Redeeming Work, Part VI

Perhaps you have seen someone who is struggling in life and heard the saying, “They were just dealt a bad hand.”

Figuratively speaking, we all hold cards in our hand—our background, stage of life, locale, job and financial resources, future hopes and dreams, etc. Some of these cards were dealt to us, some we have acquired, and others we have managed to get rid of. Whatever the case, we all hold a set of cards in our hand.

And the truth is, we all spend enormous amounts of time and energy trying to get the right cards, trying to get that winning hand. Sometimes we even feel we have made irreparable mistakes in the past that have ruined our chances of winning.

But what if God is less concerned with whether we have all the right cards and more concerned with how we play the cards that we do have?

In Luke 16, Jesus tells a parable about a man who is on the verge of losing it all. He is on the verge of becoming unemployed and homeless, all in the same day. He can’t afford to wait for better cards. This hand is the only hand he has left.

You can read the parable for yourself in Luke 16:1-9. What is the point that Jesus is making? Very simply, the dishonest manager acted shrewdly. He had only one hand left, and he played it well. He was careful and not careless.

In v. 9, Jesus draws his point of application. He gives the only imperative of this text. He says that we, too, ought to act shrewdly.

The dishonest manager considered what was to come and then acted accordingly. So, too, should we. We ought to live in light of what we know to be true about the age to come rather than living only in light of what we know to be true about this age (as if there were no age to come). This is the difference between being careful and being careless.

So we see that God is less concerned with whether you have all the right cards and more concerned with how you play the cards that you do have. The reality is, one day we will all have to give an account of how we played our cards (2 Corinthians 5:10; Hebrews 9:27). Therefore, we, like the dishonest manager, ought to consider what we know to be true about the age to come and act accordingly. In doing so, we will be acting shrewdly.

Specifically, Jesus says in v. 9 that we ought to act shrewdly in relation to our worldly wealth. Luke then uses this parable as a launching point for relaying other of Jesus’ sayings on the issue of how we relate to our worldly wealth. You can read these sayings in Luke 16:10-12.

Theologically, the “worldly wealth” that Jesus refers to is the wealth of this age. “True riches” are the wealth of the age to come, namely, sanctification of self, ministry to others, etc. These are the wealth of the future and in-breaking kingdom of God.

Practically, your job counts as part of your worldly wealth. Take a look at this article from a recent issue of TIME Magazine to see what I mean: Jobs Are The New Assets.

Here’s the point: God is less concerned with whether you have all the right cards and more concerned with how you play the cards that you do have. A big part of this is your worldly wealth, and that includes your job.

In these sayings (vv. 10-12), Jesus is talking about being faithful with what has been entrusted to you. Your worldly wealth is not your own. Your worldly wealth, including your job, is a stewardship.

If your job is a stewardship, this means that (1) it is temporary, and (2) you’re accountable. [HT: Andy Stanley] And given that our jobs are stewardships that have been entrusted to us, Jesus says we ought to be faithful in the little things.

With respect to our future, we ought to be faithful with even a little bit of worldly wealth (including our jobs) so that we can be entrusted with greater worldly wealth.

With respect to our eternity, we ought to be faithful with even a little bit of worldly wealth (including our jobs) so that we can be entrusted with true riches, i.e. opportunities for sanctification, opportunities for ministry, etc.

Indeed, God is less concerned with whether you have all the right cards and more concerned with how you play the cards that you do have. Therefore, we ought to be faithful in the little things, even (or especially) at work.