Is there anything commendable in the following story?…

“There was a rich man who had a manager, and charges were brought to him that this man was wasting his possessions. And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this that I hear about you? Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ And the manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management 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 removed from management, people may receive me into their houses.’ So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ He said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ ”

Hmmmmmm… Well, the lesson is obviously… Hmmmmmm… ???

What if the takeaway from this tiny tale was shrewdness?

Here’s the last line of the story, “The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness.”

Really!? The rich man didn’t seek revenge!? The master didn’t hold a grudge!? The story simply ends with this unnuanced emphasis on the shrewdness of the devious and perfidious manager!?

The Author of this parable concludes the story with the following application…

“I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.”

*Apparently, we are meant to learn and apply shrewdness principles and practices from the complex, morally ambiguous, scenarios and stories surrounding our lives and imbuing our imaginations.

So let’s think about Fantastic Mr. Fox !

FMF carries out unlawful raids on the 3 most consumeristic and gluttonous farmers in his region (Walter Boggis, Nathan Bunce, and Franklin Bean). Mr. Fox is no paragon of pure morals or motives,[1] but ultimately his shrewd and sedulous efforts to purloin the unrighteous wealth of Boggis, Bunce, and Bean leads to the forging and flourishing of many friendships, including (but not limited to) Linda the otter,[2] and Mole[3] (who can see in the dark – which affords many canny and cunning advantages in the mission to make friends by means of unrighteous wealth), and Rabbit[4] (who’s fast!), and Beaver[5] (who can chew through wood!), and Badger[6] (a demolitions expert!); and Weasel,[7] and Vole![8] And a bunch of little kids who can be organized and deployed as some kind of K.P. unit to keep things clean and tidy (which is good for morale). And even Kylie[9] …Kylie is an unbelievably nice opossum, and his job is really just to be available.

So let us be shrewd![10] It’s stupendous![11]

Let us spur one another on in the great commission to make friends by means of unrighteous wealth!

“I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” – Jesus of Nazareth

Mercy & Manna

Tyler

P.S. One more excerpt from FMF (I can’t help it, I love it so much!)… “When I look down this table with the exquisite feast set before us, I see two terrific lawyers, a skilled pediatrician, a wonderful chef, a savvy real estate agent, an excellent tailor, a crack accountant, a gifted musician, a pretty good minnow fisherman, and possibly the best landscape painter working on the scene today. Maybe a few of you might even read my column from time to time, who knows– I tend to doubt it. I also see a room full of wild animals.[12] Wild animals with true natures and pure talents. Wild animals with scientific sounding Latin names that mean something about our DNA. Wild animals each with his own strengths and weaknesses due to his or her species.”

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[1] FMF confesses his sin… “I shouldn’t have lied to your face. I shouldn’t have fallen off the wagon and started secretly stealing chickens on the sly. I shouldn’t have pushed these farmers so far and tried to embarrass them and cuss with their heads. I enjoyed it, but I shouldn’t have done it. …I have this thing where I need everybody to think I’m the greatest– the quote, unquote, Fantastic Mr. Fox. And if they aren’t completely knocked out and dazzled and kind of intimidated by me, then I don’t feel good about myself.”

[2] Lutra Lutra

[3] Taipa Europea

[4] Oryctolagus Cuniculus

[5] Castor Fiber

[6] Meles Meles

[7] Mustela Nivalis

[8] Microtus Pennsyvanicus

[9] Kylie doesn’t have a Latin name, because I doubt they even had opossums in ancient Rome

[10] See also 1 Samuel 21:10-15

[11] See also Psalm 34

[12]See 1 Samuel 21:10-15