A HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS

DDDD. Adopting God’s View Of Money

(Luke 16:1-13)

I. Introduction

A. Paul wrote that the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10), that the man of God must flee such things while following after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience and meekness (1 Timothy 6:11).

B. On the other hand, Paul thanked believers for sending him money for use in his ministry (Philippians 4:10-18).

C. Accordingly, Jesus taught His disciples a proper view of and use of money in Luke 16:1-3 for our insight:

II. Adopting God’s View Of Money, Luke 16:1-13.

A. Jesus gave the parable of the unjust steward in Luke 16:1-8 not to condone the steward’s mistreatment of his master’s money, but to reveal his shrewdness in handling money:

1. Christ taught that a certain wealthy man had a steward who handled his finances, and this steward was accused of wasting his master’s goods, Luke 16:1.

2. The master called the steward and told him to give an account of his stewardship, for he could no longer be the master’s steward, Luke 16:2.

3. The steward told himself that with the loss of his stewardship, he would be hard-pressed to acquire another good-paying job, for he could not dig as a laborer and he was ashamed to function as a beggar, Luke 16:3.

4. Thus, the steward resolved to make friends of his master’s debtors by calling them to repay significantly less than what they owed the master so that when he lost his job as his master’s steward, he would be warmly received into the homes of his master’s debtors, Luke 16:4-7:

a. He called the first debtor and asked him how much he owed his master, and the debtor said one hundred measures of oil, Luke 16:4-5. The steward told him quickly to take his bill and write down that he owed fifty measures of oil, Luke 16:6.

b. The steward asked a second debtor what he owed, and when he replied a hundred measures of wheat, the steward told him to take his bill and write down eighty measures of wheat, Luke 16:7.

5. After the steward had completed his work with his master’s debtors, the master actually commended the unjust steward, for he had done wisely for himself. Jesus summed that the ungodly children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light in their use of money for making friends, Luke 13:8

B. In Luke 16:9-13, Jesus applied this parable to teach a three-fold lesson on a believers’ proper use of money:

1. Lesson One – Like the unjust steward, we believers in Christ should wisely use our money to win friends in the lost world that they might receive us into eternal habitations in eternity as saved people, Luke 16:9. Using our money to support missions, evangelists, godly ministries, etc. is the most obvious way to apply this lesson, but even on a personal level, using our moneys to help desperately needy unsaved neighbors when they face overwhelming emergencies can also be a witness for their eternal welfare!

2. Lesson Two – If we have been faithful in using our money, the unjust mammon of unrighteousness, God will only entrust to us more valuable resources to manage where failure to use money well can keep God refusing to give us management of more valuable resources. For example, If a believer uses his money faithfully to serve the Lord’s interests, the Lord may grant him the opportunity to write a theological book of far greater impact on His people than the believer’s gifts of money.

3. Lesson Three – We cannot serve God and the mammon of unrighteousness in money, for either we will hate the one and love the other, or we will hold to the one and despise the other. God and money are opposing masters, so we must choose between them. For example, as a young man, Christian singer George Beverley Shea had to choose between a singing career for the secular realm where he would become rich and famous or to use his singing ability for the Lord. His mother urged him to use his talent for the Lord, so Mr. Shea did so. A friend of George Beverly Shea had the same choice, and that friend chose the secular realm. Significantly, we never hear about his friend, but we hear about George Beverly Shea who sang as the soloist for the Billy Graham Crusades for many years.

Lesson: God wants us believers in Christ to use our money wisely to influence people to be discipled for eternal glory, and the Lord will entrust us with more important resources if we do use money wisely in the discipling of others. Since we can serve only one master – God or money – we must serve God and not money!

Application: May we heed God’s teaching on using money wisely, responsibly, and subject to Him for blessing.