Faithful in a Little or a Lot, Faithful to a Master or Not
Luke 16:10 “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.
Luke 16:11 If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?
Luke 16:12 And if you have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?
Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”
Since the Garden of Eden, God has been entrusting the world to people. He loves the world and He made it good, but He loves the people even more.
Remember the context of what Jesus is talking about here. He just said, before this, to use evil wealth to gain friends so that you’ll be welcomed into good places in the kingdom of Heaven. In that scenario, people were more important than money.
Now He’s talking about scale and maturity. If you can’t be trusted with little things, you won’t be trusted with big things. He words it in a negative frame because it’s a warning, and He knows which way we tend to lean.
Two Important Things in This Parable.
2. Don’t use your own measure of ‘faithful’ or ‘success’ but use God’s instead. Jesus contrasts unrighteous wealth and true riches. There are a lot of people that can be a Cinderella story and make a bunch of money out of nothing. It seems like it anyway. The world is truly changed when someone clothes themselves in Christ and forgives their enemies.
If you’ve got a million dollars and no reconciliation, what have you got? A million dollars and a whole cake to yourself.
As we devote ourselves to God, and undervote ourselves to money, we grow in joy, wisdom, and a richness of life that can’t be shaken by the stock market or a thief.
Devote comes from a latin root word that means to consecrate or to offer. It’s exclusive. A slave had one and only one master and he or she had to do what that master said.
If it really is black and white like that, what can we be faithful in today? If we can only be faithful to God or to money, where do we get to aim our attention as we work and play?
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