The Bible says “So the Master commended the unjust steward” (Luke 16:8). How did the Lord commend the unjust steward?
The Lord, by this parable admonishes us by the wisdom which the people of the world have.
So if the people of this world in spite of their sins, have such wisdom then the sons of God should also have it. For immediately after praising the unjust steward on his wisdom He said, ‘for the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light” (Luke 16:8). The Lord is reproaching us by the parable of the unjust steward who being a son of this world, knew how to be ready for his future.
We need to bring up an important point in this parable and other parables like it:
There is a specific point of comparison, not a generalised one.
For example if we praise the lion, we do not praise its savageness and wildness but we praise its strength and courage. If we describe a man as a lion we do not mean that he is an animal or a savage but we praise him for his strength and courage. Also in the parable of the unjust steward the praise was for one specific point only which is the wisdom of being ready for the future, not his other qualities.
Here we give another example to clarify this point: The serpent, which is the cause of the calamity and fall of the human race, the Lord found a nice thing about it that we might adopt, He said:
“Be wise as serpents… ” (Matt. 10:16)
Does that mean that we should be like the serpent in every thing? While it is a symbol of wickedness, evil and cunning. The only point that God praised in the serpent is the wisdom, so the resemblance is only limited to this quality, as with the unjust steward.
