This week, we are looking at what the Bible teach when it comes to how we are to manage the money, possessions, and treasure we have on earth. We are asking the question: “Will we be held accountable for how we manage all that God owns? And if that is that case; if we will be held accountable, then what is the standard we will be held to? How will God measure and judge our management?”
Yesterday, we looked at a section of a parable where Jesus revealed the reality that those who are His followers will demonstrate the proof of their faith and their relationship with Him by how trustworthy they are in handling the money, possessions, and treasure of this world. We know this to be the case because of what Jesus says next in Luke 16:10-13. When we read the accounts of Jesus life that are recorded for us in the Bible, Jesus often will first tells a parable and then explain the parable to His confused followers.
In Luke 16:1-9, Jesus tells the parable. And in Luke 16:10-13, we see Jesus explain the parable. And it is in His explanation that we see Jesus reveal for us a timeless principle about how God will measure and judge how we manage the money, possessions, and treasure we have been given. So let’s look at the explanation together beginning in verse 10:
"He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.
After telling the parable, Jesus then explains that when it comes to how we handle the money possessions, and treasure we have been given, the issue is not about the amount of money, possessions, and treasure. In other words, Jesus is explaining to His disciples that the amount of treasure is not the issue. Jesus point is that the amount of treasure that one possesses does not make one more or less spiritual, because money, possessions, and treasure are amoral; they are not inherently good or evil. As we discovered a few weeks ago, however, the thing about treasure that makes it so powerful is that treasure exposes the motives of our hearts. That’s why we can find ourselves feeling so convicted, I mean uncomfortable when the subject of money, possessions, and treasure is brought up in church.
And it is here that we see Jesus reveal for us another timeless principle when it comes to how God will measure and judge how we manage the money, possessions, and treasure we have been given. And that timeless principle is this: When it comes to treasure, the measure for how we manage God’s treasure is faithfulness. When it comes how we will be judged as managers of God’s treasure, Jesus explains that the standard is faithfulness. Maybe you are here this morning and you are thinking “if I only had more money then everything would be OK. If I only had more money, I would be able to get out off debt and pay off my credit cards and make my house payments.” What Jesus is saying here is “no everything wouldn’t be ok”.
Jesus point in verse 10 is that the reason that we are in the financial situation that we are currently in, whether good or bad, is due to how we have managed the money, possessions, and treasure that we have been given. Just adding more money to the problem does not solve the problem, because the problem is not a lack of money; the problem is a lack of faithfulness with the money that we have been given. Jesus point here is that if we are unfaithful, we are unfaithful; whether it is with $10, $100, or $1,000,000. After exposing the problem, Jesus continues by explaining the implications that the level of our faithfulness with money, possession, and treasure can have on our relationship with God in Luke 16:11-12:
"Therefore if you have not been faithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, who will entrust the true riches to you? "And if you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another's, who will give you that which is your own?
In these verses, Jesus reveals for us the reality that how we handle money, possessions, and treasure here on earth impacts the depth of our relationship with God and our spiritual maturity. Jesus uses two rhetorical questions to hammer His point home. First, in verse 11, Jesus asks “if you have been unfaithful in the use of unrighteous wealth, then who will entrust true riches to you?” Jesus was not looking for the disciples to answer the question, because the answer to the question is obvious.
Jesus point here is that if we are unable to demonstrate faithfulness with the temporary treasure that we are given while on earth, then we will be unable to demonstrate faithfulness with the vastly greater spiritual treasure that flow out of a growing and maturing relationship with Him. And so we can find ourselves in a place where we are not growing spiritually in our relationship with Jesus because Jesus is not going to give to us the true treasure that flows out of a growing and maturing relationship with Him if we fail to demonstrate faithfulness with the temporary things of this earth, including money, possessions, and treasure.
And to hammer His point home, Jesus asks a second rhetorical question in verse 12: “If you have not been faithful in the use of that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?” Again, Jesus is not looking for an answer, because the answer is painfully apparent. Jesus point is that is we are unfaithful with someone else’s treasure, we prove to be unworthy of being given anything of our own.
For example, let’s say that you have a teenage son or daughter that continually uses your car. And they want you to go out and buy them a car of their own. Yet every time they borrow your car they leave it a mess; they use all the gas; they don’t take care of it; and they get in several accidents. So are you going to give them thousands of dollars so that they can buy a car for themselves? No you are not going to do that because they have not demonstrated faithfulness with your car. What you may do is go out and buy them a $500 clunker so that they stop wrecking your car; but you are not going to reward their unfaithfulness by giving them a new car.
How many of us feel like we are driving around in a $500 clunker when it comes to our spiritual life? How many of us would describe our spiritual life and our relationship with Jesus in such terms? Jesus point here is that our spiritual lives and our relationship with God stagnates and suffers when we fail to be faithful with what He gives us materially and financially. Jesus makes that point unmistakably clear as He concludes His explanation of this parable in verse 13:
"No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
Jesus makes it clear that we cannot faithfully serve two masters. As we discovered two weeks ago when Jesus made an almost identical statement as part of perhaps the most famous sermon that He ever preached, when Jesus uses the word serve, He is referring to someone who acts in total allegiance and total commitment to someone or something. Jesus point is that you cannot be totally and faithfully committed to two differing options. Jesus is reminding His followers that we cannot serve God and money because we will only be faithful to what we are devoted to. The timeless reality is that God and money, possessions, and treasure compete for our total devotion. You will either be totally devoted to God, or you will be totally devoted to money, possessions, and treasure.
Jesus point is that how we manage the treasure that we have been given reveals who or what we place our faith and trust in. And the level of faithfulness that we demonstrate when it comes to managing the temporary treasure that we have while on earth serves to provide the proof and reveal the depth of our faith. Because the measure for how we manage God’s treasure is faithfulness.
So do you have the mindset that “if I only had more money then everything would be OK. If I only had more money than all my financial problems would be solved.” Or do you have the mindset that your relationship with money and your relationship with God are unrelated. You live your day to day life as though your handling of money has no impact on your relationship with God. If I have just described you, here’s the thing: More money will not solve your financial problems. Instead more money only multiplies your financial problems. Because the issue isn’t the amount of treasure you have; the issue is how faithful are you with the amount of treasure you have been given. And when it comes to God’s treasure, the measure for how we manage God’s treasure is faithfulness.
And as we have seen this morning, our relationship with money and our relationship with Jesus are not unrelated. Our relationship with money is directly related to our relationship with Jesus, because followers of Jesus demonstrate the proof and depth of their faith and their relationship with Jesus by how they handle the money, possessions, and treasure of this world.
So how are you doing?
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