THE RETURN JOURNEY (Part 2)
GIVING ACCOUNTS THE WORLDLY WAY (Luke 16:1-13)
Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 admonished the believers: “Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown, but we an incorruptible.”
Beloved, “God cannot be mocked; He is all-seeing and all-knowing; you cannot cheat God.”
The account of the biblical text is the system of accountability the worldly way. The unjust steward, according to the Lord Jesus, represents primarily the Pharisees and scribes in their teachings and ministerial functions. Although spoken to their hearing, it was addressed not to them, but to His disciples, who are also stewards, that collectively or individually will give account of their stewardship.
The rich man is God, who appoints and also calls to reckoning. This is applicable to all whom He entrusted with gifts, talents, opportunities, and ministry in His great kingdom.
The servant was accused of wasting his master’s goods, meaning he failed to use what God entrusted to him for the good of men and to the glory of God.
What did the steward do upon hearing that he would be removed?
He falsified the records. He tempted the debtors with immediate gains, making them sharers in his fraud and took the readiest and most direct means of securing their favor and their silence.
The master, in the outer framework of the parable, is one of the children of this world, and he admires the sharpness and quickness of the steward’s action. 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 it hateful is that, by so doing, the children of light transform themselves into the children of this world. It becomes an exchange: “Let me rub your back, and in turn, you rub mine.”
Thus, on this declaration depends the whole doctrine of sin. Sin is not merely imperfection; it is enmity to God.
There can be no shades of progression uniting good and evil; in Him is no darkness at all. Good and evil may be mixed in an individual, but in themselves, they are contrary.
The right use of wealth is in helping the less privileged and leading them to God, which can make us bear spiritual fruits (John 15:16).
True riches stand in contrast to the vain, deceitful, and unrighteous mammon and correspond to the true spiritual wealth of peace, pardon, and wisdom.
Honesty, integrity, and benevolence in the use of our gifts are an indispensable condition of all spiritual advancements.
…continued…
