Thread by @FatherChrisVor1

1/15 🧵
The parable of the dishonest steward (Luke 16:1–13) has puzzled Christians for centuries. A steward cheats his master, reduces debts, and is praised for it. Many ask: How can this make sense? Let’s walk through it together.

https://twitter.com/she_brings_joy/status/1957305138588070084

2/15
Here’s the text: A steward is accused of wasting his master’s goods. About to be fired, he calls in the debtors and lowers their bills. The master commends him for acting shrewdly. Jesus adds: “Make friends with unrighteous wealth…” (Luke 16:9).

3/15
Even the Fathers admitted this was hard. St. Augustine confessed, “This parable is indeed difficult, and I confess I scarcely understand it” (Sermon 359). The honesty here is important: Scripture challenges us.

4/15
What’s going on? First, note: Jesus is not praising dishonesty. He’s praising prudence. The steward knew judgment was coming and acted decisively to secure a future.

5/15
Jesus explains: “The children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the children of light” (Luke 16:8). If worldly people act decisively for temporary gain, should not believers act even more decisively for eternity?

6/15
St. John Chrysostom put it this way: “The Lord did not praise the steward for his wickedness, but for his foresight; for He desires us to be wise in spiritual things as others are wise in earthly things.”

7/15
St. Ambrose noted the steward used wealth to make friends who would receive him later. So too, Jesus says: use your possessions for mercy, for almsgiving, for works of love—so that your “friends” may welcome you into eternal dwellings.

8/15
Notice Jesus calls it “unrighteous wealth” (Luke 16:9). Earthly wealth is always precarious, tainted by sin, never ultimate. But when we use it for good—for others—it becomes a tool leading to eternal life.

9/15
This is consistent with the wider Gospel. Jesus says: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth… but in heaven” (Matt 6:19–20). Wealth cannot save you, but when used rightly, it can serve salvation.

10/15
And the conclusion of the parable makes the point sharp: “No servant can serve two masters… You cannot serve God and mammon” (Luke 16:13). The steward chose: the old master is gone; I must seek a new security. So must we.

11/15
St. Augustine found comfort here: “Let us imitate the steward in providing for the future, not in cheating. Use your wealth to make friends in heaven—those who receive you will be the poor whose cries you have answered.”

12/15
Modern commentators echo this. Pope Benedict XVI wrote: “The steward’s dishonesty is not exemplary. But his cleverness is. Christians must learn a holy shrewdness: to see beyond this world and invest in eternity.”

13/15
So what do we take away? The parable shocks us on purpose. It unsettles us, because it presses the question: what are you doing with your life? With your resources? With your time? Who is your master?

14/15
The dishonest steward was wise enough to prepare for tomorrow. Will we be wise enough to prepare for eternity?

15/15
The parable still challenges. But its meaning is clear: use this passing world as a way to love, to serve, to give—so that when it fails, you will be welcomed by the only Master who endures.