Shrewd Christianity

Luke 13 is a parable that penetrates the Christian hearts of past generations and surely will for ones to come. It carries with it an alluring application. It is truth, but it is truth that is masked in the social dimensions of first century Palestine.

Once upon a time there was a rich man who had a dishonest, household slave (i.e. Luke 16:1-13; it’s worth reading).

The landowner finds his manager has done shady business deals but instead of becoming inflamed and firing him on the spot while demanding reimbursement, the shrewd landowner commends his servant for a job well done.

Scripture concludes our story by saying:
And I tell you, make friend for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes. (Luke 13:16, NRSV)

What?!?! How is this parable in the Bible?

Keep in mind Jesus is talking to the disciples only. Jesus himself is being quite shrewd by telling his disciples that true living; true followership must be done with a little bit of shrewdness . . . with craft, with creativity.

In our story, the landowner praises his manager for finding a creative way to continue building friendships with the community at large. In other words, the manager (disciples, Israel, the Church, followers of Christ) can be useful once again, but they are going to have to call on the aid of others in order for God to feel satisfied -- so God doesn't fire us too.

What does all of this mean for us?

Jesus in this parable indicates that if we are facing a major crisis the answer is rather to throw caution to the winds, to forget the extra bits and pieces of law and ritual, and to make friends as where we can. That’s what the children of this world would do, and the children of light must do as well. They must learn from the cunning people of the world how to cope in the crisis that was coming upon their generation.

Thus, instead of hoarding money and land, Jesus’ advice is to use it, as far as one can to make friends.

For instance, denominational allegiances are good to a point, but when it comes to advancing the kingdom of God for the common good then denominational lines must be secondary. When it comes to promoting peace and justice to the world at large, religions themselves must be reduced to their irreducible minimums if there is to be any hope of progress. In other words, Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, and Christians can come together for the good of humankind.

Jesus is taking Old Testament storylines and reinterpreting them in his own context. We as 21st century Christians must do the same. We have to be shrewd in the sense that we are willing to go outside our biblical bubble to help bring justice and peace to the ones in the world who are being hurt, to the ones in the world that are too poor to climb out of their debt, to the ones in the world that feel disenfranchised, hurt, and marginalized by society.

We must find creative ways to promote justice and peace to all types of races, colors, sexualities, and nationalities. If we are going to be children of the light then we must make friends with the children of the world to help promote that which Jesus came to promote – love of neighbor, love of God, and peace to all people.

Jesus knew if the disciples were going to advance Christianity to all nations then they must first be willing to make friends and not enemies with the nations.

This is still true for us today. If we are ever going to be an active, Christian voice in our communities and world at large, then we must first be people of creativity and peace – not judgmental Pharisees who hold too tightly to a law. We must be shrewd Christians.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Most Difficult Parable Ever

Image
Theologian N.T. Wright finds the parable of the fig tree to be quite strange.  He says, “Jesus' warning in Luke 13 is at once amplified by this almost humorous, yet in fact quite sinister, parable of the fig tree in the vineyard.” And it is sinister.  It’s a hard pill to take.  Jesus' parable goes like this: A man has as fig tree planted in his vineyard.  One day he comes out looking for fruit on it, but there are no figs.  He says to the vineyard keeper, “Look at this tree.  For three years, I've come hoping to find some fresh figs, but what do I find? Nothing.  So just go ahead and cut it down.  Why waste the space with a fruitless tree?” The vineyard keeper replies, “Give it another chance, sir.  Give me one more years working with it.  I’ll cultivate the soil and heap on some manure to fertilize it.  If it surprises us and bears fruit next year, that will be great, but if not, then we’ll cut it down.”...
Read more

The Bird of Dawning Singeth All Night Long

Image
This Christmas I was moved by the words of Frederick Buechner.  For my last blog of the year I offer to you his wisdom rather than my own ramblings.  I hope it does for you what it continues to do for me. Frederick Buechner says in his book The Faces of Jesus: On the dark bulwark of Elsinore, Shakespeare has Marcellus and Haratio reflecting on Christ in the opening scene of Hamlet: Some say that ever ‘gainst that season comes Wherein our Savior’s birth is celebrated, The bird of dawning singeth all night long; And then, they say, no spirit dare stir abroad, The nights are wholesome, then no planets strike, No fairly takes, nor witch hath power to charm, So hallowed and so gracious is the time These lines from the first scene of Hamlet in a sense say it all.  We tend to think time is just progression . . . as moment following moment, day following day, in relentless flow, the kind of time a clock or calendar measures.  But we ...
Read more

Sacrificing Joy

Image
I have been told my biggest weakness is I take myself too seriously. I agree. But here is my dilemma: My life is filled with responsibilities and deadlines. I go to school, pastor a church, assist my seminary in their admissions process, and feel obligated to be a good friend. My school takes up twelve hours a week plus roughly twenty hours of study. I work at least 10 hours on my sermon and spend two days a week with my congregation. Fifteen hours of my week is given to the McAfee Admissions Office and every Saturday I play softball with some friends. With this schedule I am up to 57 hours of responsibility time plus two days are given to my congregants. Why do I do this you ask? Because I can. Because God is blessing me in it. Because it gives me a sense of fulfillment. All of these shape an identity for me. And I love every second of it. We are all busy people. We all know what it is like to work the extra hour or sign up for one my volunteer role. We all over...
Read more