Tuesday, October 4, 2011
What Jesus Said about Your Money, Part 13 of 31
TEXT: "He also said to His disciples: 'There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, "What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward." Then the steward said within himself, "What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses." So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, "How much do you owe my master?" And he said, "A hundred measures of oil." So he said to him, "Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty." Then he said to another, "And how much do you owe?" So he said, "A hundred measures of wheat." And he said to him, "Take your bill, and write eighty." So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light'” (Luke 16:1-8).
IDEA: The people of this age are more shrewd toward their own generation than are the people of light.
PURPOSE: To learn from the children of this world about shrewdness.
Jesus makes an unsettling statement about us that sounds like an insult. Luke 16:8b tells us, “For the sons of this age are more shrewd toward their own generation than are the children of light.”
What do you think that Jesus meant by that observation?
How does it grow out of the parable He told in Luke 16:1-8?
“There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods. So he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.’ Then the steward said within himself, ‘What shall I do? For my master is taking the stewardship away from me. I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg. I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.’ So he called every one of his master’s debtors to him, and said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ So he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ So he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.”
Jesus isn’t commending this man’s morals, but He is commending his business sense. He was a realist who made the most of his situation.
The statement is an application of the parable. It is also a general statement about reality.
I. How do people in business demonstrate their shrewdness in dealing with their own generation?
They make plans for the future.
They take advantage of opportunities that open to them.
They try to understand the broad environment, the narrow environment, the changing situation.
They know the product and how it meets the need of a consumer.
They work to bring the product and the consumer together. In places on earth where it seems no one has gone before, the people drink Coca Cola.
II. How does this compare and contrast with the way the children of light go about doing God’s business?
