Playing Both Sides

Luke 16: 1-11

Whatever we may do in this life while working to support our family or to get ahead we typically must serve someone else. In this way we have an earthly master, not to be confused with our Heavenly Master. As long as we are employed by an earthly master we are a manager over some part of the earthly master’s business even if it is simply managing our own time.

In Luke 16 Jesus is teaching that an the earthly master has asked for an accounting of an unrighteous manager of his business. The master was suspicious of what his manager had been doing.
Once the manager knew what the master was asking for, immediately he began to scheme secretly of how he could make the best of the situation for himself because he knew the master would not be pleased. The master would surely let him go when he found out what the manager had been doing. The scheme he hatched was that he would go to each of the master’s debtors he was in charge of, and reduce the amounts the debtors owed to the master. This way the debtors would think he was a good man and they could possibly help him by giving him somewhere to stay or help in some financial way once he was out of a job.
The world is full of schemers and many times the world thinks of them more highly than just your average good, honest person. The schemer may even be thought of as "shrewd". This is what the master thought after he knew all of what the manager was doing.
As believers Jesus wants us to understand that we are to be as shrewd as those of the world with what God has given us. Do not squander even your worldly possessions. Take care of what you have while here, but do not serve wealth. Being a good steward of what we are blessed with is good practice for what God will give us in eternity.
To love the things of this life only without planning for eternity will result in only getting what life here has to offer and no eternal rewards.
To plan for eternal life only while forgetting about proper relation to things of this life is the type of mistake you would think an immature believer might make.