And it is the man’s foresight, not his fraud, which Our Lord holds out as an example for the Christian to imitate, but with a difference.  For whereas the manager used material things for his material benefit, the Christian is to use material things for his or her spiritual benefit.

The money which the manager manipulated was not his own but his master’s: so everything that a Christian has is not his or her own but God’s, for “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it…(NRSV, Psalm 24: 1) and all we rightfully have has been entrusted to us by him.   Therefore in God’s eyes every Christian is a steward of God and accountable to God for the wise and conscientious exercise of his or her stewardship.

Christians must not selfishly squander their money, as the manager in the parable squandered his master’s goods; nor on the other hand must they selfishly hoard it, laying up for themselves treasure upon earth.  On the contrary, they are to cultivate an inner detachment towards it and use it faithfully by being rich toward God, that is, by giving to charity.