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THE DISHONEST MANAGER
Then Jesus
said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager,
and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering
his property. So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this
that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management,
because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ Then the manager
said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking
the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I
am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am
dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’
So summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the
first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He answered, ‘A hundred
jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down
quickly, and make it fifty.’ Then he asked another, ‘And how
much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’
He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ 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.”
What a timely parable! After a year in
which many of us have seen our retirement savings plans and
investments suffer huge losses, it is easy to feel as if we have
suffered because executives at huge companies have made some
horrible business decisions. After the government became
involved and bailout plans were announced, we were further
distressed to hear stories of huge bonus payments to executives
at failed entities. Certainly these people were not acting as
good stewards of the monies with which they had been entrusted.
I am president of a company founded by my
father, and I was schooled by him for years in good stewardship.
A good steward is fair in his dealings with all of his
stakeholders, including stockholders, employees, customers and
suppliers. I expect nothing less from my coworkers. Had I
employed the unjust steward, it is doubtful I would have praised
him for his last-ditch efforts.
The master was not praising the steward for
his dishonesty, but rather for using his remaining employment
time to prepare for his future so that when his employment came
to an end, he would be taken care of.
In our daily lives we spend a great deal of
time and talent focused on our earthly lives and a small amount
investing those talents in our heavenly future. As stewards of
what God has given us — time, talent and possessions — we are
reminded to focus more on those things that bring us closer to
God.
Heavenly Father, help me in the busy pace
of the day to remember that I am on earth for a brief period.
Give me the strength to use my gifts to prepare for the future,
when I will dwell in heaven. Amen
Susayn Brandes
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