Luke 16. “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (16:13) As we make our way through the gospel of Luke, Jesus has quite a bit to say about money and how we use it. Let’s be clear – money is neutral. It’s a commodity that can be used for great good and used generously; or it can be held onto with a tight fist and pursued at all costs. People also handle money in different ways, some are very good at managing it, others are terrible managers and fritter it away on silly pleasures.

The challenge is not money itself. The issue is that humankind is drawn to money, and the pursuit of more money, and the hoarding of wealth for one’s own pleasures and gain. Remember the parable of the Rich Fool in Luke 12:13-21? The tendency towards greed runs deep in many of our souls and that’s why Jesus keeps returning to the topic. “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions” (12:15)

The parable of the Dishonest (Shrewd) Manager in Luke 16:1-13 is a bit tricky to follow. (I had to write a seminary paper on the exegesis of this parable once!) The bottom line is that Jesus upholds the decision of this secular, shrewd, even dishonest manager as an example – because the manager leveraged all his resources to gain something important. In the same way, we are encouraged to use the resources God has given us to pursue things of value – things of eternal value in the kingdom of God. Remember, money is neutral. But we are forewarned that the pursuit of money for our own selfish gain is a dangerous path.

Jesus’ second point in this chapter is about stewardship, “One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in very little is dishonest in much” (16:10). We know this to be true – someone who lies to you about something small is just as likely to be lying about other things as well. However many resources you have in life, you are responsible to manage (steward) them well. Biblically speaking, that involves working hard, being honest, being generous, and investing in things of value (which has a lot to do with relationships and not much to do with luxury goods!).

If we were to take a serious look at your annual expenditures, what would it reveal? (It’s January, do you have records of what happened to your money last year? Do you even know where it goes?!) Where does your money go – that reveals a great deal about what you value. If you sat down with a trusted friend, could you share where your money goes? What would you have to justify and what does that reveal? “Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also” (12:34).

What stood out to you from Luke 16?