The Clever Servant

There are a couple of possibilities here. Either he was subtracting his own commission as a way of reducing those bills…but that would mean that he wasn’t dishonest…or the debtors did not know that he had been fired. If that was the case, then they thought that these discounts were legitimate…and would have been VERY pleased.

The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.

The end result of all of this is that the rich man comes out smelling like roses. If he had been charging unlawful interest, then his neighbors would praise God that he had found salvation. If he were simply a tough-edged business owner, then his debtors would have thanked him for his generosity. Either way, he looked good. Of course, there was no choice but to praise and commend his manager for his shrewdness which had paid huge dividends.

Realize that nowhere in this parable is the dishonesty of the manager lifted up for special acclamation. Nowhere is it suggested that deceitfulness and corruption are commendable courses of action. Nowhere is this fellow praised because he is too lazy or incompetent to change careers in mid-stream.

It was really interesting when I checked the thesaurus on my computer. I typed in “shrewd” and a number of different synonyms came back: astute, sharp, on the ball, smart, perceptive, insightful, wise, and clever. Those are all positive adjectives.

It is his ingenuity that is praised. It is his shrewdness which is admired. Valued is his fierce determination to complete a course of action upon which he had embarked. He set a goal and reached it. He had a plan and worked it. He pursued an end with all of the creativity and energy he could muster.

What does that say about Christians? We like to say that our Christian faith is the most important part of our lives. We like to say that we intend to live for Jesus each and every day. We like to say that the most important institution in our community is the church. We like to say that it is our Christian faith which provides us guidance and counsel to get us through our day.

But be careful. Think about it for a minute. Do we pursue our relationship with Jesus Christ with the same energy as this dishonest manager? Do we have the same sort of devotion to the cause of Christ as we have for earning a living?

For the dishonest manager, nothing was more important than achieving his goal. Is there anything in our everyday lives which becomes more important, or at least more urgent, than our faith journey?

I bought a new zoom lens for my camera a while back. I had been saving for it for over a year…five bucks here, ten dollars there, maybe a twenty now and then. Other stuff kept cropping up…phone bills, books to buy, tires for the car, and other necessities. But I kept at it…and finally was able to purchase the lens that I had wanted for a very long time. And now I wonder…do I put that much effort into achieving a relationship with Christ?

It seems to me that the parable of the dishonest manager ought to give us pause, and urge us to take an inventory of the things which occupy our greatest levels of energy. I think it probably ought to make us stop and consider just how much of our prayers, presence, gifts, and service we are willing to give for the sake of our Lord.