The interviewer had traveled all the way to New York to interview him about preaching. Sitting in his living room, the young man was thrilled to be visiting with one of the most effective media ministers of all times. When television was young, he appeared in prime time on Sunday evenings, teaching the Bible. He was fully sponsored by Admiral Corp. His broadcasts appeared opposite Frank Sinatra and Milton Berle, the biggest stars of his day. His audience was between fifteen to twenty million viewers. In 1952, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences named Fulton Sheen the most outstanding personality of television. When accepting the award, he said, "I want to thank my writers .... Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John."
Now he was looking at the with those famous penetrating eyes and saying, "You have come to New York to talk to me about preaching? I cannot talk to you about preaching. I do not know what to say. Preaching is a gift. It is like being a beautiful woman. She is not responsible for having her beauty, but she is very responsible for what she does with it."
Everything we have are gifts from God. Our time, talents, and resources are all gifts from God. Like beauty and brilliance, we are not responsible for having them, but we are very responsible for what we do with them. Our salvation, our lives are gifts of God's grace. The Bible teaches that Christians can manage these gifts in a manner resulting in our attaining unlimited, unfading, guaranteed riches.
This is the theme of one of our Lord's most puzzling parables. Jesus told His disciples about a rich man who had a slave acting as steward like Joseph in Potiphar's house in the Genesis story. And please understand, this story was not for lost people, it was for people who had experienced the grace of God in their lives ... it was for people who had accepted Christ as their savior. The steward was responsible for managing his masters vast holdings. Someone suggested to the rich man that his steward was mishandling the money ... squandering it and spending it indiscriminately. The steward was called on the carpet and told to settle his affairs, get the books in order, and get out.
In wide-eyed panic, this dishonest manager began to ponder his future. "What in the world will I do? I am too lazy to work. I am too proud to beg. What will I do?"
The wheels in his brain began to turn counter-clockwise ... his brain's wheels were conditioned to turn in the wrong direction. His mind, greased by greed and expedience, worked rapidly. He thought, "I have it!" I will call in my master's debtors and reduce their debts, falsifying their accounts. Then because I have helped them, they will be obligated to help me. If they do not feel obligated enough, I will have material for blackmail because they will have had a part in the crime."
He called the debtors in one by one. "How much do you owe?" "One hundred measures of oil." The steward said, "Then change it to fifty." Another debtor came to his desk. "What is your debt?" "One hundred measures of wheat." "Then take the pen and write down eighty." And so it went.
When the master discovered this trickery, he was, believe it or not, impressed.
Oh, he was disturbed. Certainly, he was angry. And the steward did lose his job. But, the master was also impressed.
Jesus, author of this story, says there is something in the bad man's action which is a good example. He said, "This fellow is a shrewd dude. He is a crook, but he is clever in a way you need to emulate."
What is the lesson of this puzzling parable? It is this: Life, as he had experienced it, would soon be over. His days as a free-wheeling spender of another man's wealth were ending. He took steps to prepare for living beyond that abrupt ending.
In this setting, our Lord teaches us lessons in life management. Here is His emphasis: No matter how much or how little you may have in ability, opportunity, or wealth, you can manage your life in such a way as to be really rich.
If we would be truly successful, we must know that what we have, we have by the grace of God. We are merely managers. We must know and live by the laws of life management. Then you will reap the rewards of life management.
What We Have, We Have By The Grace of God
The principles of life management are built on the solid foundation of the grace of Almighty God. In Ephesians 1, this foundation is spelled out in remarkable clarity. The Bible declares we have been selected by the Father because He loves us. We have been saved by the Son who died on the cross because of that love.
We have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, assured of salvation forever, because of the love of our wonderful God and His grace. Life management is not about getting into heaven. All who come to Christ will be in heaven. This is about reward in heaven. There is nothing you can do to save your soul except turn to God in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.
Life management is a principle only for Christians. It has to do with living life in such a way as to one day hear the Father say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Because you have been faithful in a very little thing, you will be in authority over very much." Successful living then demands that you know and keep the laws of life management.
The Laws Of Life Management
Law number one is: Do your best with what you have. It does not matter in God's eyes how much you have but how well you handle it. Barnabas is praised for his large gift of land to the early church. The widow is lauded by our Lord for her gift of less than a penny. Someone said, "I am but one ... but I am one. I cannot do much ... but I can do something. What I can do ... I ought to do. What I ought to do ... by the grace of God, I will do."
The Bible commands, "Whatever you do in word or deed, do it all to the glory of God." I read about a preacher who told about a shoe cobbler who was buried in a Scottish cemetery. His tombstone declared that for fifty years, he had cobbled shoes to the glory of God. Luke 16:10 says, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much." Eugene Peterson's translation declares, "If you are honest in small things, you will be honest in big things ... If you are not honest in small jobs, who will put you in charge of the store?"
Law number two is: What we manage is not ours.
I read about a strange thief in Hamburg, Germany. There was not a single brick, tile, screw, or nail in his neat little house that had not been stolen. Over a period of two years and by way of eighty different thefts, he acquired every square inch of his house at someone else's expense. He even admitted that he had stolen the flowers blooming in his front yard. Day by day, bit by bit, he accomplished his theft.
His actions parallel the spiritually crippled behavior of many men and women.
Day by day, they appropriate the things of God .... His air, sunshine, and food.
They take everything He gives and uses them for selfish purposes. Actually, they embezzle a life because they give nothing in return. In building their life, every single brick, tile, screw, and nail is stolen.
All of us are like the steward, handling for awhile the property of another. The Bible declares, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it." If it is true that which can be lost is not really owned (and it is), then not even our lives are our own. The steward was a slave. He belonged to his master. "In Him we live and move and have our being." Life, breath, and all things come from Him.
Our time, talents, and resources are all His, given by His grace and controlled by His providence. If we are Christians, we have accepted the fact that He is our loving Master, and we will give an accounting to Him.
How sad to see people steal a life from the Master and then realize they are stuck with what they stole. Do you remember Edwin Markham's tale of how a wealthy man assigned a contractor friend of his to build a beautiful home?
When plans and specifications were agreed upon, the rich man left on an extended trip. The builder, with no one around to check on him, proceeded to cheat on every specification of the house. Floors, beams, walls, and roof were of the cheapest material and all built on a flimsy and poor foundation. When the rich man returned, he sought out the builder and said, "Keep the keys. They are the keys to your house. You did not know it, but you were building this house for yourself."
A constant warning from God's Word is this: People who embezzle their lives from God are stuck with what they stole. Life management is to do your best with what you have. It is to know that what we manage is not ours.
Law number three: The things we manage are not real.
In verse eleven is a heavy question: "So if you have not been trustworthy handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" The wealth of this world is not real because it does not last.
The goods we manage now are temporary. Life's largest blunder is to act as though this were not so. The Psalmist said, "Their inward thought is that their houses shall continue forever, their dwelling places to all generations. They call their lands after their own names." This is sheer mockery. For, as the Bible says of one who lusts after the treasures of earth, "when he dies, he shall carry nothing away."
Alexander the Great was born to one empire and conquered another. He possessed the wealth of both the East and the West. Yet, he commanded that, when carried to his grave, his hands should be left unwrapped and outside the funeral bier so that all might see them empty.
Charlemagne was, at his request, buried sitting on his throne, wearing his crown, robe, and jewels. In his lap was an open Bible, and his dead finger was resting on Mark 8:36: "What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul."
Successful life management is a matter of exchanging a life you cannot keep for a life you cannot lose. It is trading the temporary goods of this world for unending, secure treasure. No matter how much or how little you may have in ability, opportunity, or wealth, you can manage your life in such a way as to be really rich.
