Luke 16:1-17
1Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as (A)squandering his possessions. 2"And he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' 3"The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4'I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.' 5"And he summoned each one of his master's debtors, and he began saying to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 6"And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' 7"Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' 8"And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of (B)this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the (C)sons of light. 9"And I say to you, (D)make friends for yourselves by means of the [a](E)wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, (F)they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. 10"(G)He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. 11"Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous (H)wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12"And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13"(I)No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and (J)wealth." 14Now the Pharisees, who were (K)lovers of money, were listening to all these things and (L)were scoffing at Him. 15And He said to them, "You are those who (M)justify yourselves in the sight of men, but (N)God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. 16"(O)The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time (P)the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17"(Q)But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.
Not saying that this applies or does not apply to money, but if you look at it with the idea that Jesus is speaking of money as "unrighteous wealth," (and I believe that this is what he speaks of when he says unrighteous wealth) then what is most apparent to me is that the 'wealth' is unrighteous. Fair enough? At the same time, Jesus says, "Make friends for yourselves by the wealth of unrighteousness." I do not believe that this at all means that we take part in the "unfruitful deeds of darkness" (eph 5:11) or sin against God to make friends, but I do see that there is a calling to use that which is worthless (ie money in this instance) for that which is precious (Jer 15:19).
It is also good to remember that within this context, Jesus directly addresses how we choose to justify our actions to others.
1Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was reported to him as (A)squandering his possessions. 2"And he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.' 3"The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4'I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.' 5"And he summoned each one of his master's debtors, and he began saying to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 6"And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' 7"Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' 8"And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of (B)this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the (C)sons of light. 9"And I say to you, (D)make friends for yourselves by means of the [a](E)wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, (F)they will receive you into the eternal dwellings. 10"(G)He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much. 11"Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous (H)wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? 12"And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own? 13"(I)No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other You cannot serve God and (J)wealth." 14Now the Pharisees, who were (K)lovers of money, were listening to all these things and (L)were scoffing at Him. 15And He said to them, "You are those who (M)justify yourselves in the sight of men, but (N)God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. 16"(O)The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time (P)the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 17"(Q)But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.
Not saying that this applies or does not apply to money, but if you look at it with the idea that Jesus is speaking of money as "unrighteous wealth," (and I believe that this is what he speaks of when he says unrighteous wealth) then what is most apparent to me is that the 'wealth' is unrighteous. Fair enough? At the same time, Jesus says, "Make friends for yourselves by the wealth of unrighteousness." I do not believe that this at all means that we take part in the "unfruitful deeds of darkness" (eph 5:11) or sin against God to make friends, but I do see that there is a calling to use that which is worthless (ie money in this instance) for that which is precious (Jer 15:19).
It is also good to remember that within this context, Jesus directly addresses how we choose to justify our actions to others.
