What Did Jesus Mean By, “Make To Yourselves Friends of The Mammon of Unrighteousness?”—How Are All Things Lawful For Paul?

What Did Jesus Mean By, "Make To Yourselves Friends of The Mammon of Unrighteousness?"

Luke 16:1-9

1 "And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods.

2 And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward.

3 Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed.

4 I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.

5 So he called every one of his lord’s debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord?

6 And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty.

7 Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore.

8 And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

9 And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations."

In Luke 16:1-8 Jesus is showing us how shrewd people of this world are in dealing with each other.

In Luke 16:9 Jesus tells us to make friends with wealthy people of the world.

God’s Church is a small church and most of the people we deal with are of this world.

There are friends that are closer than a brother. Good friends that are of this world can help you (when you fail) in a time of need.

How Are All Things Lawful For Paul?

I Corinthians 10:23-24

23 "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.

24 Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth.”

Paul is talking about food in these verses and about people with weaker faith.

Paul could lawfully eat anything that he wanted to eat but sometimes it was not good for him to do so. He had to carefully consider the beliefs of the people he was eating with.

Study I Corinthians 10:25-33