A Good Investor

To be shrewd is to be astute or sharp in practical matters. A shrewd person is calculating, scheming, perceptive, and prudent. This is the way of this world in which we live. When a man lives with no eternity in view, worldly wisdom demands that he somehow gets ahead. One will wheel and deal, curry favor with those who can give him the edge, find the inside scoop, climb over the little guy, use people to gain position, and, maybe, put forth a bribe to get around the law. Those who are shrewd and astute in the ways of this world believe that rules and regulations are made to be broken. In a culture of reciprocation, i.e., you scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours (e.g., you invite me to your dinner party), and I’ll return the favor, this man sought to secure his future by obligating the debtors to him.

When the rich land-owner saw the books, he could do nothing about the embezzlement because each of the land tenants would back up the manager. It is possible that the manager did not tell the debtors his position was terminated. He may have thought to say to them later that he been fired because of how he had cooked the books for them, making each of them indebted to him. They would then open their homes and, perhaps, have him work for them since they were the ones who benefited from the manager’s unrighteous act. He was undoubtedly in an excellent position to exercise some blackmail over them if he ever needed to do it.

Some commentators believe the percentage reduced was the manager’s commission that was added to the master’s assets, making each of the debtors very thankful to him. Jesus, in telling this story had quite a twist for them because each of His listeners would be expecting for the manager to be brought to justice. Upon receiving the books, the master saw that the month’s payments were down, and he turned around and commended the manager for his shrewdness and foresightedness. This master was a clever man outplayed by someone shrewder.

Like the manager, we own nothing ourselves. It all belongs to our Lord. While we live this life on earth, we are just managers or stewards of everything that we have, whether we are a believer or not, “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). It all belongs to the Lord, i.e., our cars, our homes, our children, our finances, etc. We also have received notice that our stewardship will come to an end one day and that we will be called to account concerning what we have done with the things over which we are given charge (Romans 14:12).

Jesus was not approving the sinful behavior of the manager, for this is not the focus of the story. He spoke about the manager being admired for his foresight. The Lord is making a comparison. We who are Christians can learn a lesson from business people dedicated to making money in this world. The point He is making is that the manager, though he failed in managing his master’s wealth up to this point, is looking ahead and making a wise decision in this situation. The people that are living for this world often act with more foresight than the people who are born-again and living for the next world.

In this world, people look ahead to where the culture and needs of the world are going. In worldly-wisdom, they position themselves to ride a financial wave that they see coming. Smart investors look ahead and understand needs that are yet in the future and accordingly invest their resources. Bill Gates, the owner of Microsoft, saw that the world was fast heading along a road where computers were needed. He dropped out of school and threw his time, energy, and money into something that would benefit his future. Investment is an essential point in this lesson. Few investors catch a vision of eternity and position themselves to be rich in the things of eternity (Luke 12:21).