Luke 16:8-9(NKJV) 8So 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. 9“And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.
Yesterday we began a discussion concerning the god of mammon. Jesus tells us in Luke 16:13 that we cannot serve two masters. He does not say we should not serve two masters or it would be better if we did not serve two masters. He says we cannot serve two masters. If we try to, we will end up with a conflict of interest and lifestyle and, in the end, our relationship with the Lord will suffer. The word “master” means controlling influence. Jesus must be the only controlling influence in our lives.
We found that, by definition, mammon is wealth personified and greed deified. Mammon is a god and this god has taken a very influential place in modern, western society. If we are going to have divine prosperity we must first pull down this god of mammon. Then we will be free to enjoy the blessing the Lord wants to bring into our lives. We will use that blessing in the right way and it will not become a curse to us.
How do we pull down the god of mammon? The first thing I want to look at is revealed in the first 13 verses of Luke 16 that ends with Jesus’ admonition about serving two masters. For many years, this was a very confusing story to me. Jesus tells the story of a man who cheated his boss. In the verses included above Jesus says the master commended this unjust steward. How could that be? Surely Jesus is not telling us it is commendable to commit fraud as this man did. What is the lesson Jesus wants us to learn?
The way to break the power of the god of mammon is to become a good steward of what God has provided for us. When teaching on stewardship, we often focus on money management, proper use of credit and retirement planning. We may speak about tithing and giving as an important part of stewardship. In this story, Jesus refers to none of these things. What kind of stewardship will cause us to stop serving the god of mammon?
Do not misunderstand me. All of the thing I mentioned are important parts of being a good steward. We should apply them in our handling of finances. Nevertheless, in this story Jesus is talking about another aspect of stewardship. The stewardship that will break the god of mammon’s power is much more fundamental. Let us examine the story.
A steward is defined as an employee who manages another’s wealth. Last week we talked about Deuteronomy 8:18. This verse reveals to us that it is God who gives us the power to obtain wealth. Since this is the case, all the wealth we have is really His not ours. That is the idea behind stewardship. We do not really own anything. Everything belongs to the Lord and we are charges with managing what comes into our hands. Our cars, houses and money belong to the Lord and it is up to us to handle them wisely.
The unjust steward held this job in relation to his master. However, the master found that the steward had been cheating him. He told him to get the books in order because he was about to be fired. He was an older man and he did not feel he could earn a living any other way. He did not want to become a beggar, and since he was already a thief, he decided on a course of action that would ensure his future.
He went to all of his master’s debtors and told them to change their bills to reflect a lower debt than what they actually owned. In this way, he hoped to obligate them to take care of him once he was out of a job. It is this action that the master condoned. Jesus’ response was to say that we should be like this man! What could Jesus possibly mean?
Look at Jesus’ words closely. “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.”
The first thing I want to note is that Jesus does not personify mammon. Mammon, or wealth, is just a tool, nothing more. The unjust steward used this tool to secure his future. In the world system that was a shrewd thing to do. However, Jesus is not talking about the worlds system. We must see wealth as a tool as well; however, to us it is a tool with a very different purpose.
Jesus says we should use the tool of “unrighteous mammon” for a righteousness purpose. We are to make friends that will receive us into and everlasting habitation. What does that mean? What kind of habitation is everlasting? He is talking about heaven. How does a person get to heaven? He must be born again. He must receive the preaching of the Gospel.
Let us put this together. We must pull down the god of mammon to release divine prosperity. To do that we must become good stewards of what God has entrusted to us. What kind of stewardship will bring down the god of mammon? We must make our wealth available for the preaching of the gospel. This will cause us to make friends that will receive us in and everlasting habitation.
There is a song that speaks of meeting people in heaven that we never knew on earth. In the song, people are thanking the singer for things he did and money he gave that led to their salvation. This is exactly what this scripture is talking about. We all have needs that our finances must meet. We have bills to pay, food to buy and many other expenses. God knows that. However, if we make a quality decision to make our wealth available to God so that the Gospel can be preached, it will keep us from serving the God of mammon.
This brings us to the second principle that will break the power of the God of mammon in our lives, but that is for tomorrow. Today, take a moment and think about what you have. Ask the Lord to help you present you wealth to him. It may not seem like much, but it is not the amount that is important. Jesus is looking at the heart.
Remember that you are a steward of whatever God places in your hands. Remember that he is more concerned with the souls of people than any other thing. Take what you have and place it under his ownership. I must warn you, your decision will be tested. Give something for the preaching of the Gospel to seal the decision. You will not regret it.
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