The Parable of the Unjust Steward
A shrewd manager, about to be fired, uses money to secure his future — a lesson in foresight.
A steward about to lose his job for wasting his master's goods quickly reduces the debts owed to his master, making friends who will receive him once he is dismissed. The master commends his shrewdness, and Jesus draws a lesson: use worldly wealth wisely to gain what lasts. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
The parable
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.
The lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely.
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.
Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
What it means
This is one of Jesus' most puzzling parables, because the hero is a dishonest man. But Jesus is not commending the steward's dishonesty — he commends his foresight. Facing a crisis, the steward acted decisively to secure his future, using what was in his hands while he still had it.
The lesson is pointed: the children of this world are, in their generation, wiser than the children of light. Worldly people often show more shrewdness about temporal things than believers show about eternal ones. Jesus urges his followers to be at least as strategic about eternity — to use money and possessions, which will not last, to invest in what will.
The parable ends with the bottom line: no one can serve two masters. Money is a useful servant and a ruinous god. The wise steward of the kingdom holds wealth loosely and deploys it for eternal purposes, refusing to let it become the master it always wants to be.