We are inundated about the story of the unjust manager as Jesus spoke with his disciples; He told them a story saying: there was once a rich man who had a manager. He got reports that the manager had been taking advantage of his position by running up huge personal expenses. So his boss called him in and said, 'What's this I hear about you? You're fired. And I want a complete audit of your books’. The manager had gotten an idea that he was going to be sacked by his master.

More like God and his messengers/pastors….

'What am I going to do? exclaimed the manager! I've lost my job as manager. I'm not strong enough for a laboring job, and I'm too proud to beg...Ah, I've got a plan, he said. Here's what I'll do... then when I'm turned out into the street, people will take me into their houses.'

In trying to take stocks, he went to his master’s debtors and to the one who owed a hundred jugs of oil, he was told to write a check for fifty…to the one who owed a hundred sacks of wheat, he was told to write eighty….defrauding his Master. He was going to run down his master’s investment and business. The idea was that when he scrubs their back, they would scrub his back when a need arises.

Scrub my back and I will scrub your back is the general idea that we portray in our churches today, whether there is an impact or not. The Word of God isn’t the standard anymore; there is complete apathy.

Now here's a surprise: The master praised the serpentine manager! Why would the phony manager be praised?

What exactly was the unjust manager praised for? Was he praised for defrauding his master? Was he praised for trying to destroy his master’s investment? Was he praised because the money he got from the debtors will drastically reduce the capital investment, not to talk of making profit? If the manager was that good, why would his boss sack him? After all the unjust manager did, he was still going to leave his job.

Jesus said, “The children of this world are wiser than the children of light”.

The unjust manager had an attitude: he was selfish: he tried to secure his future by defrauding his master so that when he needs the help of those he helped, they will in turn help him too. In other words, he was securing his future. He took care of himself like the children of this world would always do.

The children of this world in their generation do what they do knowing where they belong and what to expect to get from what they do. Streetwise people are smarter in this regard than law-abiding citizens. They are on constant alert, looking for angles, surviving by their wits. The children of this world use their resources to buy friends and relationships that would bring longtime benefits. The unjust manager knew how to look after himself and his temporal future. Jesus wouldn’t have commended the unjust manager for this evil.

Rather Jesus asked for his listeners to borrow the evil attitude of the children of this world, channeling it into the appropriate avenue thereby securing their future with God and not with men.

Christians are half as responsible in their responsibilities to God and to the Gospel. When we apply the same enthusiasm to God’s Word and Work, as we desire in other things, we can get the commendation of God.

This enthusiasm channeled in the proper direction is what Jesus seems to be commending and not the phony unjust manager.

May God forgive us of any shortcomings we have! Happy New Year


K Surakat