CHRISTIAN FINANCIAL CONCEPTS. Oh, the humanity!

Few things in the Church stir up such passion as discussions on Christian financial concepts. Scripture warns that money is dangerous. We admit that, but nevertheless keep it rather than facing the difficulty of being without it.

Luke 16.8-15

The children of this world are more prudent in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth, so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with dishonest mammon, who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.

The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all these things and sneered at him. And he said to them, “You justify yourselves in the sight of others, but God knows your hearts; for what is of human esteem is an abomination in the sight of God.”

I don’t like the idea of stewardship. It may present a lofty ideal when spoken of, but in reality it is concerned with getting and keeping as much we can without creating a scandal. On paper it looks good, but in fact it is ugly. Christians twist and turn to dodge the arrows of truth that come their way from Scripture.

When I hear the word “stewardship” the image in my mind is of the Christian using Scripture to keep what he earned. Christians will squeeze out the barest minimum for others, and will—only reluctantly and even angrily—let go of a small portion of their wealth. One of Christ’s most furious outbursts was against the practice of Corban (Mark 7.9-13), where people vowed their wealth to the temple treasury—but on paper only: they continued to use it for themselves. When someone needed help, even their own father and mother, they refused it by saying all their possessions were already given to God: a higher calling.

Christian stewardship is our new Corban. In the name of good stewardship we spend all we need on ourselves and whatever is left over we invest, citing the parable of the talents: it is our duty to insure the highest return of our money to God so we protect it from those who would use it irresponsibly. Even in death it is passed on to relatives.

Really?! You keep it for yourself your entire life and even when you cannot possibly use it anymore you still withhold it from the work of God by willing it to your kids, who are now close to retirement themselves.

Some preliminary points to consider:

• God considers doing good to others as doing good to him.

• If there is such a thing as dishonest wealth, is there also such a thing as honest wealth?

• "Little" might not be what we consider "little".

• "Much" might not be what we consider "much".

• "Serve" is almost certainly not what we think it is.

• "Loving money" is almost certainly now what we think it is.

If we are ever going to have a chance at understanding these words of Christ we must admit that money exerts a powerful force over us. We want it and we want to spend it as we want. We are willing to observe a few reasonable rules, but beyond that we don’t want anyone telling us what we have to do.

Let’s see if we take the words of Christ here at face value. Try, if such a thing is possible, to emotionally detach yourself. Try to force your desires and emotions into the background. If we are able to do that, we will see that most of our explanations and complaints have nothing to do with Scripture. We are simply reacting as normal human beings to something that appears to be threatening our safety and happiness.

It begins by seeing that nowhere does Christ say we are stewards of God’s wealth. This is an invention to allow us to keep our money.

Secondly, Jesus says in 16.15 that what is prized by people is an abomination in the sight of God. Yes, he was talking to Pharisees at the time, but he said “people”, not Pharisees. We can’t lay this on them. If we put so much of our time and our efforts and our worries into getting and keeping money, to then say it is not “prized” is a bit unbelievable. Please: let’s all tell the truth here. Live in the light. To put such a high value on our job and savings and pension and then say it is not something we prize is disingenuous. If the word can’t be used to define such a situation, it can’t be used at all.

Thirdly, if you are a slave to God you are required to do what he says, for a slave has no ambitions or life of his own. If we say we are slaves of God but he doesn’t actually enslave us, then what is the point of the verse? Jesus says we are either a slave to one or the other. The fact that God is good does not mean he is a Master that allows us to roam free and do whatever we want. How can words mean anything if we strip them of any force? If slave is not slave, is saved then not saved?

We must have consistency and sanity in our reading of Christ’s words. If we camp on one verse because it’s good for us and tiptoe past another because it’s not good for us, we’re not being fair. Or honest. We must allow the Scriptures to talk.

Can Christ tell you how to live or not? You say, “Yes he can, but you’re not Christ, so you can’t!” That’s your drugs talking. You change the words of Christ so they mean nothing, you only listen to people you agree with, and you get angry when someone points out that your beliefs don’t match your life.

You don’t have to listen to me, but you have to at least be honest. Truly: would you change the word of God just so you can live as you like?

There are many books on Christian financial concepts and thousands of articles on the internet. Some of them are quite involved and technical. The world is a complicated place and so the people giving financial advice get quite lengthy in their explanations of how to make sure your money is used and saved and invested wisely. It’s confusing, and a bit frightening actually. They will use Scripture to bolster their argument, and so it looks right.

But, none of them will mention the contrary verses, and so they are not being completely honest, for in refusing to deal with all of what Scripture says on money they give only part of the story. It is like going to a dentist to fix a cavity and he fills it, disregarding the fact that there was an infection and what was needed was a root canal. When we close our eyes to the true problem, nothing is truly fixed. It may look better, but the problem remains.

Ok. Back to the point. We’ll look at it in detail but it’s important you know where we’re heading:

– You are not a steward of God’s wealth.

– Stewards don’t get to buy houses for themselves with their master’s money. Really, they don’t.

– You are not a steward of your wealth.

– If your working and spending is essentially the same as your neighbor’s, then you’re not just in the world: you’re part of it.

– If more of your time is spent making money than on anything else, that means it’s your priority.

– Being angry at Christ’s words is a serious matter. You need to investigate why you can’t read Scripture without becoming upset.

Now, one thing at a time:

Stewardship: What it is.

Here are two dictionary definitions:

1. An official who is appointed by the ruling monarch to represent them in a country, and may have a mandate to govern it in their name. In the latter case, it roughly corresponds with the position of viceroy, governor, or deputy. It was also a term used to refer to the chief servant of a landed estate.

2. a person who manages another’s property or financial affairs; one who administers anything as the agent of another or others.

– a person who has charge of the household of another, buying or obtaining food, directing the servants, etc.

– a person appointed by an organization or group to supervise the affairs of that group at certain functions.

What it’s not.

Stewardship can include managing someone’s financial affairs, but that does not include using it to buy things for yourself. The word for that is embezzlement.

If we say that a steward is paid a salary, yes, that’s true, but if you are working in the world you’re getting a salary from your employer. Are you saying that the salary you get from your earthly boss is your payment for being a steward of God’s wealth? Sorry, that makes no sense. You’re working to provide value to your company. In return, your company gives you a salary. That’s the end of it. It has nothing to do with God.

“No” you say: “My job is a gift from God, so my salary is God’s provision for me and my family, and my stewardship is using that money wisely.” Okay, that has some good points, but how “wise” of a stewardship is it when it means you have virtually no time for God? It makes no sense for God to make you his steward and then get nothing from you except a couple hours on Sunday. Why wouldn’t he just forget the whole thing and make his life simpler?

“Because he’s my heavenly Father and he wants to take care of me.” Ah, so now he’s your Father. So it’s not a stewardship: your salary is your allowance.

“No, it is a stewardship, because I have faith that he will care for us, and he does, but in return I must be a good steward of his gifts.” Okay, let’s see if this makes sense. Faith is the means whereby you get money from God. Hmm, that doesn’t sound quite right, but let’s go on. You say that the wealth you have is a gift from God, of which you are required to be a good steward. Why? The definition of a steward is someone who manages the affairs of another. What’s in it for him? Your tithe? You’re telling me that good stewardship is taking 90% of the master’s money?

“No. All things belong to Christ: the world and all that is in it. His people are stewards of Christ in his governance of the world.” Wow! That sounds pretty good! Where’d you hear that?

Psalm 24.1

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.

1 Chron 29.11-12

All that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all.

1 Chron 29.14

All things come from you, and of your own have we given you.

Col 1.16-18

In him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He is the head of the body, the church.

1 Cor 3.31–4.2

All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all belong to you, and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries.

Very good. And you’re right, except for the stewardship part. And the Kingdom part. Yes, David was king over Israel, but that was then; this is now. Your King is Christ, not David, and Christ’s Kingdom is not of this world. Yes, all things belong to you, but you belong to Christ, so only his things are yours, not sinful things. Yes, the earth is the Lord’s, but the world belongs to the ruler of the power of the air. (Eph 2.2) Rev 18 says that the world and everything in it will be destroyed—and the saints will rejoice because “he has judged the great whore who corrupted the earth with her fornication.” (Rev 19.2) It is not for nothing that Christ says, “what is prized by humans is an abomination in the sight of God.”

Yes, Paul does say to the Corinthians that “All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future.” I have no idea what he intends by mentioning “the world”, but it certainly is not stewardship, for he is speaking to people that are behaving according to their fallen human inclinations and completely irresponsible. So yes, Paul said it, but we don’t know why. What we do know is that “the world” is one item in a list of things they are handling badly, so to put a positive spin on it is risky.

Okay, enough of that. Replying to hypotheticals and conjecture is an endless and pointless process. Let’s see what Scripture says.

what Scripture says a steward is

These are the times “steward” is mentioned in the New Testament:

Luke 16.1-8 (the parable of the dishonest steward)

1 Cor 4.1-2 Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.

Titus 1.7 An overseer, as God’s steward, must be blameless.

1 Peter 4.10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.

and tangentially:

1 Cor 9.17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission.

Eph 3.2 Surely you have already heard of the commission of God’s grace that was given me for you.

Col 1.25 I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known.

In the Old Testament we have many examples, but none of them having anything to do with being God’s steward:

Gen 32.19 They went up to the steward of Joseph’s house and spoke with him at the entrance to the house.

Gen 44.4 Joseph said to his steward, “Go, follow after the men; and when you overtake them, say to them, ‘Why have you stolen my silver cup?’ ”

(and many other such references in the story of Joseph.)

2 Kings 10.5 The steward of the palace, and the city governor, along with the elders and guardians, sent word to Jehu: “We are your servants; we will do anything you say.”

1 Chr 27.30-31 Over the camels was Obil; over the donkeys was Jehdeiah; over the flocks was Jaziz. All these were stewards of King David’s property.

1 Chr 28.1 David assembled all the officials of Israel, the officials of the tribes, the commanders of the thousands, the stewards of all the property and cattle of the king and his sons, together with the palace officials, the mighty warriors, and all the warriors.

Isa 22.15-19 Thus says the Lord God of hosts: Come, go to this steward, to Shebna, who is master of the household, and say to him: What right do you have here, carving a habitation for yourself in the rock? The Lord will seize hold on you, whirl you round, and throw you like a ball into a wide land; there you shall die, and there your splendid chariots shall lie, O you disgrace to your master’s house! I will thrust you from your office, and you will be pulled down from your post.

The examples in the Old Testament are helpful because they show that stewards were entrusted with high rank and significant responsibility. They were palace officials.

Isaiah 22 is interesting because the steward has used his position for his own profit and God reacts with a rather unique anger. Being assigned a stewardship is a grave responsibility.

The examples in the New Testament and more on point to our discussion. Luke 16.1-8 has not much to say because it is of a dishonest steward, but it is instructive because the steward had the authority to obligate his master through signing contracts in his name. One thinks immediately of Matt 16.19 (I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven) and John 14.14 (If you ask for anything in my name, I will do it).

1 Cor 4.1-2 is exactly on point for Paul uses the word and uses it intentionally: Think of us in this way, as servants of Christ and stewards of God’s mysteries. He doesn’t explain what it all entails, but he does say that it is required of stewards to be trustworthy—which is a jab at them because despite what they think, he is trustworthy and he takes his responsibility seriously, though he does not need to explain himself to them. Nevertheless, Paul’s stewardship was of God’s mysteries, not God’s money. Paul explains that a bit in Col 1.25-27:

I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

And so Paul was given a stewardship: a stewardship worth infinitely more than all the wealth that ever was in the world and ever will be:

I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col 2.2-3)

My, how we cheapen this by making stewardship about money!

In Titus 1.7 the Scriptures bring stewardship to a level we can easily understand: the role of elder or deacon in the church. Paul calls this a stewardship because certain persons from within the group are given a responsibility to handle things for Christ in his absence, and that position means those people then inhabit a level between Christ and his sheep. They are to care for Christ’s sheep in his stead—as he would. They are to be people of some character and “must have a firm grasp of the word so he may be able to preach with sound doctrine and refute those who contradict it”. (v 9)

Some observations: Yes, the elders and deacons do have much to say about the church’s finances, but never can they spend it on themselves! Such a thing would surely mean expulsion, if not imprisonment.

Second, Christ’s steward is to know what he says, for how can someone fulfill his master’s wishes without knowing what those wishes are? It is a serious matter: the steward is to regard Scripture as his rules on how to do his work—in the temporary absence of his Lord. And so the steward must come to Scripture with clear eyes, for changing or disregarding his Lord’s instructions is an offense of the highest order. No one would dare do something like that.

1 Peter 4.10-11 brings it even closer to home, for Peter wants all believers to regard themselves as stewards:

Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ.

Again, the emphasis of stewardship is on faithful service to one’s Master. If we speak, we are to speak as one speaking for our Master. That is a serious, serious responsibility. First, it means we must know what God says and wants, and second it means when we speak we have at the front our mind the awareness that as a steward, what we say reflects directly upon our Master. Peter says that in everything we are to be conscious that the goal our stewardship is to bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. Paul gives this the proper gravity in 2 Cor 2.16-17:

Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence.

Imagine the immense responsibility this places on us. As stewards of the manifold grace of God, we are to speak as persons of sincerity: as persons sent from God and even standing in his presence! What a travesty to regard it so lightly!

And so that is stewardship. Scriptural stewardship. This thing that we grab onto so eagerly to ennoble our desires and hide our fears, is in fact a solemn responsibility bequeathed to us by God, with the duty to know what he says, care for one another as Christ would care for his sheep, and speak God’s word as if we were standing in his presence.

Are you certain you really want to be a steward?

This is a summary of what we have found:

• A steward is someone who manages the affairs of a superior, and because of that, his status is elevated to give him the authority necessary to perform his duties.

• Nowhere in Scripture is it said that anyone is a steward of God’s wealth. Yes, we have been told for centuries by hundreds of experts that we are stewards, but we’re not. You can search for it in Greek, Hebrew, Aramaic, Latin, English... any language you want: it’s not there. The experts say that because they are human beings with the same fears that you have.

• Saying we are stewards of our own wealth is silly. There is no such thing, in or out of Scripture.

So now, on to verses 10-13.

First, a brief overview, then a detailed examination of the text.

In v 10, the very little is worldly wealth; the much is the precious things of God, but we don’t know that until v 11. Here, Jesus is first establishing the principle: it’s not the amount, it’s the person. Someone who is honest will be honest regardless of the amount. Conversely, someone who is dishonest will be dishonest regardless of the amount. It points forward to v 13: Are you weak and mastered by things or do you take straight path?

In v 11 Jesus tells them how the principle is applied in the Kingdom. Mammon is the very little of v 10. To most people, it’s a very important thing, but to God, it’s an abomination (v 15). Actually, it’s only true value is as a test: to see if you can handle it rightly—which is to handle it not at all. A person who needs mammon doesn’t need God, and God will not let that person touch his true riches.

V 12 seems to be a change in direction. Very little and mammon are easily identified as the same thing, and also much and true riches. But how does this relate to what belongs to another and your own? Clearly, what belongs to another cannot be worldly wealth because then your own would be the precious things of God. It seems that Jesus is not making another parallel comparison, but a new one.

Morris’ explanation cannot be. Saying our money is really God’s, not ours, cannot be squared with v 15 where Jesus calls it an abomination. God would never call his wealth or his gift an abomination. Plus, Morris relating this to Matt 25.34 is strange. “Inheriting” means we are heirs to the promise made to Abraham; it does not mean the Kingdom of God will be ours. It is—and always will be—God’s. Jesus makes it clear in Matt 25.46 that it is eternal life that he is talking about, not riches that we are given as a personal possession.

V 13 put’s the issue in stark, black and white terms. Until now we have been exploring the gray areas: little vs much, false vs true riches, another’s wealth vs your own. Here Jesus say that it’s not just an issue of money: it’s an issue of affections.

verses 10 and 11

Morris says we are stewards of God’s money: Wrong. We have already beat that horse. We are stewards of God’s mysteries and God’s grace, but not his money. And the reason is simple: God does not give us money. Whatever wealth we have is ours. Jesus says “blessed are the poor.” He never says one good thing about the rich, and he refused to let them follow him. If the best stewards of money were the most faithful, why did Jesus refuse to have anything to do with them? Was he turning away the best of the best?

Morris is repeating a concept that was invented because it appeals to our addictions. We want to keep our money—and to feel good about it— so we say it’s God’s money and that he entrusts it to us. And then we take it to outlandish lengths and say that God gives us more because we have been proven faithful with a little bit of money. What nonsense. The very little of v 10 is money: any amount of money. It doesn’t become the much if we get more of it. Wasting our lives getting it and spending it is the very thing that Jesus says proves we can’t be trusted.

Fitzmeyer says mammon is deceptive and lures people into slavery. How then could Christ be saying that if we trustworthy with a little of it we will be rewarded with a lot of it? Would this not be rewarding a little bit of enslavement with a lot of enslavement? The only way Jesus’ statement could make sense is if it is possible for a person to handle a little wealth without caring about it. But if he doesn’t care about it, why is the reward more of what he doesn’t care about?

No, Jesus is not speaking of being faithful in a little wealth. Ten or ten billion: it’s all the same to him, and that’s the point of Jesus’ preaching here: that he needs us to see the worth and value of things from God’s perspective, not the world’s. We, who are so attuned to the world’s values, hear the word “wealth” and can think of nothing but wealth.

Paul called it—along with everything else—garbage. How could Paul call it garbage if it was the gift of God? That makes him the worst steward ever. Are we saying Paul was tempted by wealth and so God took it away? The slave who was condemned for burying his talent could point to Paul and say, “At least I saved it. I didn’t treat it like garbage!”

In Rev 18.4 the voice from heaven says,

Come out of her, my people,

so that you do not take part in her sins,

and so that you do not share in her plagues.

Jesus tells us to get out of the world so we aren’t punished along with it. God will one day destroy the world’s economy. It is an abomination. The merchants of the earth weep and mourn because they have lost their wealth, but the people of God are told to rejoice. In Rev 19.1-2 the loud voice says,

Hallelujah!

for God has judged the great whore

who corrupted the earth with her fornication.

God will destroy wealth so that it cannot corrupt anyone ever again. But he cannot destroy the corruption without destroying those who are corrupted by it, and so he tells us to get out—the same as he told Lot and the captives in Babylon. If we can’t let go, if we must look back, then we will be caught up in the destruction. Luke 17.32: Remember Lot’s wife! God gives us warnings and he gives us time, and he might even drag us out, but if then, after we are safe, we look back, then it is over.

Morris is wrong on so many levels here. Saying we can keep our money if we are good stewards of it flies in the face of the most basic teachings of Christ, the most stern warnings of Scripture, and the whole plan of God. Morris cannot look at Luke 16.12 with a clear eye because he wants to keep his money—and to keep it without guilt—so he sees what he wants to see and stops looking because he can’t tolerate seeing something else.

And so then Morris must also wrench apart v 13, because never would he admit that he was the slave, not the master, of his money.

To God, worldly wealth is meaningless, and he wants us to see it that same way. Paul called it right: it’s garbage. God wants us to see the true value of things, and the sight he gave to Paul is the same sight he wants to give to us. But we resist, and so we remain blind, because we want to keep our wealth, no matter the cost.

Jesus did not tell the rich young ruler that if he sold his possessions he would get even more in heaven. Paul gave up everything and called it garbage. God’s does not reward by giving us garbage. God’s perspective, which Jesus spoke of and which Paul saw, is that it is impossible to do the work of God when we are weighted down. Wealth is the thing that more than any other keeps us from doing what God wants. We simply cannot give it up. So we attempt to work for God with this chain around our neck. We are willing to do anything for God, so long as it doesn’t take us away form our livelihood. Our limit is the length of the chain that is tied to our stake in the ground: our house, our job, our family, our friends, our health, our pension. And oh yeah, our church.

Jesus makes three statements about the person who can’t be trusted because they are in the grip of their wealth:

– dishonest in a very little

– not faithful with mammon

– not faithful with what belongs to another

and three statements of people God can trust:

– faithful in little, faithful in much

– entrust to you the true riches

– given what is your own

It is easy to see that being dishonest (not faithful) in a very little is the same as being not faithful with mammon, because mammon is the thing that keeps people from the things of true value.

And it is easy to see that being dishonest in a very little disqualifies us for being trusted with things of great value, and so the person who cannot be trusted to handle mammon correctly cannot be trusted to handle the things of God either.

But then how does “and if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?” mean? Who is the owner of “what belongs to another,”? God? the enemy? us?

We should back up a bit to see what Jesus was talking about before this, and go forward to see what applications he makes from it.

In verses 1-8 Jesus talks about a servant who, knowing what the future held, prepared for it by using his position to make friends who might protect him after this calamitous event happens. It is important to note than in v 8 the master does not keep the servant: he apparently is still fired from his position. Regardless, Jesus then makes the point that the people of God make no attempt to prepare for the future, even though they have been told clearly that the Day of the Lord will come, when everyone must give an account, and that rather than preparing for that they act as if it doesn’t matter and keep their money to spend on their own comforts rather than using it as God wants: give to the poor, do not worry about yourself, give your life to God so that he can use it for his own purposes rather than you using it for your own.

Back to the point: Jesus is warning us that how we live this life makes a huge difference in our life after death. We know we will die. We know there will come a time of reckoning. And even in this life, how we live means everything in how God treats us. His gifts are precious. He does not give them to people who misuse them, and the examples of what we do with what we have determine whether we are given more. If we have proven ourselves careless, why would God, or anyone, give us things more valuable? He wouldn’t. He would keep his precious things from us so they wouldn’t be misused or destroyed.

verse 12

Morris, Nolland, and Marshall all agree on v 12 . They say that all wealth is God’s, and if we have proven ourselves good stewards of it then he will entrust us to even greater riches (here or hereafter) that we will have as our own possession. Morris gives Matt. 25.34 as a cross reference; Nolland also. Marshall says:

The parallelism suggests that now worldly mammon is to be equated with what is δλλὁτριος, “belonging to another person.” Worldly wealth does not really belong to the disciples; they hold it in trust for God. (This is one of the few places in the NT where the idea of stewardship is applied to material possessions; mostly it is applied to the gospel). Correspondingly, the true wealth is yours. The passage demands a contrast between what does not belong to the disciples and what will really belong to them. The treasure of heaven will be their own inalienable possession. The form of Jesus’ saying, which is negative, shows that it is really a command to be faithful now, so that one may possess then.

Admittedly, this is not an easy text, but all three commentators reach their conclusions from no proven basis. For Marshall to say that “this is one of the few places in the NT where the idea of stewardship is applied to material possessions” is patently wrong: There is no place in the NT where stewardship is applied to material possessions! Marshall wants this to be one of them (actually, the only one), but he does so without any support from the text, and contrary to the insistence of Christ that his disciples (the ones who lived with him) forsake material possessions. Jesus cannot here be saying that material possessions are a test of our faithfulness when he told those who were closest to him to bring along nothing, and turned away the rich young ruler when he refused. The only test of faithfulness we have from Christ regarding wealth is whether we will give it up or not. The disciple must make a choice: wealth or Christ. It is never wealth and Christ.

Marshall says that the treasure of heaven will be our own inalienable possession, but making any connection between mammon now and reward later is a very dubious thing, for if God tells us to not place any value on it, why would he later give it as a reward? It seems like a rather worldly view of heaven. Jesus says we will be like the angels: neither marrying nor given in marriage. If the closest human relationships will be done away with and (most assuredly) replaced with something unimaginable better, why does our limited mind say that the reward for using wealth wisely is more wealth in heaven? Muslim martyrs are rewarded with 72 virgins. Saying that the lusts of this life are the rewards of the next are silly and juvenile.

The reward that we will be given is the reward that God values. Money is an enemy and more money is a greater enemy. Rev 18-19 speaks of it as a whore that corrupts. God’s reward cannot be something he hates so much that he specifically targets it for destruction.

When I was in high school my geometry teacher said that whenever you’re up against something and you can’t see how to solve it, take it to its extreme. If it can’t work for the extreme, then it isn’t the right answer. So let’s take this to the extreme and see if it can work.

It is a bit touchy to apply anything to Christ as an extreme because he didn’t live by faith. Plus he knew men’s hearts and knew precisely the plan of God, so he had a life, a perspective, and rights that we don’t. For instance, he overturned the tables in the Temple: we don’t have that right. Still, if we try to apply this passage to Christ (it did come from his lips after all) it can’t work. Never could anyone say of him that his test of faithfulness was whether he could handle money wisely or not. He forsook it entirely.

Possibly we could use his disciples as the extreme test, but again, it’s difficult. Judas loved keeping the purse for the group and so became an easy target for those who succeeded in using money to find someone to betray Christ. But it’s too much to bring Judas into the picture. No one is going to respond to our examination of Scripture if we use Judas.

So Paul is the extreme that we can look at. He was a human being (only), and although he was an apostle, his calling and his work are something that has been repeated over the years. He is not the example for everyone, but he is a good example for the extreme.

How could anyone say that Paul’s test of faithfulness was to manage his money wisely, and because of that God gave him greater responsibilities? Clearly Paul managed his money poorly. He called everything from his former life garbage, which doesn’t on the surface see like a good steward’s view of wealth. If Paul cared about it so little that he paid it almost no attention, then that is not how a steward is expected to administer his affairs. Paul said he knew how to be content with little or much: an interesting parallel with Jesus’ teaching here on being faithful with a little and faithful with much. But it’s still not a good fit because Paul said he didn’t care: being content for him was something independent of poverty or wealth. He didn’t exercise faithfulness in a little or much; he simply took what came his way.

But, in fact this is what Jesus is saying here. True, it doesn’t fit our modern understanding of how to be good stewards—as explained widely by Larry Burkett in his Christian Financial Concepts books—but Jesus’ insistence and Paul’s example show that the only true Scriptural view of faithfulness with respect to wealth is not have it. It is not a matter of a little or a lot: it always becomes the center of attention, always consumes the greatest percentage of our time to make it and keep it, and always becomes the thing we worry about more than anything else.

So we reject entirely any suggestion that managing God’s money wisely is a test for our faithfulness, and that our reward is greater amounts of money to manage, or wealth of our own. Such explanations come from our fallen desires. The person who takes Christ at his word and gives away his wealth learns how powerful an addiction money is. Those with the needle in their arm can imagine nothing better than more of their drug. Only those who take the needle out will ever see it for what it is. Only those who take Christ’s demand seriously and forsake their wealth will ever know the true value of anything, because no one can make an honest evaluation from within the addiction: the addiction will always overwhelm your logic and desires and bring you to only one conclusion: it’s not bad: it’s good, and more of it is even better.

Paul, who knew the value of things, told us his most solemn desire in Phil. 3-4:

I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death.

Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us then who are mature be of the same mind.

Join in imitating me. For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears. Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.

Paul’s desire was to know Christ. He says that any amount of suffering is nothing in comparison to the prize. He says that the mature have the same mind as he does. He says that those whose minds are set on earthly things are to be pitied.

In Col. 3.2 Paul tells us to set our minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. In 1 Tim 6.8-9 he says we should be content if we have food and clothing, and those who want to be rich are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires.

Paul’s values had nothing to do with money, now or in eternity. If someone were to suggest to him that the test of his faithfulness was how he used his money he would sputter in exasperation for a reply, because such a suggestion is absurd beyond words. And if someone were to ask him what reward or treasure he expected in heaven he would say “huh?”

The reason is Christ. The reward is Christ. There is nothing else. If you need more in this life he will not be enough in the next life either.

We all know the blind joy of falling in love. You need nothing other than being with that person. You don’t need money, a big house, or a new car because this desperate love makes you completely happy. The love cooling is when our eyes are opened and we need things again.

There is a love that can be all consuming in this life, a love that makes money and houses and things unnecessary. It is a love that can take you though this life and through all eternity. If you need more that means that the love has cooled. It’s not a dream. It’s not a fantasy. It’s a reality—if you get close enough to him to have it come true. It will not happen from a distance, and the evidence that your love has cooled is that once again you need things: the love is not enough.

This is not some spiritual elevation. It is the dirty, tiring, frustrating, thankless path that Christ took. Nothing about it is pretty. It has it’s moments of peace, but only enough to ready you for the next barrage. It is the path of Christ, not the reclusion of a monk or the studio lights of the televangelist. It is the same life that led Paul to long for death. There is nothing spiritually uplifting about it. It is the very long, very costly, very noisy path of Christ.

It is the same gentle yet brutal contentment that Paul found: “For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.” For anyone to think that the test of faithfulness is handling money—especially an expert in Scripture with multiple PhDs—is astonishing. More than astonishing: disgraceful. Faithfulness is following as close to Christ as a person can and still stand the pain. No one gets close to Christ following a different path, and especially following an opposite path. Christ would never have said regarded money as the test of anything except of unfaithfulness. The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; and he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” And Christ said, “Sure. I can do that. I can prove that I can take hold of this massive wealth without it taking hold of me.”

Christ tore his path through the enemy’s territory and warned his disciples that if they stayed on that path they would face the same mistreatment that he faced: being hated by his own people and being a plaything of their Roman overlords. Nothing in Christ’s existence or work had anything to do with money. To claim that money has now become a test of faithfulness is monstrous. It never has been, it never can be, because Christ did not live or die so that we could be wealthy or live at ease.

Jesus set the example and forged the way. Those who loved him so much they could not tolerate life without him followed his example, stayed on his path. Those who loved him so little they could live quite comfortably at a distance, did that, and now write books telling us how we can do it to.

Paul said “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death.” There is no way to become like Christ by living in a way he never, ever would have considered.

The path is not easy. Certainly not. He told us it wouldn’t be. It couldn’t be. He told us it would cost us everything we need for happiness and everything that holds together our humanity. But for those who do it, who get close enough to feel the warmth and the contentment, it has a grip. It’s a delicate grip, easily lost. The distractions are so great; the human requirements are so unending. But feeling the contentment fade is the motivation to struggle once again, for being close to Christ is a terrible thing. It’s almost impossible to get that close, and oh so much harder to stay there. It’s so difficult, so tearing, so unending. Many of his disciples turned back and no longer went with him. So Jesus asked, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go?”

What a question. Do you also wish to go away? No. Never. But it’s so difficult. So difficult.

The answer is this: When Jesus says, “if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own?”, what belongs to another is the property of the ruler of the power of the air. Eph 2.1-3:

You were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once lived, following the course of this world, following the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient. All of us once lived among them in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of flesh and senses.

There is no faithfulness regarding the things of the world except to say “man does not live by bread alone.” And when the second temptation comes we can only answer “you shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” And when the next one comes we must say, “get away from me!” The only response the Christian can make to an offer to accept the world’s comforts and provisions is to say no.

And then, once the testing is passed, you can begin your journey: never looking back to see whether you gave up too much, never asking whether it was really all that dangerous, not wanting it again: considering it all garbage, in order that you may gain Christ and press toward the goal.

God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

And then in Eph. 3 Paul says:

Of this gospel I have become a servant according to the gift of God’s grace that was given me by the working of his power. Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ.

Paul said no to the attractions of this world and because he was faithful in the testing God entrusted him with something of his own. He gave Paul the unbearable responsibility of building and caring for churches and people and for writing letters that would become Scripture: the most awesome responsibility that God could ever bestow upon a mere human. When Jesus says here “who will give you what is your own?”, we can look at the example of Paul and say that his “own” was the ministry that surpassed anyone else. No one has written more Scripture, established more churches, or conquered more territory for Christ than Paul. Yes, in our hyper-Christian talk we would say “oh no! they were Christ’s churches, and God’s work,” because we all know that it is the height of self-centeredness to say that it is our work and not God’s; our successes and not God’s. The mental simpleness of people who have never done it, have no desire to do it, but nevertheless anoint themselves as Paul’s critic. (And yet at the same time we almost always refer to our house as our house, our car as our car, our savings as our savings, our investments as our investments... it is so difficult to continually remember that we are only the stewards, not the owners of all this.) But God gave the kingdom to David, and he calls the throne that the Messiah will sit on “the throne of David”, not God’s throne and not the Messiah’s throne. And we, without thinking, call the temple Solomon’s Temple, even though it clearly was God’s temple, for God dwelt there, not Solomon. And we call it the Mosaic law, even though every word was from God.

Insisting that we call things a certain way comes from people who sit in the stadium, not from the people who fight the lions. It is the simple and silly insistence from people who have no idea what the work of God is like, and so they inject a fabricated spirituality into things that God cares nothing about.

God is not so petty. He loves to give gifts. It bores him for us to be so technical in our speech. Yes, he knows it was his law, not Moses’. Yes, he knows it was his throne as a gift to David. Yes, he knows that it is not really the Gospel according to Luke, but saying that “Luke was superintended by the Holy Spirit to preserve him from error—without eliminating his personality and particular style—in a divine involvement so that every word (and not just the overarching ideas or concepts) was meaningfully chosen under the superintendence of God to communicated without corrupting God’s message, both to the immediate recipients of the writings and to those who would come after, the story of Christ from his announcement to Mary until his ascension into heaven” gets a bit tedious after a while.

Yes, we all understand that everything comes from God and all of our efforts are because of him, for him, and to him, but God is not so touchy. Really. When he gives a gift to David, it’s David’s. When he gives a gift to Moses or Paul or you, it’s a gift: ownership is transferred. Otherwise it’s not a gift, is it.

When your child graduates from the university the diploma is his. Yes, we all know you gave her life and sacrificed for her upbringing and paid her expenses to get through the university, but imagine that at her graduation celebration she gives a joyful speech thanking everyone for coming, being excited that her family and friends are all here together because she has a huge announcement: her grades were so good that she has gotten an internship at a renowned research center in Chicago. Imagine the rudeness of someone interrupting to point out to your daughter that her parents sacrificed to give her a good life, that if it weren’t for them she would have been raised by the State and she would have had none of this then, and that it was their money—not hers—that paid for her university degree, and the praise should go to them, not you. What would you as the father do? You’d tell that rude moron to keep his foul mouth shut! How dare he spoil this moment with such nonsense!

Yes, everyone knows that it is the mother and father that give birth to the child and sacrifice to give the best life possible. But all along there have been intimate times where their children have expressed their love and gratitude, and the father and mother don’t need to be reminded constantly that they are loved and appreciated, because it happens naturally and easily all the time. There were thousands of times before and there will be thousands of times after that deep feelings will be shared, but this was a time of celebration and announcing to everyone this happy surprise. To have it interrupted by someone insisting that it does not meet their standards of proper gratitude is rude and insulting, not just to the child, but to the parents as well.

God gives gifts. He does not insist—or even want!—us to point our finger skyward for every good thing that happens. Truly, he doesn’t! If you don’t have intimate, quiet times with him to share your joys and sadnesses, to thank him for all he has done for you, and to enjoy just being with him, then that’s a serious problem. Deflecting everything skyward is silly. It does not honor him, it does not make you humble. It only shows you have no true understanding of who he is, and no intimate private relationship with your Father.

God is not so thin skinned that he is offended if he is not continually put in the limelight. If he gives a gift, he wants his child to enjoy it. Yes, thinking him is the right thing to do, but it is not true at all that the most public expressions of gratefulness are the best. The private ones are. The most intimate times with your husband or wife, your children, and your closest friends are never to be exposed to the public. How shocking it would be for a person to talk in public about such things. And the obvious conclusion that people would come to is that those intimate times weren’t important to you, since you felt comfortable talking about them in public.

Certainly there are times for public thanksgiving. But the people who talk the most are not necessarily the ones with the deepest relationship with their God, and the ones who say nothing at all are not necessarily the ones who have no sense of gratitude. Maybe the person who stays quiet has very deep, intimate times with God, so intimate that they cannot be exposed in public. And maybe the one who goes on and on in public has no such intimate times with God. We don’t know. But what we do know is this: in any of our close human relationships, saying too much in public is considered inappropriate, and a person who interferes with a parent’s and child’s relationship is a lout.

Insisting that other people express their relationship with God the way you do makes you a buffoon. Jesus says that the truest expressions of devotion are done in secret and warns us about saying and doing too much in public. If someone has a warm, happy relationship with God, you commit a grave offense against that person and God by telling them that they have not expressed it to your satisfaction. Even if someone does not have a warm, happy relationship with God, you still commit a grave offense by interfering because you don’t know God’s mind, and telling that person that you know God’s desires better than they do is absurd. You don’t. And acting as if you do cannot make your relationship with God any better, only worse.

The only safe way to live before God is to keep your opinions to yourself. Rom. 14.22: “The faith that you have, keep to yourself before God.” And 15.1: “We who are strong ought to support the weaknesses of the weak, and not to please ourselves.” If you think you know more than the other person, the way you prove it is by keeping quiet.

Back to the point:

He’s better than we are, and if we are insulted when someone insists on taking the credit for the work someone else has done, then how much more God dislikes it! Only the silly people who know nothing of God think he is pleased with such nonsense.

verse 13

Here is a test to see if you are the master or the slave of your money: As soon as an opportunity comes along for you to do something for God, and you know it is right up your alley, but you don’t do it because it costs too much, you have proven who is your master. God wanted you to do it, you wanted to do it, but you said no for no reason other than the cost. You have admitted that your other master’s grip on you is too great.

When we began working in the village we hired six teens from the village. We needed help with the children because some didn’t speak Romanian, we didn’t know where they all lived, we needed to know which were in which families, and we needed the help: usually we had only two workers for 40, 50 or 60 children. Plus, we wanted to train the teens how to work. They had almost no example in the village: very few got up in the morning to go to work. We wanted to teach our teens how to work so they wouldn’t immediately fail if they found a job somewhere else. We paid them an hourly salary, gave them first pick of the donated clothes and shoes, sent them to the dentist to have their teeth fixed, and paid their school expenses.

Of course we had problems. They didn’t know how to work and so we had to insist they come on time, follow our instructions, and work until the day was done. It was not an easy thing, but I told our workers to wait. After a few months of getting a salary we would be able to exert more pressure on them, for once they got accustomed to having money they would work to keep it.

And they did. After 3 or 4 months they became very upset if they were sent home early as a discipline. One girl finished 8th grade and told me she wasn’t going to high school. I told her I’d fire her if she didn’t. She went.

Money makes people do painful things because the pain of not having it is so much worse.

One reason I have admired young people volunteering with us (from outside Romania I mean) is that it is so much easier to get into ministry before addictions are formed. Breaking a long-standing dependency is so difficult that most people won’t even consider it. That’s why people wait until retirement to get into ministry.

A person that has a dependency will get very upset when you point that out. They will thrash back and forth, coming up with all sorts of explanations for why you’re wrong. Of course they’re addicted: denial is the defense mechanism of the addicted.

A person uses drugs to feel better. Over time, the level needs to be increased because the old dosage no longer gives the same sense of happiness. After years of abuse the dosage levels are so high that virtually the person’s entire life is devoted to maintaining the pleasant feeling.

Breaking the addiction is difficult because the person does not know how to survive without the drug. He will say and do anything to keep his supply coming: it is literally a life and death struggle for him. He will invent ridiculous arguments for why he’s not addicted or why his addiction is not a problem, jump between anger and pleading to win his case, and hide his drugs so he can make people believe he is not using them.

Denial is a defense mechanism that springs into action to keep the person happy and thriving—and alive. People have killed themselves over a sudden loss of job or wealth. It breaks up families, sends people into other addictions for consolation, and is the number one source of stress for American families.

And yet it’s not a problem.

render unto Caesar... mammon is his, not God’s

Mark 8.36 What will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? The same as the temptation of Christ.

On Luke 16.11-12, Morris says:

The money we think we own is not really ours. It is always what we have from God and we are no more than stewards of it. If we handle it badly we show that we are unfit to use the true heavenly riches which will otherwise be given us as our permanent possession.

His explanation is wrong. Dead wrong. Nowhere does this passage say that we are stewards of God’s wealth. Jesus says that “the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light.” That does not mean Christians should follow that example: it means Christians follow no example. A shrewd steward might use his master’s wealth to make friends. it’s not right, but it’s understandable that such a thing could happen.

But the Christian, who has been told that there will be an end to his work for his Master, turns to his advantage none of the master’s gifts—nor his own wealth—to plan for that. The opportunities his master has laid in his path are sidestepped. The wealth he has worked for is spent on selfish things. His savings and insurance and pension, that are supposed to even out the bumps of life and provide security up until death, are wasted, because “until death” is not the issue: After death is the issue!

Paul says, “If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

Paul says the Christian is a pitiful fool to sacrifice everything in this life if there is none after.

Christ says the Christian is a pitiful fool to sacrifice nothing in this life, knowing there is one after.

A Christian who has an eye on the future (you will die you know!) would—one would think—make plans for that eventuality. But no: nothing is done. We divide our wealth into three parts: 10% (maybe) for God, 10-20% for savings, and the rest for ourselves. Once that 10% goes to the church, the 90% is ours to spend or save however we please—so long as we don’t scandalize anyone with it by buying an 80-inch tv for our rec room. Our wealth is spent with a blind eye towards God and our savings are accumulated because we’re afraid. We live lives of self-deception and fear and then expected to be welcomed into eternity as if we had done everything right. We walked down the aisle to the tune of “Just as I am”, hold firmly our first item of belief that we are saved by faith through grace, give faithfully almost every month, volunteer once in a while—and truly expect we have done everything right.

The rich young ruler told Jesus he had done everything his religion expected. He wasn’t boasting. He was sincere and truthful. And Jesus, who had been telling the people all along that “you have heard, but I tell you”, told him there was on more thing that was required.

Jesus is telling us all here: there is one more thing that is required. If you live this life as if Christ deserves only 10% and you deserve the 90%, and still expect everything to turn out 100% in your favor after this life is over—even though you have been told it won’t!—you have no one to blame but yourself when Christ tells you, “one more thing was required.”

My favorite cartoon when I was small was “The Little Mole”. A little mole loves to sit outside and admire his beautiful palace. Doctor Primrose Skunk comes by and sells him a pair of glasses. The little mole puts them on and is shocked to see that his palace is actually a pile of junk.

The little mole goes out to see the world with his new glasses but they break and he becomes lost. His mother comes looking for him and carries him back home. When they get there he cries to his mother that his palace is gone. But then he looks and it’s still there. He laughs and says “Oh! it was there all the time!”

It’s heartwarming when a little boy thinks a pile of junk is a palace. It’s heartbreaking when an adult does.