Luke 16:8-9 (NIV) The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
Luke 16:8-9 (MSG) Now here’s a surprise: The master praised the crooked manager! And why? Because he knew how to look after himself. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law–abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. I want you to be smart in the same way – but for what is right – using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival, to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live, and not complacently just get by on good behavior.”
Observation
These verses were always a bit confusing to me. I didn’t understand why Jesus told the story. Reading these verses in more than one translation helps. Jesus is encouraging “using every adversity to stimulate you to creative survival…not complacently just get by on good behavior.” He is not endorsing the methods of the bad manager (cheating or stealing), but, rather, is encouraging His people to be as quick, adaptable and innovative in overcoming adversity and barriers we encounter while staying within moral and legal bounds. Jesus is asking us to view challenging and changing times as opportunities for growth, a time to examine current methods for effectiveness and creatively devise new uses for existing resources.
Moving with changing times and cultures – finding the way to use the latest resources for God’s advantage, and allowing the Holy Spirit to take us out of our possible, comfortable box – can be difficult for anyone. It is soul-shakingly tough for those of us who find our security in traditions, established practices and measuring our own (or others’) spirituality by accepted conventions (outward appearances or performance of established rituals or exercises – the complacent “good behavior”). Jesus spent His entire ministry shaking the souls of the established religion of His day by confronting the traditions and practices that were the barriers to true worship. He is the best example of being spiritually streetwise in allowing the Holy Spirit to live in and through us.
Impact on Me
Well, I have come to understand that change is going to happen whether I welcome it, like it, want it or agree with it. Now that I am a great grandma, I have had many opportunities in both family and secular settings of experiencing, evaluating, sometimes embracing and always navigating changes – some making things better and some not so much. Sometimes I grumbled, resisting change, and sometimes I viewed them with great hope. I learned through years of experience that my way – or the way I always have done it – is not always better and usually does not take advantage of amazing new resources that I will gladly embrace after I learn how to use them. Ideas that seem impossible, ridiculous, or foolish to me may be wildly successful (e.g., the Pet Rock which made someone a millionaire or modern social media influencers who don’t actually do or produce anything of value). In this parable, Jesus is teaching me to be constantly on the alert to His way, which may seem new to me, but is rooted in the unchangeable nature and plan of our Father God.
I have learned that the Holy Spirit is the source of all innovation, the perfect planner, has insight into each and every heart, and is able to blend the old with the new in perfect harmony – if I will let Him be in charge. He wants to school me in “creative survival, (how) to concentrate your attention on the bare essentials, so you’ll live, really live.” The world can do all the superficial changing it wants but the spiritual bare essentials never do. So, when challenging times come, I read His Word, listen, pray and get ready to step out in faith – whether it feels natural, comfortable, attainable or completely out of my strengths. Never let it be said of me on That Day that I just complacently got by on good behavior!!!
Devote
Father God, Lord, Creator of all, I bow before You and worship You. May I embrace the changes that are still firmly rooted in Your eternal nature, Your unchanging plan. In this world, I want to be a good listener, walking the exact path You have laid out for me. By Your Holy Spirit fill me with creative ideas and an openness when times call for new methods and approaches that fulfill Your will and purpose. May I stand firm and faithful on the old ways when that is what You require. May my legacy in Your service be that I followed well, loved well, served well and finished well. On That Day may I hear from Jesus, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You are a woman after my own heart. No complacency to report”. In Jesus’ name, make it so.
Pressing On In His Footsteps 