Luke 16:1-12 – Honesty

This is a difficult passage to understand. The fault isn’t with the Bible, but with us and our limited understanding. We need to be careful that we don’t draw from these verses lessons which they are not meant to teach. Jesus is not saying that dishonesty and stealing are ok. This manager cheats and steals from his boss who is impressed by his sneakiness. But there is no proof that his boss is pleased with what he has done, or that Christ is praising him for doing it.

The point of the parable is that you should prepare for the future. As dishonest as the manager is, he at least thinks ahead and provides for his future home. In this and this alone, we should imitate him. We should look far ahead to our death and what will happen after it. We should prepare for the time when we will have to leave our home here on earth for another home, and we should make sure, like this manager, that when that time comes we have a home waiting for us.

Christ also teaches us here about the great importance of being faithful in little things. Christians should not take lightly the unfaithfulness of this manager. Little things are the best test of character; and unfaithfulness about them is a symptom of a bad heart. Jesus isn’t saying that honesty about money is going to forgive our sins and get us into heaven, but He means that dishonesty about money is a sure sign of a heart that is not right with God. We must always be careful that we don’t separate our faith from our daily life. True faith will always be known by its fruits. We can be very sure that where there is no honesty, there is no grace.

Questions
1. In what way should we imitate this manager?
2. In what way should we not be like him?
3. Why is it important to be faithful in little things?

Prayer Points
1. Pray that we would be faithful in little things.
2. Use prayer points from your congregation.
3. Pray for family matters.