"Shrewd Is Good:" The Unjust Steward

Parable to Live By?

“Shrewd is Good:" The Unjust Steward

Luke 16:1-13

Watch on YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izRqMHh8ByA

This parable has always been somewhat of a mystery to many and why it was even taught by Jesus, so I’ve done multiple studies on it, especially with all the business failures over this past decade, as well as the financial mismanagement by top executives where today this story sounds more like it’s  straight out of this week’s news than it does from the Bible.

In fact, it kind of reminds me of a story of a business owner who was interviewing candidates for chief accounting officer. He asked the first candidate, “What’s two plus two,” to which the candidate replied, “four.” And the interview was over. The same thing happened to the second candidate. But when the third candidate was asked, he locked the door, closed the window blinds, and leaned over the owner’s desk and asked, “How much to you want it to be?” He was hired on the spot.

The story that Jesus tells is a strange one, and it’s hard to get a really good grasp of it, especially in just a single reading when Jesus said, “The master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly,” or when Jesus said, “Make friends for yourself by unrighteous mammon.”

This is why this parable is troubling to most, and our first temptation after reading it is just to go on to the next story of the rich man and Lazarus, which we’ll look in our next time together. Yet, it is just these types of stories that we find within the Bible that we need to take time to think through, because they will have a great if not an eternal impact on our lives.

I’ve entitled this message, “Shrewd is Good.” Now this is not our first impression or understanding when it comes to calling someone shrewd, as this steward is deceitful in cooking his master’s books to his own benefit.

Yet, believe it or not, being shrewd is a quality that Jesus commends more than once. This same word in the Greek language has also been translated as being wise, as it was used by Jesus in describing the wise person who built his house on a rock in Matthew 7:24.

In this story, Jesus called this person shrewd because he built his life on the solid rock foundation of God’s word, and then compared him to the foolish person who built his life upon the shifting sands of human philosophy.

Shrewd is also what Jesus encouraged His disciples to be as he told them to be as wise or as shrewd as snakes.

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16 NKJV)

Most translations have it as you see it; wise as serpents, but it is the same word as we have seen meaning shrewd. What Jesus does is couple it with being as harmless as doves. I believe He was saying that Christians are to be as shrewd as the serpent was with Eve in the garden, but at the same time harmless without deceit. Paul may have said it best when he tells us to be as wise or shrewd about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. 

“I want you to be wise in what is good, and simple concerning evil.” (Romans 16:19b NKJV)

We see Jesus using this word again in the parable of the ten virgins, in how shrewd five of them were at foreseeing the possibility that the bridegroom might be delayed and being wise they brought extra oil for their lamps (Matthew 25:1-13). Jesus then contrasted them with those who were foolish who had not anticipated a delay.

And so, in our story about the dishonest manager, Jesus again commended shrewdness, and how believers need to be shrewd with the resources God has given to them and to make friends now and for all eternity.

Now, to be totally honest, shrewdness in finances is not my strong point. How many times I’ve said, “That will never take off,” only to see it soar into the heavenlies. Like the Home Shopping Network. I had a chance to buy it as a penny stock but thought “Who would want to buy merchandise over the TV?” My worst may have been Evian water. I thought, “Who is ever going to buy water in a bottle that is free from the tap?” So, if I ever pass on something, it might be a good idea to invest in it.

The word shrewd means to be sharp and discerning. And so, when we read of the master applauding the steward’s shrewdness, what he was applauding was not his dishonesty, but rather the cleverness that he displayed in setting himself up for the future on the funds that weren’t his to begin with.