条目 our ambitions
1) we will act like owners...
来源于圣经里好管家的比喻。
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PARABLE OF THE UNJUST STEWARDHomeDevotionalParables of JesusParable of the unjust steward
30Oct 2020
Luke 16:1-13
16 Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 2 So he called him in and asked him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
3 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I’m not strong enough to dig, and I’m ashamed to beg— 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.’
5 “So he called in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
6 “‘Nine hundred gallons[a] of olive oil,’ he replied.
“The manager told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred and fifty.’
7 “Then he asked the second, ‘And how much do you owe?’
“‘A thousand bushels[b] of wheat,’ he replied.
“He told him, ‘Take your bill and make it eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
Problem areas
Why was the dishonest servant commended for his act of dishonesty? Verse 8 says that it was because he was shrewd. In other words, Jesus was not commending the dishonest servant because he was dishonest but for the shrewdness of his action. We have earlier seen that a parable is often used to illustrate one or two main truth. Not every detail of a parable is to be used to form a teaching. Likewise, Jesus may be using this story as an example of shrewdness without agreeing to his act of dishonesty.
Another interpretation is that the act of the servant was not in fact dishonest. Notice the Bible did not tell us that the act was dishonest. It simply tells us that the servant was dishonest. It could be that he was dishonest because he squandered the master’s wealth when the latter was not around. Many arrived at the conclusion that the act was dishonest after we read that the servant changed the amount the debtors owed the master. What if he had not done anything wrong by doing this? In those days, the amount that a debtor owed a creditor would be written as a lump sum on a piece of paper and this amount includes both the principal and interest. Therefore, the servant may be writing off only the interest component of the debt thereby not eating into the master’s principal. Is he allowed to do that? In many cases probably yes because he is the manager and the master may have left to him how much interest to charge. Or he may have charged extra interest for himself in view of his dishonesty and is now eliminating this part of the extra interest.
Yet a third interpretation concerns who the lord of this parable is. If we say that the lord of the parable is not Jesus but simply a rich man in the story, then Jesus is not really commending the servant for the dishonest act. This is also probable because Luke is the only gospel writer that uses contrasts to describe some truths. For example, parable of the friend at midnight (Luke 11), parable of the unjust judge (Luke 18). In both these parables, Jesus is not saying that God is like the friend or the unjust judge. Yet He uses the illustration to teach a truth. Therefore, in the parable of the friend at midnight and unjust steward, the two persons extended help just to get rid of a nuisance. But the Lord is not like them; He extends help because He cares. If those two people would extend help out of persistence, how much more the Lord who loves you. Likewise this may also be a parable of contrast. In other words, if the unbelievers could be so shrewd, how much more Christians in their use of money for eternal gains.
What is the parable trying to teach?
1. Christians have to be shrewd in their use of God-given possessions.
Luke 16:8-9 (NIV) “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
Christians are called to sow into the kingdom so that souls can be saved. However, we must not be naive and put our money into any Christian organisation that comes our way. The parable says that the people of the world are very shrewd in how they handle their money and Christians likewise need to do the same. Thoroughly research the organisation you are giving to to make sure that it is one that is worthy of investing your money into for God’s kingdom.
2. We have to prove ourselves in small things before God will use us for big things.
Luke 16:10-12 (NIV) “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
We sometimes think that when we have accumulated great wealth, we will use it for God’s kingdom. But God does not think that way. He wants us to be faithful in using the little He gives us before He gives us a great deal. So for those who are expecting the opposite, that day may never come. God is not looking for us to give into the kingdom a big amount on an absolute basis. (Remember the widow’s mite. How she gave so little on an absolute basis but that represented everything she has?) Rather God is looking for people who give sacrificially, an amount that is big to them on a proportionate basis.
Related posts:
Parable of the unmerciful servant
Parable of the friend at midnight
Parable of the foolish farmer
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【 在 ibm221 的大作中提到: 】
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FROM 119.60.87.*
The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)
Bible Commentary / Produced by TOW Project
One of Jesus’ most significant parables regarding work is set in the context of investments (Matt. 25:14-30). A rich man delegates the management of his wealth to his servants, much as investors in today’s markets do. He gives five talents (a large unit of money)[1] to the first servant, two talents to the second, and one talent to the third. Two of the servants earn 100 percent returns by trading with the funds, but the third servant hides the money in the ground and earns nothing. The rich man returns, rewards the two who made money, but severely punishes the servant who did nothing.
Film Producer Says: If We're Responsible With Our Funds, God Will Open Doors (Click to Watch)
The meaning of the parable extends far beyond financial investments. God has given each person a wide variety of gifts, and he expects us to employ those gifts in his service. It is not acceptable merely to put those gifts on a closet shelf and ignore them. Like the three servants, we do not have gifts of the same degree. The return God expects of us is commensurate with the gifts we have been given. The servant who received one talent was not condemned for failing to reach the five-talent goal; he was condemned because he did nothing with what he was given. The gifts we receive from God include skills, abilities, family connections, social positions, education, experiences, and more. The point of the parable is that we are to use whatever we have been given for God’s purposes. The severe consequences to the unproductive servant, far beyond anything triggered by mere business mediocrity, tell us that we are to invest our lives, not waste them.
Yet the particular talent invested in the parable is money, on the order of a million U.S. dollars in today’s world. In modern English, this fact is obscured because the word talent has come to refer mainly to skills or abilities. But this parable concerns money. It depicts investing, not hoarding, as a godly thing to do if it accomplishes godly purposes in a godly manner. In the end, the master praises the two trustworthy servants with the words, “Well done, good and trustworthy slave” (Matthew 25:23). In these words, we see that the master cares about the results (“well done”), the methods ("good”), and the motivation (“trustworthy”).
More pointedly for the workplace, it commends putting capital at risk in pursuit of earning a return. Sometimes Christians speak as if growth, productivity, and return on investment were unholy to God. But this parable overturns that notion. We should invest our skills and abilities, but also our wealth and the resources made available to us at work, all for the affairs of God’s kingdom. This includes the production of needed goods and services. The volunteer who teaches Sunday school is fulfilling this parable. So are the entrepreneur who starts a new business and gives jobs to others, the health service administrator who initiates an AIDS-awareness campaign, and the machine operator who develops a process innovation.
God does not endow people with identical or necessarily equal gifts. If you do as well as you can with the gifts given to you by God, you will hear his “Well done.” Not only the gifts, but also the people have equal worth. At the same time, the parable ends with the talent taken from the third servant being given to the one with ten talents. Equal worth does not necessarily mean equal compensation. Some positions require more skill or ability and thus are compensated accordingly. The two servants who did well are rewarded in different amounts. But they are both praised identically. The implication of the parable is that we are to use whatever talents we’ve been given to the best of our ability for God’s glory, and when we have done that, we are on an equal playing field with other faithful, trustworthy servants of God.
For a discussion of the highly similar parable of the ten minas see "Luke 19:11-27" in Luke and Work at www.theologyofwork.org.
To read more about gifts and calling, see our Calling and Vocation Overview. To read more about using our gifts in community, see "Gifted Communities (1 Corinthians 12:1-14:40)."
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Table of Contents
Introduction to the Book of MatthewThe Kingdom of Heaven Has Come Near (Matthew)Working as Citizens of God's Kingdom (Matthew 1-4)Jesus the Messiah (Matthew 1-2)Jesus Calls the Disciples (Matthew 3-4)The Kingdom of Heaven at Work in Us (Matthew 5-7)The Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12)"Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit, for Theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 5:3)"Blessed Are Those Who Mourn, for They Will be Comforted" (Matthew 5:4)"Blessed Are the Meek, for They Will Inherit the Earth" (Matthew 5:5)"Blessed Are Those Who Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness" (Matthew 5:6)"Blessed Are the Merciful, for They Will Receive Mercy" (Matthew 5:7)"Blessed Are the Pure in Heart, for They Will See God" (Matthew 5:8)"Blessed Are the Peacemakers, for They Will Be Called Children of God" (Matt 5:9)"Blessed Are Those Who Are Persecuted for Righteousness' Sake" (Matt 5:10)Salt and Light in the World of Work (Matthew 5:13-16)What Is Righteousness? (Matthew 5:17-48)Wealth and Provision (Matthew 6)Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread (Matthew 6:11)Store Your Treasure in Heaven, Not on Earth (Matthew 6:19-34)Moral Guidance (Matthew 7)“Do Not Judge, So That You May Not Be Judged” (Matthew 7:1-5)Do to Others as You Would Have Them Do to You: The Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12)Jesus Heals Many (Matthew 8-9)Laborers Deserve Their Food (Matthew 10)Tales of Two Kingdoms (Matthew 11-17)My Yoke Is Easy (Matthew 11:28-30)Working on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-8)Parables of the Kingdom (Matthew 13)Paying Taxes (Matthew 17:24-27 and 22:15-22)Living in the New Kingdom (Matthew 18-25)Conflict Resolution (Matthew 18:15-35)The Rich Young Man (Matthew 19:16-30)The Laborers in the Vineyard (Matthew 20:1-16)Servant Leadership (Matthew 20:20-28)Parable of the Two Sons (Matthew 21:28-32)Parable of the Tenants (Matthew 21:33-41)The Great Commandment is a Great Framework (Matthew 22:34-40)Parable of the Faithful Servant (Matthew 24:45-51)The Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30)Sheep and Goats (Matthew 25:31-46)The Last Supper (Matthew 26:17-30)Jesus' Death and Resurrection (Matthew 27-28)Go and Make Disciples (Matthew 28:16-20)Conclusion to MatthewKey Verses and Themes in Matthew
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Contributors: Jonathan Pennington and Alice Mathews
Adopted by the Theology of Work Project Board July 6, 2011. Revised Nov. 4, 2011. Image by Used under license from Veer.
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【 在 ibm221 的大作中提到: 】
: 条目 our ambitions
: 1) we will act like owners...
: 来源于圣经里好管家的比喻。
: ...................
--
FROM 119.60.87.*