Luke 16:9 (ESV)
And I tell you, make friends for
yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may
receive you into the eternal dwellings.
In Luke 16:1-13 Jesus tells the parable
of the dishonest servant and then gives application. Verse 9 is always the most
troubling to me, and I struggle with it. Most commentaries say that Jesus has
three applications and that verse 9 is the first. They then go on to say that based
on this verse, we should use our money to win people to Christ. I have no
problem with that idea, but I find it difficult to see that in this verse. In
fact, as I have wrestled with this passage for several days, it seems to me
that the application in this verse is incongruent with the following two
applications.
Jesus says in verse 10 that the
individual who is faithful in little is faithful in much. But the servant in
the story was not faithful. If we have been unfaithful in earthly things like
money, how can we be entrusted with eternal riches. That seems to be the
opposite of what verse 9 says. Verse 13 tells us that we cannot serve God and
money, stuff, things. If the application of verse 9 was to use our money to win
people to Christ, then I can see the connection. But the verse seems to be
saying, use your money to make friends so that those friends will receive you
into eternal dwellings, which can never happen. Earthly friends will never
receive us into eternal dwellings. God does that. The whole parable is about a
dishonest manager who seems to cheat his master.
Some have suggested that the
dishonest manager was padding the bill and pocketing the balance. If that is
the case, then the discount he offers may simply be removing his extra. That means
that in the end he doesn’t cheat his master, and he makes friends with those he
discounts. Although it seems to me that the “discount” then is actually
deception. If this is what’s happening, then I can see how one might see verse
9 as a positive application. But I wonder if verse 9 is not intended to be a
bit of sarcasm. Use your money to make friends on earth who will welcome you
into eternal dwellings (which of course can never happen). The real application
then follows, be faithful in little things and don’t serve money.
However it is understood, the
last two applications seem to be what Jesus is getting at. He was calling his
disciples to faithfulness. All we have is a gift from God. We are stewards of
that gift, and as such he expects us to use it in ways that glorify him. Money
and possessions don’t last. You can’t serve them and God. One must choose. Do I
serve for my own comfort and possessions, or do I serve God? That answer to
that question is a life changer.
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