How to Use Money Wisely (Part 1)

Today I will be sharing with you three principles for using money wisely. Before I get to those particular principles, I want to explain and elaborate on this parable, which has often been perplexing to people. In New Testament times extremely wealthy people would hire managers or stewards to oversee their financial affairs. These managers would keep the books, approve of expenditures, pay employees, and track loans. Today we call such people "financial managers."

In Luke 16:1-15 we are told the story of a man who hired a finance manager. "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions.Lk 15:13,30 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. 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 I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.'
"So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil he replied. The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.' "Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?' 'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.' 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.I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. "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.

"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."

In this story the manager has been caught "wasting" the owners possessions and so is told that he should get the books in order because he will be fired (vs. 1, 2). The Hebrew word translated as "wasting" is the same Hebrew word used in the story of the Prodigal Son to describe his selfish indulgence when he "squandered his wealth." This lets us know that the manager was not just guilty of making some bad investments, rather he had misappropriated the owners funds to spend it inappropriately on his self. He was in charge of the money but had used it to indulge himself rather than to further his master’s purposes. The manager realizes that he is a real heap of trouble because he will not be able to get another job managing money, he is too old or to weak for manual labor, and too proud to beg. How are his needs be met in the future? He does not ignore this dilemma but prudently considers his future well-being. In the process he comes up with a plan to secure his future needs. He decides to use this last opportunity as the owner’s legal manager to help other s by reducing the debts they owed to the owner so that they will show him a favor when he is in need. As a result of using the owner’s money to help others he rightfully expects that "people will welcome him into their houses." A phrase Jesus repeats in verse 9 in the application of the parable. Most parables have something in the story either shocking or unexpected. In the parable of the Good Samaritan it is shocking that a despised Samaritan would be the one to show love to his neighbor. In the story of the Prodigal Son it is unexpected that the father would lovingly welcome home a rebellious and foolish son. This parable also has a conclusion that is unexpected and bewildering. In verse 8, Jesus says that when the master found out what the dishonest manager had done he "commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly." The thing that confuses people is that a crook would be praised, but if you look carefully at the story it is not the manager’s dishonesty that is commended, rather it is his shrewdness, i.e. his prudency and wisdom in planning for his future well-being.

Some people just cannot accept that Jesus would use such an unscrupulous character to teach a spiritual lesson, but keep in mind that Jesus used the story of an unjust judge and an uncaring friend to teach the disciples about the value of persistent prayer in the parable of the "Friend at Midnight" and the parable of the "Persistent Widow." After telling the parable, Jesus then exhorts his disciples, who are called "people of the Light ", to be just as shrewd or wise in using money for eternal benefits as the "people of the world" are in using money for temporal benefits. This is the main point of the parable. Christians should use the money they have now wisely, in a way that will honor God and benefit themselves

First, to use money wisely we need to recognize that we are managers and not the owners of money.

This mindset or attitude will change our behavior and handling of money. It will result in a more careful and appropriate use of the money that we have received from God. We tend to be wiser and more cautious in using those things that do not belong to us. If I borrow someone else’s car, I tend to drive more carefully and work harder to keep it clean because it does not belong to me and I know that I will be held accountable for how I use it. It is the same with money. When we recognize that money does not belong to us and that will be held accountable for its use, will be less inclined to use it selfishly or carelessly. When we understand that we are managers of God’s money and not owners of money we will not ask ourselves, "How much money can I afford to spend on myself?" But rather "How much money do I dare spend on myself?" Does this mean that a Christian cannot spend any money on himself or herself? No. A manager in New Testament times was entitled to use some of the master’s money to meet his and his family’s needs and to use some for leisurely pursuits, but the manager’s first priority was to furthering the owner’s purposes with the money. If the manager were using the money primarily to indulge his wants then he was not being a good steward and was in danger of judgment as we see in the parable. So we need ask ourselves, "After my family’s basic needs are met, what do I usually do with most of the extra? Is it primarily used for satisfying my own wants? Or is it primarily used for furthering God’s purposes?" Are you acting as if you were the owner of money or are you acting wisely, knowing that you are a manager of God’s money?

To Be Continued...