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Retirement Planning 101 – By the Dishonest Steward
And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly
Luke 16: 8a [NASB]
It's one of those most puzzling verses in the Bible that in fact prompted such a
series. It raises lot of questions than answers
- Can a dishonest steward be praised?
- At the outset, was the steward dishonest or incompetent?
- Why did the steward reduce one man's debt by 50% and another's by only 20%?
- Does the end justify the means?
Above all, why did Jesus even tell this story? What possible lesson could be drawn
from it?
As we know, it is the story of a man who cheated his boss. He is caught, confronted
and fired. But before he leaves, he makes some street smart moves, towards his retirement
planning. And the boss, not Jesus, commends him, in the first half of verse 8.
It is very easy to derive wrong conclusions here. I'm reminded of a story involving
certain researchers and a frog. The researchers yelled at the frog and the frog
jumped. The researchers cut off the frog's legs and yelled again. This time the
frog did not jump. The researchers were divided as to their conclusions: one group
claimed that amputating the legs of a frog makes it deaf, while the others concluded
that the frog's ears were located in the legs.
And now back to our story, the parable ends there and Jesus' own explanation starts
in the second half of verse 8. He makes a distinction between 'children of this
world' and 'children of light'. In some ways, the children of this world are wiser
than the children of light. Why? In the recent 2007 Investor Research Study, sponsored
by AIG SunAmerica, 97% of Americans say that ensuring guaranteed income for life
is one of their top 2 financial goals. Dishonest steward is no exception; he looked
into the future, saw what was coming, and used his opportunities to insure a secure
future. He's the poster child for the streetwise people, who are on constant alert
and surviving by their wits.
And Jesus challenged his disciples to take cue from the dishonest steward and be
smart about their own eternal retirement plan. On an average, people spend 25 years
in retirement. Contrast that with 'eternal'; can anyone comprehend the vast expanses
of 'eternal'?
What's appalling is that 'children of this world', who see only this earthly world,
are planning for their retirement/future in this temporary world; nevertheless,
'children of light', who see beyond this world, the unseen eternal world, are lethargic
about their eternal future. Children of light know there is another world to come
and yet they don't make preparation for it. What a pity!
- Shouldn't the children of light learn from children of this world, to be wary of
their future?
- Shouldn't we use our resources in this temporary world to prepare for the unseen
eternal future?
- As stewards of God, shouldn't we go the extra mile, using every opportunity, to
insure our eternal future?
Paul echoes the same theme in his letter to the saints in Ephesus, "Be very careful,
then, how you live — not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity".
Invest (or Spend?) your resources wisely, and retire in eternal peace!
- Ajith E. Samuels
Deep Dive is an article series that attempts to elucidate the biblical verses that
pose an exegetical challenge to readers
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