The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

Luke 16:1-18 (CSB)

Today we are looking at The Parable of the Dishonest Manager. Jesus tells this parable immediately after The Parable of the Prodigal Son, and right before He tells The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus. It’s also known as The Parable of the Unjust Steward. Jesus told this story while speaking to his disciples, although, as we’ll see, the Pharisees were there listening as well. It’s one of the lesser-known parables, perhaps because it is only recorded in Luke 16, or because it’s easily misunderstood. As R.C. Sproul once said in a sermon on this parable, it “is almost universally considered by biblical scholars to be the most difficult of Jesus’ parables to understand.”

God-willing, after this sermon, it will no longer be difficult to understand.

Let’s begin by reading the first section, Luke 16:1–7:

1 Now he said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who received an accusation that his manager was squandering his possessions. 

2 So he called the manager in and asked, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you can no longer be my manager.’

3 “Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg.

4 I know what I’ll do so that when I’m removed from management, people will welcome me into their homes.’

5 “So he summoned each one of his master’s debtors. ‘How much do you owe my master?’ he asked the first one.

6 “‘A hundred measures of olive oil,’ he said.

“‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘sit down quickly, and write fifty.’

7 “Next he asked another, ‘How much do you owe?’

“‘A hundred measures of wheat,’ he said.

“‘Take your invoice,’ he told him, ‘and write eighty.’

So far, this parable is straightforward. A manager, or a steward as other translations call him, finds out he is about to be fired from his job due to no fault but his own. In those days, a manager was employed by a wealthy household to act as an overseer. He would have been responsible for supervising the other servants, directing the purchasing of food, paying bills, and general things like that.

This manager was squandering his master’s possessions. This word for squandering is the same word used to describe how the Prodigal Son squandered his estate. The Greek word is diaskorpizó, and it means, “To scatter, to disperse, to squander.” In other words, they wasted it.

Now the difference was, the wealth the manager was wasting was not his own, but his master’s. And when he finds out he is about to be fired, he quickly comes up with a plan to help himself. He cheats his master by lowering the debt so that—as he says—those people might “welcome me into their homes.”

Now, let’s read what happens next. Verses 8–9 say:

8 “The master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light in dealing with their own people. 

9 And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of worldly wealth so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings. 

That’s a twist. Instead of being even more angry at the way this manager has stewarded his wealth, the master praises him for acting shrewdly. Maybe this master is also dishonest, and so he respects his manager’s skill at dishonesty? I’m not sure why he praises him when it is his money this manager is still squandering, nevertheless, he does.

But this is where the confusion for most people begins, because then Jesus observes that “the children of this age are more shrewd than the children of light in dealing with their own people.” It seems like Jesus is speaking positively about the manager. And to add to the confusion, Jesus says, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of worldly wealth so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings.”

Is Jesus commending the shrewdness of this dishonest manager and saying that we should be shrewd like that dishonest manager? Should we use money to make friends so that when our money runs out those friends will give us a home?

Well, there are a few ways of looking at this verse. First, I will tell you what Jesus is not saying. The master in this story is not supposed to represent God. So, Jesus is not telling us that it’s okay to cheat people out of their money.

The reason I say this is because the Lord would never instruct us to contradict Scripture. The Bible tells us to be honest and to act with integrity. As 2 Corinthians 8:21 says, “Indeed, we are giving careful thought to do what is right, not only before the Lord but also before people.” We are to behave as Jesus said when He summed up the law and the prophets: Do to others what you would have them do to you (Matthew 7:12).  

Some people, like John Piper, think this parable means that in the same way that the shrewd manager secured a place for himself, so too should we secure places for ourselves by using worldly wealth, by making friends with people who will welcome us into their eternal dwellings. Piper said, “This is Jesus’s way of saying, ‘You need help with your joblessness in eternity. I’m telling you how to have a house, a place to live, with joy and satisfaction in fellowship with God’s people forever. That’s the way to use your money. Use your money to secure that’” (www.desiringgod.org/interviews/does-jesus-commend-dishonesty-in-luke-16).

Whether Piper meant to imply that we can purchase our salvation, clearly, what he said is not correct. First of all, we can’t buy our way into Heaven. Second, in John 14:2, Jesus says that He is preparing rooms for all of us who love Him—so we do not in any way need to rely on other people after we die to welcome us into a dwelling.

So, what is Jesus actually saying here? Just as the worldly manager used his resources to prepare for his future, so too should we use our resources for our future.

But instead of using our worldly wealth to gain earthly security, we should use our worldly wealth to further God’s Kingdom. That way, when we die, those we helped on earth will welcome us in eternity. Not that we in any way have purchased our entry, but merely that those fellow believers will greet us when we arrive.

This would go along with Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:19–21, which say, “Don’t store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

To be clear, in the parable of the shrewd manager, Jesus is not endorsing that manager’s behavior but is showing us what worldly wisdom looks like. When Jesus says, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of worldly wealth so that when it fails, they may welcome you into eternal dwellings,” He is not instructing us to follow worldly wisdom, but is rather contrasting it with Godly wisdom.

The world’s wisdom encourages and applauds people who become adept at working the system and using their worldly wealth for their own self-serving advantage. But that’s not how Jesus operated. He certainly didn’t do that, and He doesn’t want us to do that. What He does want us to do is to be just as intentional in planning as the world is—not for temporary gain, but for eternal purposes. In other words, the children of this age might use their resources shrewdly for worldly security, but we children of light should use our resources to advance the Kingdom of God.

So, Jesus is not telling us to imitate the world’s shrewdness, but to learn from its urgency and apply that same urgency toward what truly matters: investing in what will last forever.

This leads directly into what Jesus says next in verses 10–13. Here, He moves from describing the shrewd manager’s actions to teaching a clear principle: Unlike the world, God values faithfulness.

Look at what He says next, in verses 10–13:

“10 Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much. 

11 So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine? 

12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own? 

13 No servant can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

That manager was not faithful, and so he was going to lose his job. He was unrighteous in all his dealings. He saw that his unfaithfulness had cost him his job, and in his last moments on the job, he continues in his unfaithful dealings.

Now, in this parable, the issue of faithfulness is money. So, let’s focus on that issue, too. Jesus says that if we are not faithful in the very little, or another way of wording that would be—if we are not faithful in small things—then how will we be faithful in big things?

In that same sermon by R.C. Sproul, he points out that, to Jesus, tithing is a small thing. He cites Matthew 23:23, which says, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, and yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These things should have been done without neglecting the others.”

R.C. Sproul says, “The tithe is not the weighty matter; it is the lesser matter. It is a little thing…It is so easy that any Christian can do it, and the failure to do it…God considers as robbery (Mal. 3:8)…Jesus was saying: ‘You use your worldly wealth for the wellbeing of the kingdom of God. You will not get to heaven by doing that, but when you get there, you will be greeted by all the people whose lives were blessed because of your gift and your sacrifice.’”

Why is tithing such a small thing? The money we have is not our own. It all belongs to God. Tithing should be one of the easiest things for a Christian to do. Jesus explains clearly why that is, in verses 11–12 when he says, “So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with what is genuine? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to someone else, who will give you what is your own?”

Money is not genuine, meaning it is not like true riches, as other translations say, because it will not last. We can’t take it with us when we die. So, if we can’t be faithful to God with how we handle something so trivial as money, then how can God trust us to be faithful with things that actually matter? It’s a very important point Jesus is making.

In verse 13, Jesus sums this up by saying: “No servant can serve two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

The dishonest manager loved money more than he loved his master. He chose to serve money, when he should have been devoted to doing what his master had told him to do. He was not faithful at the beginning, nor faithful or repentant in the end.

Now, most commentaries or sermons end this parable at verse 13, but I don’t think we should stop here. Jesus is still speaking, so let’s read what He says next. As we do, I think this parable will become even clearer to us.

Verses 14-18 say:

14 The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, were listening to all these things and scoffing at him. 

15 And he told them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.

16 “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urgently invited to enter it.

17 But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out.

18 “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery, and everyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.

There are a lot of key things to point out. Starting at the beginning, did you catch that the Pharisees were listening to all this? It’s to them that Jesus says, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly admired by people is revolting in God’s sight.”

That goes right along with His parable. While that rich master highly admired his shrewd manager, what that manager did was revolting to God. While we can see that children of this age are shrewder and more focused on their future than children of the light are, we are not to imitate their corrupt ways.

Shortly before this parable, Jesus had gotten into trouble with the Pharisees for healing people on the Sabbath. But Jesus had pointed out to them that even they would rescue an animal that is in peril on the Sabbath (Luke 13:15). All throughout Matthew 23, Jesus details the many ways in which the Pharisees are “whitewashed tombs” that look good on the outside but are filthy inside. They may be admired by outsiders, but they are “revolting in God’s sight.”

They maintained this façade because they were skilled at changing the law to benefit themselves. And at the end of this parable, Jesus mentions just one way in which they were doing that: they were saying people could divorce. It’s an example of how they were picking and choosing which laws needed to be followed or not.

I really like what Ellicott, in his commentary on Luke 16 says: “When Leo X sent forth his preachers of indulgences with their short and easy methods of salvation; when Jesuit confessors were to be found in every court of Europe, doing nothing to preserve their votaries from a fathomless licentiousness; when Protestant theologians tuned their voice according to the time, and pandered to the passions of a Henry VIII or a Landgrave of Hesse; when the preachers of justification by faith turned the grace of God into lasciviousness, or made it compatible with a life of money-making worldliness; when men lower the standard of duty to gain support and popularity—there the act of the steward in bidding the debtor write fifty measures, when he owed a hundred, finds its counterpart.”

Ellicott wrote that well over 150 years ago, and yet it couldn’t be more applicable today. Just switch out the people who Christians were pandering to—it’s all the same. For it’s all a watering down of the Word of God for ease and popularity. When was the last time you heard a preacher speak out against divorce, or even about smaller issues like tithing?

People are still trying to make Christianity compatible with “fathomless licentiousness.” They are still trying to merge Christianity with unspeakable immorality. Preachers are still preaching cheap grace, lowering the standard of God’s Word. But Jesus says clearly in verse 17: “It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter in the law to drop out.” God’s laws do not change.

In the parable, the manager, confronted with the fact that he had been caught squandering his master’s wealth, realizes that because he hadn’t been doing his job well, he is about to lose it. Ellicott also points out that the manager realizes that he has lost the strength to be able to dig, and so he knows he cannot do anything else but become a beggar. So, given his choices, he makes friends with the debtors.

Ellicott then says, in the manager’s decision we see this “is the moment when a Church or party or an individual teacher, halts between two policies—one that of striving after righteousness, and the other of secular expediency—and makes up its mind to adopt that which promises the most immediate and most profitable results.”

Let’s not think this does not apply to us.

I’m afraid that sometimes we might think that the “little things” don’t matter. We watch popular shows or sing along with popular songs, even though they are filled with immorality. We stay silent when it’s inconvenient or uncomfortable to speak the truth because we don’t want to lose friends or our position at work.

But God is always watching what we do. He’s watching to see what we do when no one else is watching. His principle is true: If someone is faithful with the little that they have been given—whether that is a position of leadership or money or time — that person will be faithful when they are given more. But if someone is unrighteous and squanders the very little they have, then they will continue to do so when given more.

Sometimes people think that when they are given more responsibility or given “significant” things to manage, then they will act responsibly and upright. They consider that the little bit of money they make doesn’t need to be tithed or the little bit of compromise they make on a moral issue doesn’t really matter. Yet Jesus says that how we act during the little bit is how we will act always. Greater responsibility does not equal greater adherence to God’s law if we are unrighteous when we think it doesn’t matter.

But know this: when you act with integrity and remain faithful in the little things, God sees you, and He will reward you.

I want to close by quoting one more time from Ellicott’s commentary on this passage. He says, “If this world were all, there would be a wisdom worthy of praise when a Church or its teachers adapted themselves to men’s passions or interests at the expense of Truth. That which makes such action hateful is that by so doing the children of light transform themselves into the children of this world.”

In other words, if this world were all there is, then it would be prudent for us to fit in and adapt ourselves to it. But as Christians, we know that this world is not what’s real. There is a glorious future waiting for us in eternity.

What if we Christians were as shrewd and committed to securing our eternal futures as the world is in securing its comfort here on this temporary stay on earth? I’m afraid too many of us, me included, forget so easily that our focus should be on our eternal dwelling and not on this temporary earth.

We are the children of the light; therefore, we must not conform ourselves to be like the children of this world. Let’s learn what we can from the world’s urgency but stay faithful to God’s unchanging principles. As Jesus said in Matthew 10:16, “Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as innocent as doves.” Let us be shrewdly focused on securing eternal blessings, while never compromising God’s truth.

Pray: Heavenly Father, we confess that we have not always been heavenly minded. Please help us to remember that this world is fleeting, and it is eternity that is genuine and lasts forever. Please help us by Your Holy Spirit to store up blessings in Heaven and not here on earth. Please fill us with urgency and a proper perspective as we live out our time here. Help us to never compromise on the truth, but to act with faithfulness, remembering that all we have belongs to You. Thank You that You have gone ahead to prepare a place for us. Please keep our hearts anchored in eternity until the day we see You face to face. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.