The Christian and Wealth
The
Christian and Wealth
Nothing is more disturbing or awakening than to observe the fog, the
confusion, the elusiveness with which the Church of God meets her Lord's teaching on
wealth.enormously important is the subject that, beside numerous So occasional utterances,
the Lord devotes to it a triad of parables (Luke xii, 15-21 ; xvi, 1-9; xvi, Unjust
Steward we have the most extraordinary of them all, 19-31); and in the as a revelation of His mind
on business competence, the commercial instinct, and wise, far-sighted investment.diverse,
so tragic, have been the interpretations of the So Lord's truth that " over this
parable ", says Stier, " a special fatality seems to hang "; it is "
the well known crux interpretum," says Lange; to some commentator (like Cajetan) its
difficulties have seemed so enormous that they have abandoned all interpretation as
impossible and some have even dared (see Lange) by inserting the little word " not
", to reverse the whole teaching of the Lord; while Julian the Apostate seized on it
as evidence that Christ taught unrighteousness.bewildered confusion is an astonishing
proof The how gold in the hand can create cataract in the eye.
Now "to the disciples" (Luke xvi, 1)-not to the covetous
Scribes and Pharisees, who merely overheard it, and were greatly incensed, but to His own
of all ages-the Lord presents the appalling brevity of our trust.having wasted his lord's
goods in an extravagant and A wealthy man's steward, luxurious life, receives his
dismissal; and shocked by his sudden peril, and immediately aware of the little span left
him in which to provide for his future, he instantly faces the facts and acts with swift
decision.summons his lord's debtors; reduces their debts He each instance, in all probability, is much more than ( The amount of the saving in could be wanted for the support of
another member of a given family" -Greswell) -how far, as steward, he had
authority to do this is not shown; but that he exceeded his authority is certain by his
description as an "unrighteous steward "-so as to gain their friendship; and
sees the thing through with urgent dispatch-" Take thy bill quickly". So our Lord pictures each of us, His disciples,
as rapidly approaching (by death or rapture) the revoking of our trust; our time is as
brief, our need for making immediate provision as overwhelmingly urgent; the stewardship
we hold from God is fast running out, and our impending bankruptcy, which no prudence can
stave off, calls for rapid and decisive action.sharply
defined between the cradle and the grave.
Now Our Saviour emphasizes the approval expressed by the steward's
ford: "his lord commended the unrighteous steward, because he had done
wisely..." "Wisely," as Archbishop Trench says, "is not the happiest
rendering, since wisdom is never in Scripture dissociated from moral goodness:
"prudently" would best represent the original, and so version it stood
"warily, shrewdly, circumspectly." It is
one in Wicliff's of the startling
assumptions of our Lord in this parable, revealing incidentally the profoundest truths,
that the methods of accumulating wealth characteristic of the world-though not invariably
so-are dishonest; the Steward steps into the parable not only already an unscrupulous man,
but a type of all men; yet every fabric of the splendid instrument thus misused is
admirable. The world's God-given
endowments-foresight, industry, ingenuity, inventiveness, devotion-are, through sin, made
abominable; yet they remain, nevertheless, of priceless value; and how priceless is seen
at once by what replaces them in their absence-laziness, improvidence, carelessness,
sloth. So our Lord says elsewhere, "Be ye wise as serpents" - that is, imitate,
not the venom, but the intuition, of the serpent. The Parable is composite picture of the
business world as we know it, and a as it has always been -- a flashlight photograph of
commerce, with all its moral lights and shadows coming out as the blacks and whites in a
finished picture.
So our Lord, in His next word, makes the moral distinction clear,
while the parable assumes an overwhelming force."For the children of this
age"-all worldlings-"are in their generation"-that is, as moving in an evil
atmosphere, actuated by wrong motives, unscrupulous because a wicked and adulterous
generation-" WISER "-more circumspect, more far-seeing, intenser, more
ingenious, more concentrated and devoted on their evil ends-" than the children of
light," on theirs. An owl sees further than an
eagle in the darkis keener, more astute, more wide awake than a sheep.
So now our Lord lays down the only profound andprovident use of
wealth; neither hoarding, nor squandering, but carefully investing beyond the
grave."-something closely similar to the steward's lord: I " And I say unto you
say it, with whom the adjudication ultimately rests-" make to yourselves friends
"-that is, personal friends: not barns, nor palaces, nor estates, nor
banking-accounts, but friends-" by means of "-literally, out of; draw friends,
not coins, out of your purse-"the mammon of unrighteousness"-the wealth which,
in the world, is attached to evil: " that, when it shall fail "-when the grip
passes from the dying grasp-" they " -the beneficiaries under a divine
trust-" may receive you "--it is reception only: heaven is not purchased, but a
Finally, our Lord, face
with the prospect of a universal rejection of this truth, is an extremely instructive model to the Christian teacher. There is no " hurt " feeling-He discounts the unbelief before it comes; there is no surprise--. He who knew what was in man, saw the dollar which is at the bottom of most men's souls; there is no anger-He simply states the facts, and is done; there is no forcing of the truth--he that hath ears to hear, let him hear; there is no reproach -for this is not the day of reproach, and the bankrupting loss in that day will probably be reproach enough. All that Christ does is to close with the clearestthe fact, and-a challenge. The fact is warning of this.faithful also in much "-and so the principle " He that is faithful in a very little is applies to the least possible wealth any of us can hold: the wise master of a homestead would be the wise master of kingdom; " and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much "-proved incapacity on earth disqualifies for the larger trust in heaven.fact. " If therefore ye have And the challenge springs out of the not been faithful "-and the fidelity consists in dispensing the trust with a view to eternal friendship-" in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?"-of which the Millennial earth forms a part.Jesus implies that God will not. another's "-no earthly wealth is " And if ye have not been faithful in that which is yet given us as an inalienable possession; we are merely tenants at will-" who will commit to your trust that which is your own? "-the world, forfeited by the Fall, but, in that day, no longer foreign or loaned, but a wealth as eternal as the Eternal Tabernacles. The principle-presented, startlingly enough, only negatively, in view of all our Saviour foresaw-is as practical as it is momentous, and is the gravest possible: namely, that incompetence in the illusive, transient wealth forfeits the trust in the genuine and inherent; and that if we use God's capital, He expects His dividends-so much so that infidelity in our temporary trust incapacitates for the eternal property.[ Top of this page | Table of Contents ]
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