One of the most meaningful and misunderstood parables of Jesus Christ is the Parable of the Shrewd Manager (shown above). In that parable, a rich man's manager was accused of misusing his employer's money and possessions, and so the rich man fires him. The manager does not know what to do, for he is too ashamed to beg for money, and he is not strong enough to dig. So he makes a decision to effectively cut down the debt his former master's debtors had to him, which helped him make friends for himself by doing them a favor, to which the master commends him for his quickness and smartness. So in that parable that Jesus Christ spoke about to all of his disciples, what did he mean?

Jesus did follow up with a few sayings in relation to this Parable. One of them, as said in verse 9, he did say, "I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings." What Jesus meant here was that use your wealth and money to help people, so that they may be your friends, and you will help them see the true Light, Jesus Christ, and so help them put their faith in Jesus Christ. In doing so, you would have done the Lord's command (Love one another, John 13:34-35; Love your neighbor as yourself, Matthew 22:37-39), and you would have saved another soul, that they may believe in Jesus Christ as the savoir of all people, and so thus they will be saved, because you have helped them believe in God's true Son, Jesus Christ. This will be a very great thing you have done, if you so choose to follow through.

He also followed up with a few other proverbial sayings as well, such as "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money," which of course we Christians should put God above money. What is the value in money if we cannot take it with us into Eternal Life? But you can use it to gain friends for yourself, and to help others believe in Jesus Christ. So be generous with your money, that you may help others in need of help. And also, "Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much," meaning you cannot compromise small lies. Although in the moment they may seem harmless, in the long run they will cause much destruction to the person being lied to. So watch yourself that you may not lie in the little things, or else you will lie in the big things as well, and cause much destruction to people, which is not a good Chrisitan practice at all!

The last thing that may be taken from this parable of Jesus is that he is telling us to also look out for ourselves as well, more in the long term. The manager in the parable thought for himself long-term; he knew he could not dig or beg, so he sought to make friends by helping them out. A connection to the early church may be the Martyrdom of Peter and Paul. Peter was crucified upside down because he thought for his long-term being, which was to do the Will of God, and so he did it, so that he may not suffer for all eternity in Hell, but rather spend eternal life with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul was beheaded before people because he also thought for his long-term being as well, and so took action to take care of it by serving the Lord Jesus Christ, so that again he may not suffer torment that will last forever, but rather Paradise forever. So likewise with you, look out for yourself in the long-term, 

I hope that these interpretations of the Parable of the Shrewd Manager will help you become a more faithful follower of Jesus Christ. It is one thing to hear the word, and its another to hear and put it into practice. So I hope that this will help grow your faith in Jesus Christ. The Grace and Peace of Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father, along with his Holy Spirit be with you all, along with his Peace.