Questions Jesus Asked #102

Luke 16:10-12 – “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?” NIV

In Luke Chapter 15, Jesus presents His listeners with a series of three parables that illustrate how valuable a single soul is to God.  In Chapter 16, his teaching continues with a parable about an unjust steward or manager of an estate who was mishandling his employer’s (master’s) assets.  When the manager learned that he was going to be fired, he was wise enough to have those people in debted to his master adjust their balances to a lower figure.  This would put him in good graces with the debtors (who he probably cheated in the first place) and make his employer look generous.  Jesus still called him a “dishonest manager,” but commented that he “acted shrewdly,” because he had used “worldly wealth to gain friends” for himself.      

            Jesus continues with this obvious statement in verse 10: “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. Then He proceeds to ask a question that compares handling “worldly wealth” to handling “true riches.”   So, what are “true riches?”   Considering the context, I think that He is speaking about things pertaining to the Kingdom of Heaven, e.g., the Gospel, the Mission of proclaiming the Kingdom, and Discipling followers to become more like Jesus.          

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              If one cannot be trusted with correctly handling material resources which can be seen and counted, Jesus questions whether they can be trusted with Kingdom (spiritual) resources which cannot be easily perceived without the Holy Spirit’s help.  (11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches?)           

            His follow up question is:  12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?  Who is the someone else?  Is Jesus still talking about worldly wealth, or has He shifted back to asking about true riches?   May I suggest that Jesus is again talking about Kingdom values and the stewardship or management of the Gospel and the Mission of Making Disciples. This can lead to some questions to consider personally and corporately as a group of believers:

Some questions to consider: How am I managing the material resources that God has entrusted to me (us)?  If I am a Christ-follower, does my management of those resources reflect well on myself and my Lord Jesus?  

            When it comes to managing the spiritual resources (the Gospel, spiritual gifts, love and grace shown to me, etc.) entrusted to me as a Christ-follower, how am I (are we) doing?  Does my management of those spiritual resources reflect well on my (our) Lord Jesus?