In the circles I grew up in talking about money was considered impolite.
Uncomfortably Jesus seemed quite interested in money.
He had lots of conversations about it … The rich young ruler was told to give his away, the disciples were told to pay their taxes, the traders making a profit in God’s house infuriated Him, the widow’s offering celebrated, a worker deserves his wages and much more.
Over the years I have spent in church I have heard numerous interpretations of such scriptures ranging from giving everything away and living simplistically to God desiring to bless us with abundance to enjoy life.
The obvious question is which is right – simplicity or prosperity?
But the problem with such a question is its kind of self involved – it concerns us.
What if we ask a question less concerned with our own lives and more concerned with His Kingdom.
How can we best pursue the Father’s heart for the world around us with what’s in our hand?
In some cases the answer may be similar but the attitude may very often be different.
The thing is money talks.
Money says a lot about what we value.
What does our money say we value, comfort, luxury?
Not only that money says a lot about how much we value it … for instance does money have higher value than honesty, integrity, ethics or morality etc?
In Luke 16 Jesus told a story about a dishonest manager:
Jesus told this story to his disciples: “There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. 2 So the employer called him in and said, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order, because you are going to be fired.’
3 “The manager thought to himself, ‘Now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches, and I’m too proud to beg. 4 Ah, I know how to ensure that I’ll have plenty of friends who will give me a home when I am fired.’
5 “So he invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. He asked the first one, ‘How much do you owe him?’ 6 The man replied, ‘I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil.’ So the manager told him, ‘Take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons.[a]’
7 “‘And how much do you owe my employer?’ he asked the next man. ‘I owe him 1,000 bushels of wheat,’ was the reply. ‘Here,’ the manager said, ‘take the bill and change it to 800 bushels.[b]’
8 “The rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. 9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then, when your earthly possessions are gone, they will welcome you to an eternal home.[c]
10 “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities. 11 And if you are untrustworthy about worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? 12 And if you are not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own?
13 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
14 The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. 15 Then he said to them, “You like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts. What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God.
16 “Until John the Baptist, the law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is eager to get in.[d] 17 But that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force. It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest point of God’s law to be overturned.
Now on the surface this parable seems to present a bit of a puzzle.
Reading it based in our post modern, western context, it seems Jesus made a mistake.
But we know Jesus never makes mistakes? … So why does the manager who is about to get dismissed for dishonesty get praised by the master for further dishonesty?
… In a historical context in Jesus’ time it was common practice for dishonest managers to make a little extra money by adding interest to their masters loans which they were collecting on.
In this case it appears the manager was making a lot extra by adding extortionate amounts to his masters loans
… It’s likely that those listening would have been aware of this and therefore joined the dots and understood that the manager not only made friends because he was reducing peoples loans but because he was returning them to their original worth.
It would seem Jesus places huge value on honour.
Perhaps money is not only a necessity for maintaining a standard of living but a tool with which we can honour those we do business with and beyond?
If we see money merely as a way to maintain a standard of living then perhaps we will always wrestle with the question what do we have to do to be right or wrong?
Instead if we seek to honour both those who we do business with and those around us we begin to instinctively engage with God’s heart for our world.
And our money can do the talking for us?