Can anyone help me with Luke 16?
In this parable of the worldly, corrupt caretaker, this guy, on the one hand too lazy to work and on the other hand too stupid to manage funds for his boss,
then has the idea of introducing a kind of FIAT money.
He hands out bills to deptors of his former boss. These bills don’t cover the total amount of the each indivual debt.
By doing so, he somehow manages to survive off the debtors and makes his former boss happy.
I don’t get this mechanism. Even Jeshua describes it as smart*! Is this some kind of ponzi scheme like a central bank creating FIAT money out of thin air?
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*Luke 16:8
“For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light”
This is an interesting parable. There is so much to cover. More than I can put into words right now. I don’t think this has anything to do with FIAT money or the banking system since it is a parable about a rich man and his manager.
Now Yeshua was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a household manager, and this manager was accused of squandering his belongings. So he called the manager and said to him, ‘What’s this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, because you cannot be manager any longer.’
“Then the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I’m not strong enough to dig; I’m ashamed to beg. I know what I’ll do, so that when I’m put out of management others will welcome me into their homes.’ So he called in each one of his master’s debtors, and he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’
“He said, ‘One hundred units of olive oil.’
“The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and write 50.’ Then he said to another, ‘Now how much do you owe?’
“He said, ‘A hundred units of wheat.’
“The manager said to him, ‘Take your bill and write 80.’
“Now the master praised the crooked manager because he had acted shrewdly, for the sons of this age are smarter when dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. I say to you, make friends for yourselves from the wealth of the world, so when it runs out, they will welcome you into the eternal shelters.
I don’t know how you come away with the idea that this parable is about FIAT money but I would love to hear your theory.
All I understand of this parable is that the crooked manager, who was an unbeliever, reduced the debt of others at the expense of the rich man. Obviously, the rich man saw it as shrewd because he secured for himself a better future.
Spiritually, he reduced debtors debts because of his love for them. Love covers a multitude of sins.
OK, now I get it. The rich man isn’t aware of each single debt, but likely the manager is, so he tries to make friends in the world at the expense of the rich man, by reminding each debtor of the debt and then being “generous” to them like a patron.
So the corrupt manager basically switches loyalty from the rich man to the debtors at the anouncement of being removed from his duties, taking advantage of still being in charge of the rich man’s finances.
The FIAT money system or better the so called “fractional reseve” scheme* of the FIAT money system would have been different, namely issueing bills backed by nothing but the power to issue bills.
_* there are several videos explaining the fractional reserve system prevailing in all of the Western World online. “How to make money out of thin air”. It is the oposite of a gold-standard money system.
How would he know the crooked manager was shrewd if he didn’t know how much the debtors owed?
The Bible doesn’t say that he has loyalty to either the rich man or the debtors. It only states that he used the rich man to reduce the debt of the debtors. It teaches that God uses unbelievers to do His will as much as He uses believers who aren’t shrewd. Believers don’t put emphasis on money for survival.
I see and I suppose that is exactly what he did. For me, it’s the spiritual message that the unbeliever reduced the debtors debt by covering it with the rich man’s note.
When left with a man’s own shrewd thoughts, an “unbelievers” works often mimics Gods work.
“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise (some translations do say shrewd, which makes your theory plausible) as serpents and innocent as doves.
Matthew 10: 16
Even though the rich man saw his works as shrewd, the crooks prudence did nothing to save his position as manager for the rich man.
You know what I’ve learned about shrewd people…
It doesn’t really matter how shrewd they are, the outcome will never be what they try to create with their prudence.
Do you know how you can know if something is from God?
When God lays something on your heart, you are convicted to do that thing and it is done with sincerity and true compassion.
When a person uses God to convince you that you are doing Gods service in order to create their own personal leverage in a situation, it will feel like you are being forced to do something against your will and it will embitter you against them. They may accomplish what they set out to do at that moment but ultimately, their efforts will come to nothing and they will be left alone to reflect on their godless prudence.
