What did the Pharisees value?

1. They value legalism above the lost.
2. They value prosperity above people. Do not misunderstand me that Jesus is against prosperity. He is not. In fact, He wants us to prosper in every aspect and not just financially. Here, He was referring to the love of money more than the people in whom they were called and set apart to serve – Luke 16:14,15.

In the parable of the Dishonest Steward, the steward knew that he didn’t handle the money well. Like anyone, when we met with crisis in our life, we panic and tried to perform our best under pressure. Vince Lombardi once said, “Crisis does not make a man but only reveals who he is”. Here, the dishonest steward was forced to act fast under pressure and panic. He made use of the situation to prepare for his future by turning the situation to his benefits. Jesus praised this dishonest steward, not because of his dishonesty. He was praising him for his discernment – verse 8. This dishonest steward got good insight of the future and what he should do. He knew his own limitations – verse 3-4. Hence, he created a backdoor for himself. He made friends for himself among his master’s debtors by making use of his master’s money. In this case, he made himself the beneficiaries of these debtors who owe debts to his master. He gave discounts to their debt payments. By so doing, he knew that he would be welcome by them when his master fired him later.