Jesus told this story to His disciples:
“There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’
The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’
So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him,’Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons. ‘
‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man.
‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘
Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.’
The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home. If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own? No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Luke 16:1-8
There are two ways of looking at this parable, both of which account for the fact that Jesus praised an unjust manager. We have to harmonize this dissonance in the parable to account for why Jesus would “praise” someone who was ripping off the owner. Otherwise, we have a passage of scripture which seems to teach that it is ok to rip people off as long as you can get away with it. Does Jesus praise him for his ingenious idea or does he praise him for something else? In the first instance, he was clearly a scoundrel who manipulated the boss while counting on the boss’s grace. There are many who think this is the answer. I am not so convinced. I don’t think there is much praiseworthy in what he has done in that scenario for Jesus to commend him. I think too many of us presume upon God’s grace and keep doing what we are doing. In this example as I said in the last Gem, the manager’s solution, having been caught stealing, is to steal more and count on the fact that the owner will guard his good name. I am not convinced there is enough in that solution to satisfy me that it is the right interpretation. Besides, it doesn’t necessarily accord with the following comments which Jesus makes about the parable in the verses that follow.
There is another option which I favour. The manager reduced the debt of the debtors by varying amounts. The manager would normally have taken a commission for administering the owner’s affairs. That was how it worked. In normal circumstances the manager or steward might take up to 20% or 25% of the debt collected. There are records existing from the Middle East and Asia, indicating a manager would negotiate with the debtor to reduce the debt by as much as 50%, with the debtor taking 25% by way of reduction and the agent being willing to waive his fee or commission. I suspect that is what is happening here. This manager is doing something that was practiced at the time and allowed the debt to be reduced to get an early lump sum payment, rather than collecting a smaller amount monthly or on a regular basis. This manager has worked out if he sacrifices his commission for each of these debtors, then he can gain the payment of debts quicker for the owner and waive his own fee. This also explains why the amounts vary, dependent on the percentages charged to each debtor on their debt.
This manager is then doing something that is legal and he is not acting illegally in this instance at all. This does not excuse or exonerate him from his shady practices for which he is being let go. But it does certainly curry favour among the townsfolk who have their debts reduced substantially in a legal way. In this scenario, he is not stealing more in a bold scheme to force his boss into a corner and presuming upon the boss’s good will or grace. He is sacrificing his own commission to make things right. Now that is worthy of commendation. Not only that, but it makes better sense of the text in that he is looking out for his boss and not himself. He has looked at all the angles and options open to him and realizes that if he gives up his own commission to make things right, he will be able to secure a new job in the town. The part in the text which reads, “I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’ (NLT), is variously translated in other translations as follows:
- (AMP) I have come to know what I will do, so that they [my master’s debtors] may accept and welcome me into their houses when I am put out of the management.
- (CEV) I know what I’ll do, so that people will welcome me into their homes after I’ve lost my job.”
- (GNB) Now I know what I will do! Then when my job is gone, I shall have friends who will welcome me in their homes.’
- (ISV) I know what I’ll do so that people will welcome me into their homes when I’m dismissed from my job.’
- (LITV) I know what I will do, that when I am removedfromthe stewardship, they will receive me into their houses.
- (MSG) Ah, I’ve got a plan. Here’s what I’ll do . . . then when I’m turned out into the street, people will take me into their houses.’
- (NASB) ‘I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’
- (NLT) Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’
There are two aspects to this statement. This saying is an idiom for “getting another job”. To be received into another’s house is the equivalent of getting another job. It is clear that all of the translations don’t bring that nuance out because they are more focused on the relational angle of still being accepted in the homes of the villagers. There are two aspects here. The first is maintaining relationship with everyone and not being ostracized by everyone in the village. The other sense is in keeping the options open so that he might secure another job when other landowners are made aware he was willing to sacrifice his own commission to make things right.
This man finally realized where the priorities ought to be. People, not things or money! Yes, he was indeed shrewd, cunning and clever. Initially he was dishonest but his solution is not dishonest. Rather it is self-sacrificing in order to make things right. Now it makes perfect sense for Jesus to commend him for finally seeing the light, so to speak. We don’t know that he has repented exactly, but certainly he has turned a corner in going some way to putting things right. That is certainly more than what the older brother or the Pharisees have done in the parable before this one. Mmm are these two parables related? You weigh up the evidence.
At least now you have two possibilities on offer, for making sense of this parable and balancing it with biblical standards, which I clipped from various selected Proverbs two Gems ago. Time for you to decide your position on this. We will look at Jesus’ final statement on it all in the next Gem.
You can never make a good deal with bad people!
Rick Godwin
Reputation is what people think about you. Character is what you are when no-one is looking.
Anon
You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want.
Zig Ziglar
God can turn your mess into a message.
Joyce Meyer
An apology is a good way to have the last word.
Anon
The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge but to change our lives.
Anon