SCRIPTURE:Luke 16: 1-15
Written by: Dr Conrade Yap
Date:December 3rd, 2015
8“The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly. For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. 9I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.
One of the most intriguing parables of Jesus has to be the Parable of the Shrewd Manager. In that story, Jesus told his disciples about a rich man who had decided to terminate the services of someone he hired. The NIV describes this "someone" as the “Shrewd Manager.” This shrewd manager had heard about his impending dismissal. Worried about his future, he went ahead to do something rather unthinkable. Calling in each of his master’s debtors, he went ahead to give his own version of Black Friday sales. For the first debtor who owed 450 gallons of olive oil, the manager dished out a 50% discount. For the second debtor who owed 1000 bushels (about 30 tons) of wheat, he immediately offered a 20% discount. Other than these two debtors, there were no mention of other such deals but it is safe to assume that these two examples reflect what he had done to the rest. The Shrewd Manager was offering a Great Middle-Eastern Sale of the Century!
For those of us familiar with earthly sensitivities and the need for right ethical behavior, this story should rub us on the wrong side in at least three ways.
A) Damaging Profitability
First off, how can we ever justify giving huge discounts without consulting our superiors? In the service sectors, anything out of the ordinary require the approval or signature of the next line of authority. Over at the Starbucks counter, if there is a dispute, or when the customer asks for something out of the ordinary, a common strategy is for the barista to consult his or her manager in charge. Whether it is giving out discounts or providing additional features at a lower cost, the employee usually does not have the authority to go beyond his/her duty. When we go to the bank, a withdrawal exceeding a certain amount would require additional levels of clearance from the branch’s supervisors. From airports to supermarkets; car sales offices to corporate deals, getting approvals to give deep discounts are needed. Last week was US Thanksgiving, followed by the traditional mad rush to go shopping after the Turkey dinner. Across the United States, people would hop onto their vehicles to rush to the malls or department stores for the post-Thanksgiving event: Black Friday. The word “Black” is used to describe the dark midnight hour where businesses like Walmart, Target, Sears, Nordstrom, etc would open their doors at the stroke of midnight to give shoppers a magical night of discounts galore. It has become an annual affair where people would fight over goods at Walmart and other popular discount stores.
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