The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the sons of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the sons of light.“His lord commended the dishonest manager because he had done wisely, for the children of this world are, in their own generation, wiser than the children of the light.And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.And his lord commended the unrighteous steward because he had done wisely: for the sons of this world are for their own generation wiser than the sons of the light.
3 sermons cite this verse
… Take your bill, make it 800. Then the master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. And he says, for the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than the people of the light. Verse nine is one of the most controversial verses in all the Bible. Watch what it says. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourself so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. Verse 10, whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. And whoever has been dishonest with very little will be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth like Bitcoin, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with somebody else's property, who will give you property of your own? No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Then the Pharisees who love money heard all this and they were sneering at Jesus. And he said to them, you are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts and what people value is highly detestable in God's sight. …
… He said to him, take your bill and make it 80. And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest mammon, so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. This is the word of God for you, the people of God. Thanks be to God. Smack dab in the middle of Luke's gospel, Jesus uncorks a story that the faithful have come to call the parable of the unjust steward. Here we encounter a man who fixes accounts, fudges the numbers, and basically commits fraud. In the process, this fellow knits for himself a golden parachute of first century severance package complete with a retirement villa. At first glance, this parable looks like an indictment for our time, a prophetic word for a corrupt world, and it would provide a perfect counterpoint to today, except for one rather ticklish detail. Jesus seems to like this white-collar criminal. …
… PEOPLE. NOW THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE IN THIS WORLD SYSTEM. FOR EXAMPLE, LUKE CHAPTER 16 AND VERSE EIGHT, AND THE LORD COMMENDETH THE UNJUST STEWARD BECAUSE HE HAD DONE WISELY, AND THEN, LISTEN TO THIS, FOR THE CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD ARE IN THEIR GENERATION WISER THAN THE CHILDREN OF LIGHT. NOW WE'RE NOT TO HATE PEOPLE AS SUCH, BUT WE'RE TO HATE THE SYSTEM THAT HAS ENSLAVED THESE PEOPLE, AND THESE PEOPLE ARE IN THIS SYSTEM. THE, THE WORLD HAS A PEOPLE, THE CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD. NOW DON'T BE SURPRISED WHEN YOU HAVE DIFFICULTY AS A CHILD OF GOD BECAUSE THIS WORLD IS NOT OUR HOME. WE'RE PASSING THROUGH. YOU ARE A TWICE-BORN PERSON IN A WORLD OF ONCE-BORN PEOPLE, AND WHAT YOU HAVE AND WHERE YOU'RE HEADED, WHAT YOU BELIEVE, IS COMPLETELY OPPOSITE. OUR FAITH STARTS AT A DIFFERENT SOURCE, IT FOLLOWS A DIFFERENT COURSE, IT ENDS AT A DIFFERENT CONCLUSION, AND YOU SHOULD NOT BE SURPRISED WHEN YOU FIND YOURSELF GOING AGAINST THE TIDE. REMEMBER THIS, WE ARE MEMBERS OF THE HUMAN WORLD. WE LIVE IN THE PHYSICAL WORLD, BUT WE ARE NOT TO BE A PART OF THE SATANIC SYSTEM, THE WORLD SYSTEM. WE ARE TO BE SEPARATED. SO WHAT IS THE FIRST CALLING OF GRACE. WHEN YOU'RE SAVED BY GRACE, FOR THE GRACE OF GOD THAT BRINGTH SALVATION HATH APPEARED TO ALL MEN, TEACHING US THAT DENYING UNGODLINESS AND WORLDLY LUSTS. …