God and wealth

"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." - Luke 16:13 (NASB)

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Money is an interesting topic in life, even a controversial one. People say money is not everything but it is very important. Even Ecclesiastes 10:19 says," A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes merry; But money answers everything." This is a continuation of a verse before it (Ecc. 10:18) that warns us about the result of laziness which leads to poverty. In today's passage, money is mentioned as mammon, or the wealth of unrighteousness or worldly wealth. The context here is the earthly wealth - to differentiate it with the treasure in heaven that we need to pursue as well.

Here Lord Jesus teaches us how to use money. The dishonest manager or steward, who had wasted his master's wealth, was afraid to lose his job and that he would have no place to live since he didn't have other skills to survive. So, he made friends with the debtors of his master, by rewriting their bills, reducing the actual amount of their debts. He thought later they would help provide for him when he was out of job. He read the situations and made use of the money to make friends for his advantage. Jesus said that the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light (v.8).

How do the people of the light use their money? We are expected to be shrewd in a good way, which is to proclaim The Good News to the lost world. "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves." (Mat 10:16). We have to make friends while introducing people to Jesus and to not hesitate in using our earthly wealth. Help people, support the gospel spreading, make the world a better place, to the point where money is no longer a mean that we depend on. As one day, these people will be a testimony of how we have lived when we reach the heavenly kingdom. Here's the lesson: "Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home." (v.9 – NLT). We remember the rich young man fails to follow Jesus as he loves his earthly possessions so much (Mat 19:21-22).

On the other hand, Jesus also teaches us about faithfulness in dealing with money. Due to its power that seems to answer everything, money has also been a temptation to many. The Lord tells us that we must be able to be faithful even with a little thing if we would like to be entrusted with more. Because unrighteousness starts from small things. As a kid, did we give back all the change to our parents after buying something? As an adult in business, do we handle people's money transparently or do we set aside some portion for ourselves illegally? Our attitude towards money shows who our real Master is. Lord Jesus in verse 11 says, "So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?" Its effect goes deep. To be God's partner in missions, to be trusted with heavenly treasure, we need to pass this earthly wealth test.

Submission to God is followed by honesty, generosity and love for God's purposes. Submission to mammon is the opposite – dishonesty, stinginess and love for self-purposes.  Even in religious life we must be aware of this. What motivates us to serve God? The Pharisees who were mentioned as lovers of money ridiculed Jesus' teaching. But the Lord said that men only see the outside, while God knows someone's true heart. 

In verse 13 Jesus said, "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth." It is very clear and narrow. So, the question is: Between God and wealth, who do you love?

Reflection on Luke 16:1-15 by Desire Litaay