graciously using us as means to bring them into His kingdom. Use money to serve God's purpose. As Pastor David Beaty said, "Money is a good servant but a poor master."
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