the management that matters

(continued from the previous- the story of the film so far...)

in the last post i kinda went on and on about how to try to apply a meaningful hermeneutic to a confounding passage of scripture... the bit in question was an illustration of Jesus involving a shrewd manager.

so anyway, as far as the narrative of Jesus' life is concerned, he tells this story having already endured a fair bit of bump and grind from the established order. his willingness to break with some religious tradition regarding holy jewish sabbath; to hang out with ceremonially unclean people; to scandalously enjoy a good meal and even a drink with these same social undesirables and yet also dine at the house of a prominent pharisee does much to remind all present that, as apostle paul would say later, 'God is no respecter of persons' or practices, but desires that this kingdom of God which is so often the main topic of Christ's speaking is to be a place and time of holy levelling.

so this session with Jesus seems to feature a mixed crowd: up close are 'tax collectors and sinners' but within earshot are the muttering pharisees and teachers of the law. it is in this environment that Jesus launches into one of his most famous talks... the LOST trilogy.

1. LOST sheep... leaving the righteous, secure already in faithful living, in order to save the lost
2. LOST coin... searching obsessively for a lost possession because it is of great value and is part of a set which suffers when incomplete
3. LOST son... warmly receiving the repentant while challenging the cold, shortness of sight of those whose righteousness is presumed simply due to their lack of willful rebellion.

see the transition?

this talk begins by targeting the lost, but slowly moves into a message for the righteous who may possibly represent a greater spiritual challenge due to a hardness that has come from years of being religious and faithful to the letter of the law while denying, to some degree, its spirit.

by the time Jesus moves into the story of the shrewd manager, he has been talking for awhile, and has worked and warmed with words even the toughest clay in the crowd. it's time to address the righteous who have been blessed with incredible grace and have concluded that the blessing has come as reward, rather than as responsibility.

see, Jesus always preaches 'the kingdom' with special focus on the hope that is afforded the hopeless... a continuous reminder that it is not religion but redemption and realization that God is obsessively pursuing. this odd parable is just part of that lengthy dialogue that is ongoing between God and man through Jesus (as we refer to him at Christmastime: Emmanuel, 'God with Us'.)

in this epic love poem from God, intended to woo back to himself his beloved, this parable is but a word in a very well-written line.

the story of the shrewd manager is challenging because it is almost a bizarro world chronicle- a photographic negative of many of Jesus' other stories involving masters and workers. in this one, the worker is guilty of time theft as well as poor stewardship of the master's resources. he recognizes that he will very shortly be carrying a shoebox full of his personal items out into the parking lot, past his company car which remains parked in what was once his executive parking spot, and across the street to the bus stop. because he has nothing to lose, he calls each of the master's debtors to him and, by misusing the authority entrusted to him, reduces their debts on paper, instantly making friends 'on the outside' in preparation for his dismissal.

and if this isn't weird enough, in Jesus' story the master commends the guy for it.

but within Jesus' very large and very consistent message, there are some things that we need to note in order to figure out just what lesson Christ is actually teaching here, lest we become lost in our own defaults.

first, this is an earthy story. it says that dishonest people do dishonest things and other dishonest people commend them for it. the turn is when Christ delineates a difference between being people of the world and people of the light. he elaborates upon this further by tying this light to eternity with a logical thread, urging his listeners to do their investing in commodities that are going to be around for awhile, rather than in those things that are subject to rust and robbery. this illustration that seems, at first glance to be rather inconsistent, is consistent with the word that Jesus speaks in many other contexts.

there is another key idea here, though.

in Christ's story, there is a marked social difference between the manager and the debtors. the master is the master, but there seems to be a line between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots'... the manager is currently on the one side, but seeks to soften his transition to the other rather than seeking to improve his relationship with the master. regrettable, as that seems to be the way things make sense in all places and ways outside the light.

theologian, john wesley, observed that:

We are indebted to God for all we have. Although a debtor is obliged to return what he has received, yet, until the time of payment comes, he is at liberty to use it as he pleases. But it is not so with a steward; he is not at liberty to use what is lodged in his hands as he pleases, but as his master pleases.

he goes on to say that the master has the right to ask:

How did you employ your soul? How did you employ the body with which I entrusted you? How did you employ the worldly goods which I lodged in your hands? Did you employ your health and strength in a vigorous pursuit of that better part which no one can take away from you? Above all, were you a good steward of my grace, going before, accompanying, and following you? (John Wesley)

all the resources available to both sides are the master's first. the key difference is the relationship. whereas the debtor is simply owing, the manager is in the master's employ. the debtor is called to account and to pay, the manager is called to a reckoning and is required to account for how the resources of the master have been directed to do the master's work- the furtherance of his light, his intended way, his kingdom.

in the kingdom of light, the master seeks to see his grace put to work to build relationship between himself and those owing debts that are impossible to repay. this is what the manager is supposed to be all about.

this is the only management that ultimately matters.