Jesus also said to the disciples, “A certain rich man heard that his household manager was wasting his estate. He called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give me a report of your administration because you can no longer serve as my manager.’ “The household manager said to himself, What will I do now that my master is firing me as his manager? I’m not strong enough to dig and too proud to beg. I know what I’ll do so that, when I am removed from my management position, people will welcome me into their houses. “One by one, the manager sent for each person who owed his master money. He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil.’ The manager said to him, ‘Take your contract, sit down quickly, and write four hundred fifty gallons.’ Then the manager said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘One thousand bushels of wheat.’ He said, ‘Take your contract and write eight hundred.’ “The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted cleverly. People who belong to this world are more clever in dealing with their peers than are people who belong to the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that when it’s gone, you will be welcomed into the eternal homes. “Whoever is faithful with little is also faithful with much, and the one who is dishonest with little is also dishonest with much. If you haven’t been faithful with worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? If you haven’t been faithful with someone else’s property, who will give you your own? No household servant can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be loyal to the one and have contempt for the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Luke 16:1-13, CEB)
What is this parable?
A wealthy man hears his manager has done bad in keeping the books, so he calls him in and says make a report to me because I’m firing you. And the manager then makes what the customers or people in debted to his boss owe him less, so they will like him and help him when he is fired. Is this because the wealthy man has cheated those in debt to him? Or because the manager is looking out for himself?
People will say the wealthy man was a crook, and that makes what the manager does the right thing to do, because we are like Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor, but there is nothing in the parable that suggests that.
This parable is not about the wealthy man or the manager per se. It is about both men and all of us.
There is this thing called integrity. Many people strive for it, but few actually obtain it. It is when you say what you mean and mean what you say and do what is right, even when no one is looking. The manager does not have integrity. He in my opinion is looking out for himself, because the parable says, “What will I do now that my master is firing me as his manager? I’m not strong enough to dig and too proud to beg. I know what I’ll do so that, when I am removed from my management position, people will welcome me into their houses.” He works the system in his favor and does what is wrong to cover his own needs. Not a person of integrity.
Do you post online things you would not say in person? That is not integrity.
Walk the walk. Talk the talk. Always tell the truth and look out for the last, lost, least, little. That is integrity.
aSacredRebel 