Stewards and Stewards

A line from a book I read recently has a quote that still resonates with me, "There are Christians and there are Christians". The context was Christians focusing on the spiritual and neglecting physical needs. That is not the point of this post, as I discussed it plenty on this blog. However, a recent visit to a Bible Study in the US brought to mind a similar phrase. There are stewards and there are stewards.

We joined a Bible study discussing the parable of the unjust steward, found in Luke 16. If you ever read this one, it is a classic head scratcher. A boss man type accuses his manager of being dishonest and otherwise doing a crappy job all around. The manager knows he is about to get canned, so he gives discounts to people who owe debts to the master. This helps them and partially helps the boss man. Some scholars argue it did not help the manager, because the extra money would normally be his profit. But it helped him make friends, so it was an investment of sorts. The point is, he dealt shrewdly and was commended.

Later on, Christ advises we serve God before money, and before that He says to use filthy lucre (paraphrase but accurate) to make friends. All should point towards spiritual value, what is truly important. I get the gist, but that steward, he was, well, shrewd and also known as unjust. What do we make of that?

The leader of our group was sharing his discoveries, which reinforced the general message. What struck me was his story. As he struggled through the meaning of this, he went about his day job at a car dealership. A potential buyer was about to put himself seriously in debt by making a purchase. The Bible Study leader gave him reasonable advice which included not buying the car at that time. Business wise, his honesty made no sense, but in light of eternity, he had to do what was right. Make friends in light of eternity.

I enjoy pouring through these difficult passages, but in the meantime, we hold fast to what we already know to be true. I personally think the point He was making (his audience included Pharisees and others who loved money) was "here is a guy who helped others when it benefited him somehow. Kingdom living means the same, without the looking out for self part." Whatever the case, His point was made, as the greedy ones were not happy.

I enjoyed what I found in commentaries online and so on, but what impacted me the most was the example of a student of the Scriptures holding fast to what he already knew, no matter the cost. And to him I say thanks.