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. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. (Luke 16:8-9)

Each parable usually has one main point (or very few points), and the details are there to move the story along. And the Gospels almost invariably tell us directly the point of a parable.

For example, the Parable of the Good Samaritan answers the question, “Who is my neighbor?” The Law commands us to love our neighbor, and as they tended to do, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law would try to define “neighbor” in a way that would excuse them from having to love anyone that they did not wish to love. But Jesus turned it around on them and said “Who was a neighbor to this man?” The one who showed mercy. And he said, “Go and do likewise.” Details like where the man was traveling to, the inn, the two coins, that they were silver coins, etc., most likely do not symbolize anything, but serve to keep the story together and to further the plot.

In the Parable of the Unjust Judge (Luke 18), Jesus uses the a fortiori argument. It is not that God is like an unjust judge, but it is precisely because he is not one (that he is a just judge), that he is better than an unjust judge, and that we ought to be encouraged even more to persist in faith and prayer. Jesus explicitly declares the point of the parable: “And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” (v. 7-8).

Likewise, the Parable of the Dishonest Manager in Luke 16 is directly explained: “I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings” (v. 9). It is not that Jesus tells us to be dishonest managers, but that unbelievers know how to use wealth to make friends in the sphere of their lives, and believers ought to know how to use wealth in their own sphere, in their own context and according to their own worldview.

Thus the dishonest manager provides only an analogy to how Christians are to use their wealth, and not an example that is directly applied or imitated. So although we might be unaccustomed to the phrase in a spiritual context, the expression “to gain friends” is carried over from how the dishonest manager uses wealth to how Christians ought to use wealth. This wealth is used in a way that would make us “friends” in eternal dwellings, in the next life. Therefore, the natural interpretation is to use wealth in a way that carries eternal significance, most obviously, in evangelism and discipleship, but also other good works that the Bible commands, such as feeding the poor, caring for widows and orphans, and so on.

The power of this teaching is often underestimated. Several times the Bible observes that believers and unbelievers, the rich and the poor, the educated and the uneducated, appear to suffer the same fate – they die and cannot carry their wealth with them. But then there is the power of the gospel. Through Jesus Christ our wealth can transcend this life and break through to the next life. In Christ, what you earn here can benefit you there. What you do with your wealth here will affect what happens there.

The dishonest manager and his friends would die, and all their money would be lost. All the wisdom and shrewdness of the non-Christian finally comes to nothing. The friends that he bought with his money cannot help him or welcome him. They, too, cannot bring their money with them. And in the next life they would all be destitute and in suffering. But if the Christian uses his wealth wisely (wise in the Christian context, and not in the non-Christian sense), then his natural wealth turns into spiritual and eternal riches. We rejoice and celebrate this power that God has given us through Jesus Christ!