Parable of the Shrewd Manager

Today we are going to consider the parable of the unjust steward. AKA the Parable of the shrewd manager.

This is a parable about a fellow that had no problem spending someone else’s money. About cooking the books, making the numbers reflect positively in his account. In the parable it appears that Jesus is commending him for his actions, but that is not the teaching of this parable.

This parable may make you feel uncomfortable in more ways than one, for it is about money, and that topic alone will make many Baptists sweat.

As I have studied this parable in the past and taught on it before, I must admit that this parable has given me some heartburn, for it seems to commend a man for his dishonesty. I’m not the only one that has wrestled with this question, as Theologians over the centuries have tried to determine what Jesus is teaching.