The
Principle Of Trust
is not just a far cry to church leadership; but rather an eye opener on the church and the church leader about the truncating abilities of power. Not only that the leader could end up destroying the flock but also the leader can be destroyed by the flock's weaknesses in the ideal that he is given to their bias or his bias rather than the truth.
It means whatever we are entrusted with is power; and that power can either build or destroy us; depending on how we use it. The
Parable Of The Shrewd Servant
though openly said before all; Christ did aim it at church leadership that the power entrusted them can be of detrimental produce if they do not carry it well. Though directed at the church due to the former three parables about following the backslidden or the lost sheep; because of the setting (: where Christ stand before the pharisees, congregation leaders and the masses) it is implicitly directed deliberately to the key crop of the masses; being church leadership.
It of necessity do implicitly show a hindering of the general masses by a purposed fallacy of the leaders. Thus making people their followers rather than followers of God. He did cast it in the teeth of the pharisees and the congregation leaders who were deliberately making many follow them though leading them astray by the power of association. It is not a new argument, but one tag of war he did tussle with them the much to His end. One can tell in His parable He deliberately shows how the steward takes the weaklings of the flock: not the strong to squeeze the last light out of their senses by making them indebted to him rather than his master. It means a radical and deliberate replacement of master with self.
Luke 16:3-7 KJV
Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore
.
One would say, the steward's problem is not an inability to start afresh and do right: but the ideal that he is a high society person due to the master's substance and because of that given ability. He would rather go wrong the more than face his predicament. He rather would go further being wrong the more than right things and start afresh. He does not just do it in our parable of study being the parable of the shrewd servant, but it was a raging hearth toward them persistently; for they had set a system that did not lead any to God but to themselves.
Matthew 23:15 KJV
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves
Matthew 23:1-4 KJV
Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers
It does hint an err in the system of the set things by the leaders of the moment.