Luke 16:1-13 - Dirty Money And Kingdom Purposes

When I read some of these economic things, I don't freak out about the economic side. I'm like, "Man, we got to get serious about sharing the message of Christ with people because the world's going to get chaotic." Even this morning, in our elders' prayer time, we were discussing the fact that many of the conversations we're having right now are with people within the congregation and in the community who are anxious and overly stressed out. And because they are anxious and overly stressed out, they are looking for places of escape. Unfortunately, they're not good places of escape. So, it's hurting marriages, it's hurting families, it's hurting all sorts of things. But what it comes down to is preparation. Are we using the tools wisely?

So, let's keep going through this. The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of the world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. Now, here's the next big principle. And I tell you, make friends for yourself by means of unrighteous wealth so that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings. In the Greek, the word that's used there is "mammon." And what "mammon" means is it's all of your possessions. So, it's not just money. It's your wealth. It's the entirety of what you have, your resources. And so, what Jesus is saying is, you need to use that for a specific purpose so that when it fails, these relationships will be of value.

So, let me explain this principle to you. What he's really saying is, "Go use your unrighteous wealth that's going to go away at some point, and build relationships because the relationships are the lasting thing. The relationships are the kingdom thing. Relationships are how we make disciples."

Let me give you a couple of illustrations on this as well. So, in 2008, we planted a church in Corpus Christi, Texas, and it was in the skid row area of Corpus Christi. It's called "The Cut." And one of the things we felt like God was saying to us is, "You have to live by faith in planting this church," which meant we had zero resources. But one of the things I had done about a year earlier is I got tired of always meeting with church people—no offense. And so, I took out an ad in Craigslist, and I said, "If you're an atheist, an agnostic, a Buddhist, a Hindu, anybody other than a Christian, I want to meet you for coffee every week. I won't argue politics or religion with you, but I do want to pick your brain."

So, my respondent was a 69-year-old burnout Coast Guard pilot with a ponytail, never been married, upset that he was in the military during the 60s and didn't really get the whole Woodstock experience. He had died on the operating table three times, never saw a white light, so God must not be real. Cool, you're my guy, let's have coffee.

Now, here's where the story gets interesting. My first mission trip to Africa was in 2009. Remember, I have no money and no resources, no job, no income. And if you know the rest of our story, within six months, we'd be homeless. But where this goes is, my burnout Coast Guard pilot friend says, "Hey, so you're talking about going to Africa, right?" I said, "Yeah." He says, "I love computers. And every time a new computer comes out, I always get an upgrade. If I clean the pornography off of my old one, would you take it?"