For most working people, “planning for the future” has been a constant consideration
of their adult life. Surrounding each person is a legion of professionals
whose mission is to help
us with that problem, who in the process will be planning
for their own futures. But really, planning only for retirement is shortsighted.
Believers should be planning for eternity and God has provided all the wisdom necessary for this and charges nothing. I call this “Wallet Wisdom.” For example,
let’s turn to the parable of the steward in Luke Chapter 16. For starters,
if your Bible has a little heading which says “The Unrighteous Steward” or some
such thing, you can cross it out or at least ignore
it. The steward was incompetent,
but by the end he “sees the light” and to call him unrighteous is to blind ourselves
to the meaning of the parable. Jesus told his disciples: “There was a rich
man whose manager was accused of wasting his possessions. 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.’” (Lk 16:1-2) This fascinating
story begins with the announcement to the manager that he is being terminated for
mismanagement. Since good managers husband and multiply the things under their
care this is completely understandable. “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. I know what I’ll do so that, when I lose my job here,
people will welcome me into their houses.’” (Lk 16:3-4) He does a quick
personal inventory and realizes that he is not suited for manual labor or begging,
and concludes that he must emerge from this crisis with his relationships to people
intact. “Secular” business (if there is such a thing for a believer) is like
the Lord’s work, that is, the work is almost always among people. “So he called
in each one of his master’s debtors. He asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my
master?’” “Eight hundred gallons of olive oil,” he replied. “The manager
told him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it four hundred.’”
“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.’” (Luke
16:5-7) So what is going on here? It was common for agents such as
this to tack on a commission for those who wished to do business with his master.
This was part of the way business was done then and should be understood or the
story makes no sense. The steward is subtracting his own commission from the
debt owed. 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. (Lk 16:8) Understood in this light the master’s
commendation makes perfect sense. The steward lowers everyone’s debts and
in the process ingratiates himself with those whom he will soon be among.
Using “wallet wisdom” he prudently gave up what would normally be “his” in order
to plan for the future. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for
yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
(Lk 16:9) Jesus teaches that those who belong to Him must use their resources to plan for eternity.
What is the eternal future? For one thing, it
features a moment when the product of every selfish act will be incinerated.
Possibly all that time we worked in order to buy that extra car we don’t drive or
that house we don’t live in will result in a poof of heavenly smoke. At the
same time, those things done for Christ and His kingdom will shine like gold, silver
and precious stones. There will be those in heaven who were brought closer
to Christ by something you did or said. There will be those who were saved
and matured by the ministry you supported with your money and time. And those
people, and the Lord, will welcome you. So it is prudent not to plan for this
life only but for the one to come, and to make every effort to take as many with
you as possible. The principles of “wallet wisdom” are simple:
- The contents of my wallet are not mine. They belong
to the Lord.
- The contents of my wallet are to be used to “make friends” for the Lord in this
life so that I may be welcomed into the next.