Transcription

Connor
You’re listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun and practical ways.

Chris
Hey, Jeff. Hey, Chris. Welcome to the studio. Bright and early for our first Monday podcast.

Jeff
Man of 2024. Wow. Whoa! We made it. You are old. You made it. Yeah, I made it. Yeah, yeah. Good job.

Chris

2024. You know, uh, remember when it was, um. Yeah, like 2001, 2002? And I said, I said, what are we going to start calling it? 2001? Yeah, yeah. And it didn’t happen until after 2010. Right?

Jeff
Right, right. Yeah. So now.

Chris
It’s 2024.

Jeff

2024. Yeah yeah, yeah. Is that more comfortable for you. It is as opposed to 2024.

Chris
To be honest with you. It it it really for ten years I hated it. You hated it okay. It it made me mad.

Jeff
Is that what made Chris mad? I’m kidding. That’s what made Chris mad. These past two decades did not.

Chris
Make me mad. It did not make.

Jeff
Me mad at all. That’s going to be that’s going to be our new segment. What made Chris mad over the past two decades? That’s so funny. Yeah.

Chris
Okay. Well, hey, today we’re going to start off with a New Year’s resolution.

Jeff
You make New Year’s resolutions.

Chris
Uh, not anymore, not anymore. But you know what I did for so many years?

Jeff
Yeah. I’m not big on failing, either. Yeah, yeah, I set myself up for failure.

Chris
Yeah. So, uh, I don’t I don’t really do it. Uh, I try to make resolutions before the holidays. Right? Yeah. It’s like, hey, if I can make a if I could go through the holidays and not gain £10, that’d be great.

Jeff
Yeah. No, that’s one of my resolutions, is to gain £10 of the holidays and I’m going to indulge.

Chris
That’s one of your goals.

Jeff
Yeah. Yeah.

Chris
All right. So we’re going to just read from a list that both of us have pulled up some.

Jeff
Of our favorite.

Chris
Uh, funny resolutions.

Jeff
Resolutions? I don’t know that they’re funny. I kind of take them serious.

Chris
Yeah. Okay.

Jeff
All right. Yeah, yeah. All right, so you’re going to do five? I’ll do five. Sure.

Chris
Go ahead. And by the way, we didn’t prepare for this.

Jeff
Okay. Okay. So, uh, I’m going to make it my resolution to exercise my right to eat more chocolate.

Chris
Oh, there you go.

Jeff
There you go.

Chris
All right. This one says for the ladies out there, turn all of your high heel shoes into flats.

Jeff
Okay? Is that what you’re going to do? Yeah. Are you going to do that, Chris? Yeah. Uh, let me see. Um, I promise, uh, to practice. To practice my listening face during conference calls.

Chris
That’s really good.

Jeff
Act like I’m interested.

Chris
All right. Uh, this one says, uh, do so much yoga that it actually justifies wearing yoga pants 24 over seven. Oh, no.

Jeff
Uh, okay. Uh, I’m going to this this year. Uh, one of my resolutions is to master the art of the strategic bathroom break during long meetings.

Chris
Nice, nice. All right. Uh, this is, uh, stop daring people to lick frozen flagpoles. That’s just that’s just smart.

Jeff
Stop daring people to lick frozen. Why? That’s, like, one of the best things about living in the North, right? Right. Why would you do that? Right?

Chris
That’s funny. Remember Dumb and Dumber. Remember? He’s trying to pull the tongue off.

Jeff
Yeah.

Chris
It’s really good.

Jeff
Okay. Um, let me see. I had one about zoom. Remember that one? I just I just read it to you. Yeah, uh, I can’t I can’t find it. Now, um, I’m going to strive, uh, to say no more often unless it involves dessert.

Chris
How about this one? Add the phrase think outside the box to your business jargon for no reason.

Jeff
Think outside the box. Yeah.

Chris
Okay.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No reason. That’s funny. Okay. Uh. Uh, I’m. This year, I’m going to make a resolution to remember more of my coworkers names. Yes. Or at least the ones that bring snacks.

Chris
There you go. There you go. Uh uh, it says this one says, stop telling the same jokes when you meet your friends or just make new friends.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, that’s probably the the best idea. Yeah. For sure. Make new friends. Make new friends. Yeah. It’s way harder to find new jokes.

Chris
And remember.

Jeff
Jokes at work. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s right, that’s right. Uh, let me see. Uh, I’m going to perfect the art of pretending to listen during zoom meetings.

Chris
You already said.

Jeff
That. No, no, no, the other one was, uh, look interested.

Chris
Oh, those are those.

Jeff
Are very similar.

Chris
Very similar.

Jeff
They’re close cousins. Yeah.

Chris
Okay.

Jeff
All right. Can I retract that one then?

Chris
Yeah.

Jeff
You go I’m going to I’m going to retract that. Go ahead okay. Go ahead. You pick another one.

Chris
All right. Uh it says um, stop referring to autumn as pumpkin spice latte season. That’s pretty good. Only eat white snow.

Jeff
Yeah, that’s a really good resolution. That’s actually a good for all of our people who don’t live in snowy areas. Uh, you might want to make sure that the snow you’re eating is only white. Never eat the yellow snow.

Chris
That’s right, that’s.

Jeff
Right, that’s right. Um, uh, I promise to develop an encyclopedic knowledge of excuses just in case.

Chris
Just in case this one says check your work email at least once a year.

Jeff
Yeah, okay. At least once a year. Uh, any more? Do you have any other ones you have to do?

Chris
Uh, no. No, I think that’s okay. Uh uh, it says only eat McDonald’s was when there’s an E. In the month is that every month? Is that. What? Is that what it’s doing? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That’s what it’s.

Jeff
Saying. Except January. January. Oh.

Chris
So that’s an actual that’s an actual real resolution.

Jeff
I resolved to do more yoga, even if it’s just the lying down and pretending to be a log pose.

Chris
Oh, I like this one. I like this one. What did you say? I didn’t see, I didn’t.

Jeff
I resolved to do more yoga. Even if it’s just the lying down and pretending to be a log pose.

Chris
Is that was that one yoga move? All right, how about this one? This is good. We can finish up with this. Um, it says the resolution is to gain enough weight to get on The Biggest Loser.

Jeff
Right? Yep, yep.

Jeff
Okay, uh, I’ll strive to eat more greens, even if they’re just the M&M kind.

Chris
That’s so funny. Even if the M&M kind.

Chris
All green, baby. So. Hey, there you go. I don’t know if those those seem reasonable.

Jeff
I hope that’s helpful. Right? That’s as people are thinking today. They’re they’re contemplating, gee, how do I want my new year to go? And if you haven’t already made a resolution, maybe some of those would be useful.

Chris
I’d be curious as to to find out whether people actually do resolutions and whether they work. Yeah. So hey, email us in, uh, send us an email at info at thebible guys. Com and let us know.

Jeff
Yeah. My resolution is usually last till middle of February. Yeah, yeah, that’s a six weeker.

Chris
That’s what most resolutions last. Did you know that. Oh really? Six weeks. Yeah. So if you talk to anybody in the industry of health clubs uh it it’s a January is packed and the whole health club is like so all the regulars, they don’t even go in January because it’s ridiculous. And then by mid-February it’s completely empty.

Jeff
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Well there you.

Chris
Go. Which is sad, but it’s true.

Jeff
It’s just human nature. That’s why the health clubs make all their money in January.

Chris
Remember the office? Kevin says it’s only human. Natural.

Jeff
Okay, I still have my little cough. Can you believe it? You do? Here we are, all.

Chris
The way into the new year.

Jeff
It’s a postnasal drip, is what it is back there. Too much information. It’s not in my don’t don’t care in my chest. Don’t care. Yeah, yeah, well, I don’t want people thinking I’m walking around being sick. I’m not sick. That’s just this dumb little trickle. It’s weird. Okay. Anyways, uh, Luke, chapter 16 is where we’re at, and, uh, this is where Jesus tells the parable of the shrewd manager. And I’ll be honest with you, this one in my life has always been a little confusing. Yeah, right. Yeah. There’s there’s some vague morality in this one, and, uh, it’s kind of a weird thing. So hopefully we can unpack that this a little bit for sure, but it’s, uh, Luke chapter 16, one through 18. And Jesus told this story to his disciples. There was a certain rich man who had a manager handling his affairs. One day a report came that the manager was wasting his employer’s money. So the employer called him in and said, what’s this I hear about you? Get your report in order because you’re going to be fired. The manager thought to himself, now what? My boss has fired me. I don’t have the strength to dig ditches and I’m too proud to beg.

Chris
He’s considering his options.

Jeff
At least he’s honest about himself. Right? Honest assessment. Uh, I know how to ensure, uh, that I’ll have plenty of friends who give me a home when I’m fired. So I invited each person who owed money to his employer to come and discuss the situation. And he asked the first one, how much do you owe him? And the man replied, I owe him 800 gallons of olive oil. So the manager told him, take the bill and quickly change it to 400 gallons. How much do you owe my employer? He asked the next man. I owe him 1000 bushels of wheat, was the reply. Here, manager said, take the bill and change it to 800 bushels. Rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of the light. Here’s the lesson use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. And then when your earthly possessions are gone, they’ll welcome you to an eternal home. If you’re faithful in little things, you’ll be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you will not be honest with greater responsibilities. And if you’re untrustworthy with worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? And if you’re not faithful with other people’s things, why should you be trusted with things of your own? No one can serve two masters, for you will hate one and love the other. You’ll be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. The Pharisees, who dearly loved their money, heard all this and scoffed at him. Then he said to them, you like to appear righteous in public, but God knows your hearts.

Jeff
What this world honors is detestable in the sight of God. Until John the Baptist, the Law of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is eager to get in. But that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force. It’s easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest point of God’s law to be overturned. For example, a man who divorces his wife and marries someone else commits adultery, and anyone who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery. Wow. That’s the example he closes out with.

Chris
Yeah, well, okay.

Jeff
This whole thing, man, it can be really difficult to track.

Chris
Yeah. He says, for example, uh, it is easier for a heaven and earth to disappear than for the smallest point of God to be overturned in.

Jeff
The King James says, jot or title, remember? Yeah, yeah, yeah. The little, uh, punctuation. Punctuation.

Chris
Yes. Yeah. Jot or title. Yeah. So, uh. Yeah. Wow. So there’s a lot in here, and, uh, so I’d like to.

Jeff
Let’s jump into the story part of it first. Yeah. And unpack that.

Chris
Well, I want to read, uh, let’s just read the, uh, note here that says this. Our use of money is a good test of the lordship of Christ. Money belongs to God, not to us. Let us use our resources wisely. Money can be used for good or evil. Let us use ours for good. Money has a lot of power that it’s used it carefully and thoughtfully. We must use our material goods in a way that will foster faith and obedience, so that that really doesn’t help us in terms of the actual specifics of it. No, no. But, uh, but it’s definitely, uh, probably one of the main points of the story, right? Yeah. And so I do think that, um, when he, when he talks about, if you’re honest with the little things God will reward you with, with, uh, he said he says you won’t be honest with the big things. Right. And he says if you’re.

Jeff
Dishonest with the little.

Chris
Things. Well, he says both. He says, if you. Yeah, that’s right. If you’re dishonest, you’ll be dishonest. If you’re honest, you’ll be honest, right? That’s right, that’s right. And then he says, uh, and does he say in this particular scripture, uh, if you’re faithful, you, uh, those who are faithful will be given more. No, that’s that’s elsewhere. Right? Yeah. So so he goes straight from there into you shouldn’t serve two masters. So I definitely think that, uh, you know, he’s talking about a relatable thing that probably that people are familiar with. Uh, people are probably familiar with people running people’s affairs right now. You and I, we don’t live necessarily at a CEO level where, uh, you know, where you own businesses, right? Right. And you hire.

Jeff
I don’t have anybody that owes me 800 gallons of, uh, olive oil.

Chris
Well, not like that, but I would imagine that the only way that this guy. Here’s my point. The only way this guy can change it from 1000 to 800 is because his master has no clue what how much is owed. That’s my point, right? Right. Yeah. Like, we don’t live in that world, right? But I bet you was a lot more common back then. Yeah, I bet you it was a lot more common for anybody who had wealth to hire people to manage their affairs. Because Jesus talked about that so much, didn’t he? Yeah. He talked about, like, you know, uh, remember the parable of the talents? You know, he, he there’s the.

Jeff
Rich man, and he gives to a couple of his servants to go and invest and make more. Yeah.

Chris
And I almost wonder, I almost wonder if it was just understood because there probably wasn’t a middle class back then. No. So it was either you were sort of in the poor class or you just knew everything about, you know, and you were enthralled with the you were the.

Jeff
Rich guy or the guys who worked for the rich guy. Those were the only two groups. Yes. Yeah.

Chris
Yeah, that’s probably very true.

Jeff
Yeah. So in this, you know, the. The guy gets caught because he’s being lazy and he’s wasting his boss’s money. Yep. Right. And so that’s the story that Jesus starts to tell. And then when the guy finds out he’s going to get fired, he immediately starts to try to think, how do I leverage my relationships in order to make sure I have a job? Because the funniest phrase in there is when he says, uh, um, um, uh, I don’t have the strength to dig in. I’m too proud to beg. Right? So I’m too weak to dig ditches and I’m too proud to beg. And so he goes, how do I make sure that I have plans in the future? And he leverage the relationships that he had in these things? Now he goes to collections. These aren’t I in my mind. What I’m thinking is that this these are accounts that haven’t been collected at all, and there is no hope that there’s going to be a collection. Right? That’s that’s what it seems like because his boss doesn’t know about these things either. And so this is kind of one of those collections calls things. Hey, how much do you actually owe my boss a thousand? All right, make it make it 800. How much do you owe my boss? I owe him 800. Okay, make it 400. And what he’s doing is he’s shoring up the loyalty of these people. He’s bailing them out, right, because he has the authority to do so. Jesus is not saying that what this guy did was dishonest, right?

Chris
And that’s the confusing part, right? The confusing part is the morality that sometimes. Well, I would say almost always when Jesus says, like the kingdom of heaven is like and usually it’s like, you know, the only thing really honestly that he’s ever said, uh, the kingdom of heaven is like, where I go really is. Remember the guy who knocks and he says, get, get up and give me a loaf of bread. And the guy says, uh, don’t bother me. And he goes, but because of his audacity, yeah, he gets up and keep knocking. Yeah. And then I read that and think, really? Is the kingdom of heaven like that? Because that’s what you just said.

Jeff
Keep knocking on the door. Yeah. Yeah, right. Don’t give up in prayer. That’s what he’s saying. Yeah. That’s what he’s saying. Be fervent. Yeah. So in this one Jesus is not saying that when the guy cuts the bill. That’s dishonest.

Chris
Yeah. Well he’s so he has the.

Jeff
Authority to do it.

Chris
Yeah. But he also didn’t say this is the way that the Heavenly Father works either. No, he’s just he’s just giving an example, I think, of how shrewd people can be in little things and then in big things. Yeah.

Jeff
So he’s he’s trying to he’s not saying the kingdom of heaven is like this. That’s right. Right. Um, so what he’s trying to teach is take advantage of and leverage your relationships, leverage your financial opportunities, be smart. And because he says, um, it is true in verse eight, it is true that the children of this world are more shrewd in dealing with the world around them than are the children of light. So Jesus point is to say, hey, there’s a lot you can learn from how the business world works. You guys are so heavenly minded, but you have no idea how real business works. That that’s the point he’s making. So this guy is not being dishonest. He has the authority to collect something. When his boss was getting nothing. But what he did is he did it at exactly the right time. That preserved his career, because he’s going to be able to get a job from one of these other guys, right? Right. That’s what he did. And so what Jesus is saying is this guy is thinking three steps ahead. And you guys, he’s talking to simple fishermen. I mean, he’s only got one, two, maybe two real businessmen. He’s got Peter’s a businessman, Matthew’s a businessman. He’s got some young guys. These are all everybody is under 40 except for Peter, right? You’re under 30, except for Peter and Jesus. They’re all young guys. And Jesus is saying, listen, there’s some wisdom in the world on how to do business that you guys just seem ignorant of. And so I think he’s inviting them to learn how to do good business while they’re doing good ministry. I think he’s inviting them not for their own benefit, because then he goes on and he talks about using, uh, using your, uh, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends.

Jeff
Yeah. Right. And so he’s he’s not saying, uh, take advantage of your ministry in order to get richer. He’s saying, learn how to do business in a way that will benefit the people around you.

Chris
You know what’s so funny about this story is he is. It’s almost like he’s trying to. Take somebody who does something wrong and he says, but at least what he did well in that story was manage his relationships.

Jeff
I think what I’m saying is I don’t think he did anything wrong. I think he had the authority to collect. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so collect what he could.

Chris
Yeah. But was fine. But he did something dishonest because he calls it dishonest. He says in verse number eight, the rich man had to admire the dishonest rascal for being so shrewd. And it’s kind of like if you if you watch any lawyer show, but it might.

Jeff
Have been because he was mishandling the affairs, might be why he was dishonest at the very beginning. Oh yeah. Right. So it was he was mishandling the affairs. He’s going to get fired over it. And then in the moment of knowing he’s going to get fired, he goes and collects bills. So the collecting of the bills wasn’t dishonest, okay. The fact that he was dishonest.

Chris
So the dishonest, dishonest servant can refer to the reason why he was going to get fired. He missed.

Jeff
He mismanaged the boss’s boss’s money. But Jesus is not saying that this behavior here of only collecting, you know, 400 instead of 800 gallons, that’s not dishonest. It seems like that’s within his purview. Yeah. Is what I’m saying right. So Jesus is not endorsing dishonesty here, right? Jesus is endorsing the shrewdness of going, okay, look at all my options. I’m about to lose my job. What are my options? Oh, let me shore up some friendships over here by doing a win win for everybody. My boss is going to get at least 400 gallons out of it. And I’m going to have a fan, right? Right. When I need to go apply for a new job.

Chris
Yeah. And, uh, and I do, I do love how like, for instance, here’s how I, when I read this, here’s what I’ve always thought of. I’ve always thought of like, God, uh, is for some reason placed me in a bunch of sales jobs. Right. So so I have sold tech matic adjustable beds. Oh, nice. So I actually had to call people with telemarketing and qualify them, so, uh, but it was actually dishonest. So I had to quit, uh, because, like, I actually wouldn’t send a sales rep to their house if I was able to, uh, assess that they didn’t have enough money. So these poor old people just wanted to price them out. And the postcard back then and I would say, oh, you’re on a farm. And then I had to say something like, my uncle’s on a farm. Uh, you know, you know, so let me, let me assess. Is it a cow farm? What is it kind of farm, is it? Right? So if I feel like I had enough money, I would send a salesman to their house. But anyway, I had to quit. But then I did well in sales when I believed in the product. Right? So when I believed in the product, man, I just made a ton of money and I sold car washes. I sold discover cards on the phone. I sold BP cards on the phone. I sold tech matic, adjustable bed companies. I’ve sold uh, uh, long distance. So I’ve sold quite a few things. I’ve sold rainwater purification systems in residential homes. I mean, I’ve sold a lot of things, I sold cars. Yeah, right. I mean, I’ve had a lot of sales jobs, right. And what’s so interesting is, is that it’s almost as if God said, okay, you’re going to end, you’re going to leave your business world tactics, and now you’re going to sell Jesus.

Chris
Right? And it’s the best product. You know why? Because it’s free and it has the best benefits, right? Right. So go ahead and give that sales pitch. Right. And so that’s what I always feel like I feel like God has just taken the salesman me and said, do your best to sell Jesus. Right. And it’s the best deal of all because you can’t you can’t get a better deal. You know, it’s the best price with the best reward. So I honestly feel like part of that is hidden inside this parable because he says, hey, take your tactics. Take your wisdom. Yes, take your ability to.

Jeff
That’s exactly what I think he’s saying. Yeah.

Chris
And use it for the kingdom and, uh, benefit others.

Jeff
Yes. Make friends. Right. You can’t lead your enemies to Jesus. You’re going to lead your friends to Jesus. Yeah. He’s saying learn. Learn from this. And then he pivots out of that into. So then if you’re faithful a little bit, you’ll be trusted with a lot. If you’re unfaithful with a little bit, then you’re not going to be trusted with a lot. You’re going to be unfaithful with that, too. And I think that that’s very consistent with what Jesus was, was trying to get across there. Um, and then no one can serve two masters. So he pivots because, you know how he ended that? Uh, he said, um, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. Then when your earthly possessions are gone, they’ll welcome you to an eternal home. Right? So he’s reminding them, hey, do everything you can with the worldly possessions and worldly opportunities in front of you. But ultimately they all disappear. They’re all going to be gone. It’s only about eternity. Then he talks about being faithful or unfaithful, and then he says, no one can serve two masters. And then he hits those Pharisees right between the eyes again, because it said they love their money. They dearly love their money. Yeah. And he said, you cannot serve both God and money. So, uh, money is a strong God. So if money becomes the most important thing to you, you cannot honor God. But if money is only a tool, and that’s what he’s trying to teach them, is resources in the worldly wealth and worldly power and worldly influence is just a tool. Learn how to use it well, but use it for God and for others, not just for yourself. So hey, if you have the ability to make a bunch of money, there aren’t very many Christians that know how.

Jeff
So go make a bunch of money, but use it for the kingdom, right? Right. That’s what he’s trying to say here is is leverage all of your worldly opportunities. Don’t feel bad about it. Just be faithful in it. That’s the thing. And faithfulness is God first. Me second, right?

Chris
Yeah. That’s great. And I think that, uh, you know, I think that’s probably a good place to wrap up. Is there any other, uh, thing that we didn’t cover here because he talks about divorce, but I don’t think we want to jump into that.

Jeff
Yeah. Also he was saying is that no laws are changing. That’s right. That’s all he was saying. Yeah. Yeah. And he’s already covered that before.

Chris
Yeah. So uh, yeah. So I would just say, uh, that’s a really good, uh, yeah lesson for all of us. And I would just say for the listeners out there who, you know, like you and I live in church world, right? Yeah. So all the time. But for the listeners out there that seem to say, hey, man, how do I bring faith into my business dealings, my lifestyle, my, you know, my, my world of business? I would say this is a great challenge.

Jeff
So for the beginning of 2024, this is the first one of 2024. Take advantage of the opportunities that God has in front of you, but just make 2024 be the year that it’s all about God and others, and not just for yourself. Right? That’s that’s that’s really what I think Jesus is trying to drive home here. Yeah.

Chris
That’s great. All right. Well that’s our time. So we will see you next time on The Bible Guys.