The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

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The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

Herb Montgomery | September 19, 2025

If you’d like to listen to this week’s article in podcast version click on the image below:

Our reading this week is from the gospel of Luke:

Then Jesus said to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was squandering his property. So he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Give me an accounting of your management, because you cannot be my manager any longer.’ Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me? I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg. I have decided what to do so that, when I am dismissed as manager, people may welcome me into their homes.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’ Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’ He said to him, /‘Take your bill and make it eighty.’ And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light. And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.

“Whoever is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and whoever is dishonest in a very little is dishonest also in much. If then you have not been faithful with the dishonest wealth, a who will entrust to you the true riches? And if you have not been faithful with what belongs to another, who will give you what is your own? No slave can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.” (Luke 16:1-13)

Our story this week is one that scholars have offered multiple interpretations of. They have spiritualized the story, taken it literally, and sought to apply the story to our context today, but most interpretation give me the feeling that something is being left on the table. One interpretation I find most convincing is by William Herzog in his classic book, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed. Herzog looks at various parables from the gospels through the lens of the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire’s work Pedagogy of the Oppressed.

With this lens, let’s begin with the context that the manager in this story would have found himself in. Losing his position as a steward and becoming a day laborer means he had fallen from the class of valued a into the ranks of the expendable poor. With only his physical strength to offer, the former steward would stand little chance against seasoned peasants or the surplus sons of village craftsmen who had long been part of the laboring class. Used to regular meals, he will also struggle with an inconsistent food supply and bouts of hunger. As his strength fades, he will eventually be reduced to begging and, like countless others, die from malnutrition and illness. His dismissal from his job as a steward isn’t a result of refusing honest work; it’s effectively a death sentence (see William R. Herzog II, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed, p. 347).

So the manager comes up with a creative solution: 

“The rich man expects that the steward will take his honest graft, but he does not care as long as the steward does his job, produces the expected profits, and keeps the peasants under control. The steward always has to balance his greed against its consequences. He will do well, but he cannot become conspicuous in his consumption. One possible meaning of the verb diaskorpizōn, translated as “wasting,” is “scattering,” or “dispersing”. . .Thus the steward may have indulged in forms of status display and conspicuous consumption inappropriate to his social standing. If he had been accumulating too much and spending it in ways that caused a stir, he could have set himself up for his fall. To engage in this behavior is to dishonor his patron by taking advantage of his position and competing with the master rather than acknowledging his own subservient and dependent position.” (William R. Herzog II, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed, p. 361)

So what the manager decides to do is adjust the debts of those indebted to his patron and subtractwhatever amount was accounted for his own graft, the manager’s profit. The manager is using what Herzog refers to as the weapons of the weak: Peasant resistance and revolt could also take everyday forms such as dissimulation, false compliance, looting, feigned ignorance, slander, arson, sabotage and more. Because one class is virtually powerless, they have to find ways of resisting their oppressors that don’t subject them to the dangers of open revolt. This is what we see happening in our reading this week: The manager is exposing the system and betraying the graft built into the system. 

“He reduces the contracts held by the debtors. Assuming a Jewish setting, the reductions represent the difference between the ostensible value of the contract and the hidden interest contained in it. The hidden interest on oil is 50 percent because oil is a commodity susceptible to adulteration and therefore less secure. The interest rate on wheat is lower (20 percent) because the commodity is easier to assess.” (William R. Herzog II, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed, p. 366)

The indebted merchants begin to talk among themselves and realized the advantage they’ve gained, something the steward likely claimed credit for. By agreeing to the reduced contracts, they’ve put themselves in the steward’s debt and will owe him a favor in return. In public, however, they will only express gratitude and admiration to their noble and generous patron. When they do, the patron faces a choice: he can accept their praise and keep the steward in his position with the newly negotiated amounts, or he can reject the revised agreements and turn the steward into a martyr.

With these moves, the steward reminds the master of his skill. He is responsible for the master’s accumulation of wealth. I’m not convinced that giving the steward temporary housing is the real goal here. It would only have been a temporary solution. What the steward is aiming for is to preserve his position. To preserve his social status, the master needs a steward who is willing to engage in these kinds of practices, and the steward has done that. Whatever faults he may have, he’s not lazy about looking after the master’s concerns. By his actions, therefore, the steward reminds the master of his value (see William R. Herzog II, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed, p. 369).

The author of Luke’s gospel takes this story from Jesus and applies another narrative lesson: “Make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes.” Again, I’m not convinced that housing was the steward’s goal in the story, butI can see how it could have been the point of Luke’s gospel. Using wealth created by taking “necessities from the masses to give luxury to the classes” and then using that wealth to create relationships for the kingdom would fit the tactics of the early Jesus movement. This is one of the central themes of the book of Luke as well as its companion book of Acts: 

Sell your possessions, and give them to the poor. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luke 12:33-34)

All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need. (Acts 2:44-45)

There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (Acts 4:34-35)

The early Jesus movement built community through what was called ‘dishonest wealth.’ It was about forging bonds through shared resources and mutual aid. Even now, this parable whispers through time, urging us to transform the riches of the few into a wealth shared by all, to redistribute wealth not to the few, but for the good of all, and to create a robust common wealth rooted in compassionate, empathetic care for everyone’s needs.

Discussion Group Questions

1. Share something that spoke to you from this week’s podcast episode with your discussion group.

2. What “tools of the powerless” do you use in your own justice work today? Share and discuss with your group.

3. What can you do this week, big or small, to continue setting in motion the work of shaping our world into a safe, compassionate, just home for everyone? 

Thanks for checking in with us, today.

I want to say a special thank you to all of our supporters out there. And if you would like to join them in supporting Renewed Heart Ministries’ work you can do so by going to renewedheartministries.wpcomstaging.com/ and clicking donate. 

My latest book Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political and Economic Teachings of the Gospels is available now on Amazon in paperback, Kindle and also on Audible in audio book format.

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Right where you are, keep living in love, choosing compassion, taking action, and working toward justice.

I love each of you dearly,

I’ll see you next week.

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Season 3, Episode 26: Luke 16:1-13, Lectionary C, Proper 20

Just Talking is a weekly conversation centered on the upcoming weekend’s Gospel lectionary reading. Each discussion explores the text through the lenses of love, inclusion, and social justice.

Our hope is that these conversations will be more than just talking—they’ll be just talking, rooted in justice. And maybe, they’ll inspire you to go beyond just talking and into action.

Whether you preach from the lectionary or are simply curious about the Jesus story from a more progressive, justice-oriented perspective, we invite you to join us.

Herb Montgomery is speaker/director of Renewed Heart Ministries.

This week’s special guest is Alicia Johnston.

Watch at:

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New Episode of The Social Jesus Podcast

A podcast where we talk about the intersection of faith and social justice and what a first century, prophet of the poor from Galilee might have to offer us today in our work of love, compassion and justice. 

This week:

Season 2 Episode 38: The Parable of the Dishonest Manager

Luke 16:1-13

“Our story this week is one that scholars have offered multiple interpretations of. They have spiritualized the story, taken it literally, and sought to apply the story to our context today, but most interpretation give me the feeling that something is being left on the table. One interpretation I find most convincing is by William Herzog in his classic book, Parables as Subversive Speech: Jesus as Pedagogue of the Oppressed. Herzog looks at various parables from the gospels through the lens of the Brazilian educator Paulo Freire’s work Pedagogy of the Oppressed. The early Jesus movement built community through what was called ‘dishonest wealth.’ It was about forging bonds through shared resources and mutual aid. Even now, this parable whispers through time, urging us to transform the riches of the few into a wealth shared by all, to redistribute wealth not to the few, but for the good of all, and to create a robust common wealth rooted in compassionate, empathetic care for everyone’s needs.”

Available on all major podcast carriers and at:

https://the-social-jesus-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/the-parable-of-the-dishonest-manager

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Finding Jesus: A Fundamentalist Preacher Discovers the Socio-Political & Economic Teachings of the Gospels.

 

by Herb Montgomery

Available now on Amazon!

In Finding Jesus, author Herb Montgomery delves into the profound and often overlooked political dimensions of the gospels. Through meticulous analysis of biblical texts, historical context, and social discourse, this thought-provoking book unveils the gospels’ socio-political, economic teachings as rooted in a profound concern for justice, compassion, and the well-being of the marginalized. The book navigates the intersections between faith and societal justice, presenting a compelling argument for a more socially engaged and transformative Christianity.

Finding Jesus is not just a scholarly exploration; it is a call to action. It challenges readers to reevaluate their understanding of Christianity’s role in public life and to consider how the radical teachings of the gospels can inspire a renewed commitment to justice, equality, and compassion. This book is a must-read for those seeking a deeper understanding of the social implications of Christian faith and a blueprint for building a more just and inclusive society.

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