| Christian Life and Doctrine | January 1976 |
Stewards of God’s Mysteries
“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards, that a man be found faithful.” —I Corinthians 4:1,2
ALL that we possess as the servants of God are gifts from him, including the material blessings of life, and we are to use these gifts in keeping with the spirit of sacrifice involved in our consecration to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. The “mysteries of God” referred to by the Apostle Paul in our text embrace in a general way all the important aspects of the divine plan of the ages. We are made stewards of these, and are to guard the faith and to promote it with all the resources at our command.
Unfaithfulness
One of the scriptural illustrations of unfaithful stewardship is furnished by Jesus in the Parable of the Unjust Steward. We quote the first eight verses of this parable: “There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.”—Luke 16:1-8
There is an important point in these first eight verses of the parable which must be taken into consideration in order to understand what Jesus is illustrating. When this unjust steward—Phillips’ translation says “rascally steward”—drastically cut the amount due his master by his creditors in order to make friends with them, we are told (vs. 8) that “the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely.” Many have mistakenly applied the word lord in this statement to the God of heaven, and assumed that the God of heaven commended this unjust steward. However, this is not the thought. The word lord here begins not with a capital letter, but with a small letter “l”; and the one referred to is really the master or lord of the unjust steward, not the God of heaven.
The master of this “rascally steward” was simply acknowledging what other translations refer to as his astuteness in making friends prior to his actual dismissal from the stewardship. Besides, since the ones with whom he endeavored to make friends are referred to as debtors, we are to presume that they had been in debt to the steward’s master for some time. These debts seemingly were not current, but bad debts; and the steward in seeking his own interests had apparently collected a considerable sum, which went into the coffers of his master. The master naturally would be pleased—pleased that, although he had intended to dismiss this steward, he had really done a good turn for him in preparing future security for himself.
In connection with the unjust steward’s master commending him for his astuteness, Jesus observed that “the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.” (vs. 8) At that time the religious rulers of Israel—the scribes and Pharisees—were the children of light. They still sat in Moses’ seat. A group of these was listening to Jesus as he presented this parable and apparently recognized the point he was here making, and they derided him. (vs. 14) It is well known from the Scriptures that the scribes and Pharisees did not in any way lift the burdens of the people whom they ruled. Instead, frequently they increased their burdens, and this apparently is what Jesus referred to as the unjust steward’s wisdom as compared to the unwise practice of the scribes and Pharisees.
These professed to be stewards of God, but we know that in the changing dispensation of that time they were soon to lose their honored position. They probably did not recognize this, but certainly they were doing nothing to make friends with the people when the Law and the prophets were set aside and they were on their own.
Verses 9 to 13 of the parable read, “And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
There is manifestly something wrong with the King James translation of verse 9, which reads, “And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.” When the rich young ruler asked Jesus what he must do to obtain eternal life, Jesus did not say to him that he was to make friends with his money so that it would take care of him in time of need. Jesus said to him, “Go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.”—Matt. 19:21
A Christian’s stewardship of his money is not given to him so that he may make friends with its use. It is given to him to sacrifice in the interest of the Lord’s work. So this King James version is completely out of harmony with the teachings of Jesus and the apostles concerning the true course of the Christian.
Examining more closely what Jesus really did say, we find that the key Hebrew word involved here is capable of being translated in question form, and is so translated elsewhere in the New Testament. In Professor Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Concordance the word is number 3004, and in Acts 25:20 it is used by King Agrippa in explaining that he gave the Apostle Paul an opportunity to return to Jerusalem and answer the questions his enemies might put to him: “I asked him whether he would go to Jerusalem, and there be judged of these matters.” The Emphatic Diaglott also translates the word in question form in this text. Agrippa did not say to the apostle that he should go to Jerusalem, but merely asked him if he would. Obviously, what Jesus said in the parable in this connection could properly be translated something like this: “Do I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness,” as this unjust steward has done, “that when ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations?” The Companion Bible suggests a translation of this verse which reads, “And do I say unto you,” or, “Is this what I say unto you?”
The obvious answer to this question would be “no.” Jesus would not ask his followers to be copies of this “rascally steward.” Besides, who is there on earth with whom a Christian could make friends with his money who would be in a position to assure him that he would be given an everlasting habitation—that is, presumably, in heaven?
Jesus continued his observation on this point, saying, “He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man’s, who shall give you that which is your own?”
Here Jesus is making it plain that if his disciples followed the course of the unjust steward in the parable, they would be unfaithful and unjust even as he was, and those who are unfaithful to the stewardship of truth which the Lord has given them cannot expect that the Lord will continue to bless them with these true riches. They cannot expect his blessings now, nor will the future reward of the faithful be theirs. In verse 13 Jesus says, “No servant can serve two masters,” and his application of this is, “Ye cannot serve God and mammon,” You cannot use your earthly means to make friends for yourselves and at the same time use it in the Lord’s service to forward his cause. This is one of the important lessons of the parable.
Verses 14 and 15 read, “And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” We gather from this that the telling of the parable of the unjust steward was influenced more or less by the fact that Jesus knew of the presence of the Pharisees, who were listening to his words. And here he indicates that, like the unjust steward, they were endeavoring to justify themselves before men.
However, this is a wrong attitude for any who are endeavoring to be faithful stewards of God’s mysteries of truth. We are not to be concerned about justifying ourselves before men. This does not mean that we are to antagonize the world, or that we should not endeavor to be friendly toward those who do not agree with us. But is does mean that we are not to use our means and our strength to make friends with the world. Making friends with the mammon of unrighteousness is completely wrong in the sight of God, a completely wrong use of whatever abilities, financial or otherwise, which we may have, for these we have devoted to the Lord and he is looking to us to be faithful in the use of what we may have in the promotion of his truth, of which he has made us ministers.
An Approved Ministry
As ambassadors of Christ we not only have committed to us the ministry of reconciliation, but the Lord expects us to discharge this stewardship in a manner in keeping with his will. In II Corinthians 6:3-12 the Apostle Paul gives us an outline of some of the details that are involved in a faithful stewardship. Beginning with verse 3 we read, “Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: but in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God.” (vss. 3,4) Then Paul follows with some of the things which are involved in this approved ministry: “In much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses. In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings.”—vss. 4,5
Paul then continues, “By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by love unfeigned, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed: as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. O ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged. Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels. Now for a recompense in the same, (I speak as unto my children,) be ye also enlarged.”—vss. 6-13