Almighty Dollar

10 "Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. 11 If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? 12 And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? (Luke 16:10-12)

In Luke 16, Jesus tells a confusing story about a rich man (God) and his manager (possibly us). In the story the manager is taken to task for squandering the rich man's property. Realizing that he's about to be fired, the manager reduces the debt (likely deducting the exorbitant interest he shouldn't have been charging in the first place) of those who owed his master. This move earns the manager a good name in his community, ensuring that he'll be welcomed into the homes of those he had been swindling - so he won't starve when he's out of a job.

It's easy to let ourselves believe that this story has no bearing on our lives - especially if we don't manage anyone else's money or property - until we consider that everything we have is God's. When we misuse, hoard, or otherwise act unjustly with God's blessings we are, in fact, mismanaging God's property. All we have has been given to us in a trust to use to bless the world. It's not ours to hold tightly, but to build up someone else.

Who goes out of business because we either don't shop in our community, or we bypass the small business for the big box store? Who doesn't have access to safe neighborhoods and good schools because we've ensured that the cost of living is too high for those we've deemed unworthy? What price justice? We may not know all the ways our wealth victimizes someone else, but we can work to dismantle known unjust systems. We can work to ensure that the good we do out weighs the harm that has been done in the name of prosperity.

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

13 No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. (Luke 16:13)