Shrewd in a Good Way

July 14

(Luke 16:1-8 NIV) ““Jesus told his disciples: "There was a rich man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. {2} So he called him in and asked him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.' {3} "The manager said to himself, 'What shall I do now? My master is taking away my job. I'm not strong enough to dig, and I'm ashamed to beg-- {4} I know what I'll do so that, when I lose my job here, people will welcome me into their houses.' {5} "So he called in each one of his master's debtors. He asked the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' {6} "'Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,' he replied. "The manager told him, 'Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.' {7} "Then he asked the second, 'And how much do you owe?' "'A thousand bushels of wheat,' he replied. "He told him, 'Take your bill and make it eight hundred.' {8} "The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.””

A business manager who was about to be fired devised a scheme to collect old debts for his boss. At first reading, he appears to be short- changing his boss by giving deep discounts on those debts. We expect the boss to be angry. But the rich man praises the business manager for acting shrewdly. He was getting money he might have never gotten and appreciated the manager’s ingenuity. Jesus implies that Christians can also be shrewd in a good way. While the church continues to make it difficult for people to pay their debts and be accepted, the world is busy inviting anyone and everyone to their “free” party. The church has no business jacking up the price of grace, or making it harder for sinners to pay their debt. All our debts were deeply discounted at the cross. In fact, Jesus paid them all in full. That’s the good news that shrewd people of the light will learn to share. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day