Luke 16 gives an interesting parable with an even more interesting lesson. In it, a master is about to fire a servant because he has been unfaithful in watching over finances. Before he was gone, he went out and got back some sizeable percentage from each of the debtors and returned it to the master. The master made note of the shrewd behavior and kept him.
The weird part is that Jesus then states that the world works better with itself and then encourages us to use the world to reach the world, namely through money. I find it a bit comical but this comes within the context of not loving God and money and “the love of money is the root of all sin.” What Jesus is saying here is similar to what Paul says “to the Jews I am as a Jew…” (1 Cor 9), meaning we should use what works. If the world is only interested in power and wealth, don’t strive for those but, rather, give them away TO the world so that they pay attention to you. You’ll both be giving them what they want and stand out as someone different. Can this lead to abuse? Of course. And to those, we shake off our shoes and move on, we don’t continue to give our wealth where it is not fruitful. God gives us money and influence as tools to further the kingdom. We must be wise stewards of these tools.
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