In brief
The unjust steward is the main character of a parable Jesus tells his disciples in Luke 16. Managing the property of a rich man, he is accused of wasting it and is about to lose his job. Before leaving, he reduces the debts of his master's debtors to make friends. The master praises his shrewdness without approving his dishonesty. Jesus draws a lesson: use money with eternity in view, because you cannot serve both God and Mammon.
What does the name The Unjust Steward mean?
The word steward translates the Greek oikonomos, generally rendered as manager of a household: a servant in charge of running his master's affairs. Jesus calls him the unjust steward (Luke 16:8), literally the steward of injustice, because he betrayed the trust placed in him.
The story of The Unjust Steward
A manager accused
Luke 16:1-2A rich man learns that his steward is squandering his possessions. He summons him and tells him to give an account of his management, because he can no longer manage the estate. The steward knows his dismissal has been decided and that he will soon have to leave his post.
A plan for the future
Luke 16:3-4The steward thinks it over: he cannot dig the ground and he is ashamed to beg. He finds a way to have people welcome him into their homes once he has lost his job. He acts quickly, while he still has authority over his master's accounts.
Debts reduced
Luke 16:5-7He calls in his master's debtors one by one. To the first, who owes a hundred measures of oil, he says to write fifty. To the second, who owes a hundred measures of wheat, he says to write eighty. By lightening their debts, he secures their gratitude for the day when he will have no position.
Shrewdness praised
Luke 16:8-9The master commends the dishonest steward because he acted shrewdly. It is not his fraud that is praised but his foresight. Jesus adds that the people of this age are shrewder than the people of the light, and he urges his hearers to make friends by means of worldly wealth, so as to be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
God or Mammon
Luke 16:10-13Jesus draws the lesson for his disciples: whoever is faithful in little is also faithful in much. If we are not faithful in handling money, who will trust us with true riches? He concludes that no servant can serve two masters, and that you cannot serve both God and Mammon.
Test your knowledge
What The Unjust Steward teaches us
- Everything we own belongs to God: we are its managers, and we will give an account to him.
- The Christian is called to use money wisely with eternity in view, not for self alone.
- Faithfulness in small things, such as the handling of our possessions, prepares us to receive greater responsibilities.
- No one can serve both God and money: the way we spend shows which master we belong to.
Key verses
The master praises the steward's shrewdness, not his dishonesty. Jesus points out that people of the world prepare for their future with more energy than believers prepare for eternity.
Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much. Faithfulness is tested first in the details of daily life, including the use of money.
You cannot serve both God and Mammon. Jesus presents money as a rival master that claims the heart. The disciple must choose whom he serves.
Bible verses to meditate on
Sermons about The Unjust Steward
- The Dishonest Manager: What Your Money Says About Your True MasterThis sermon finds in the parable a burning question: does your money reveal a heart faithful to God or a heart enslaved to Mammon, the rival god who leads whole lives without ever announcing himself?
- Living as a Faithful Steward (1)At the end of the year, this message invites us to stop on a single question: what does it mean to live as a faithful manager of what God entrusts to us, when the most important things so often come last?
Frequently asked questions
Does Jesus approve of the unjust steward's dishonesty?
No. Jesus himself calls him the unjust steward and teaches right afterward about faithfulness in the smallest matters (Luke 16:10-12). What is praised is his shrewdness: he understood that his future was at stake and he acted. Jesus invites his disciples to the same clear-sightedness for eternity, but with integrity.
What does make friends by means of worldly wealth mean?
In Luke 16:9, Jesus calls us to use money, which belongs to this passing world, for purposes that matter before God: helping, giving, serving others. Material goods will eventually fail, but their generous use in the service of the kingdom has eternal reach.
Where can I find the parable of the unjust steward in the Bible?
It appears in Luke 16:1-13, right after the three parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son (Luke 15). It comes before the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31), which also deals with the right use of wealth.