By the way, don’t let your kids
watch that show. There are a lot of “not nice” things to see there.
Starting with Frank Underwood.
In the show, Underwood is the
majority whip in Congress. And he plays politics. Boy, does he play politics.
He plays politics mean.
Normally, I don’t like shows or
movies that have a “not nice” main character, and I’m not sure how many more
episodes of this one I’ll be watching. But there is something fascinating about
Frank Underwood. Something that I would almost describe as “admirable.”
Maybe it’s because I had a
professor once who said, “just because you don’t like someone, don’t just toss
aside everything about them.” She (my
professor) was talking about theologians. One theologian in particular, who I
and my classmates didn’t like, because of his views on certain theological
issues. “Don’t dismiss him entirely,” she said; “you may not like certain
aspects of his theology, but there’s still something you can learn from him.”
That was the most important
lesson that professor ever taught me.
I don’t like Underwood’s
attitude toward others. He is, as I said, “not nice.” He doesn’t care about
other people at all. He’s malicious. He only demonstrates friendship and
affection and care and sympathy when doing so will benefit him and his
ambitions.
And yet, I can’t help but admire
the way Underwood works to shape events to his advantage. He never just lets
events happen to him; he makes them
happen the way he wants them to happen. He never just sits there, helpless,
while events unravel around him. He takes control. He shapes his future. He actively creates his reality.
For Underwood, there is no
defeat. Defeat is not acceptable. If he’s working hard on a bill and it appears
the bill is going nowhere, that it’s going down to defeat, well… that’s when
Underwood really gets fired up. That’s when he gets really ruthless. That’s
when he really starts manipulating people, blackmailing them, luring them into
traps that they can’t get out of, so that he can get his way.
Because of that, things usually do
work out for Underwood.
And when they don’t… when some
other member of Congress gets in his way, or even if the president himself gets
in his way… Underwood makes them pay.
There will always be a next time, and he wants them to remember what happened
the last time they stood in his way.
Like I said, he’s not a nice
person. But in spite of all this, I still see something in him worth admiring.
To start with, even though he is
described as “dishonest,” there is, apparently, something to admire in this
manager. “And the master commended the
dishonest manager…”
But why was the dishonest manager commended? Well, there are different opinions on that.
Some have said it was because
the manager, when he was about to be fired, instantly repented of the way he
had contributed to the economic inequality of his time; that he had defected
from the systemic injustice of the dominant system. Instead of making a profit
for himself by helping the rich, he now was seeking to help the poor who were
in debt.
That would certainly be an
admirable change of heart on his part. But I don’t buy it.
Others who have studied this
passage say, no, he’s not that nice
of a person. He didn’t instantly go from bad and dishonest to a fine, upstanding
person of high morals. Rather, he’s still doing what’s best for himself. He’s giving favors to his master’s debtors who
are not poor but are, themselves, people of some means, and he’s doing this so
that they might remember the kindness shown to them, and might then show him
some kindness in return, perhaps by offering the dishonest manager a job. He’s
just looking out for himself.
Watching a few episodes of House
of Cards has me thinking that this second option might be the correct
interpretation. I know that watching House of Cards is probably not the best
way to gain insight into scripture, so I could very well be wrong.
He’s not concerned about his
master’s debtors. He’s not concerned about the poor. And he certainly doesn’t
care about reforming an unjust economic system.
No. He’s still concerned only
about himself and his own welfare. That is what guides his actions. And even at
the end of the story, he’s still referred to as a “dishonest manager.”
In other words, he’s still a
“not nice” kind of guy.
So what is it about him that is
admirable? What is it that leads the manager to commend him?
Yet, he doesn’t give up. He
hasn’t lost everything, at least not
yet. He still has some leverage. He still has some time.
And he works hard, and he uses
that leverage to ensure that he won’t be left out on the street after this is
over. He makes deals with those who can help him, and shows kindness to them.
Yes, it’s in his own
self-interest! But he’s securing for himself a future. Instead of sitting back
and letting whatever’s going to happen happen,
he’s still at work shaping his future. The future is not going to control him;
he’s going to figure out a way to create
his own future.
It may not be the future he
thought it was going to be, working for his master as he had in the past. It
may not be the future he had been counting on. But it will still be a future in
which he is controlling what happens. It will be a future that he helps shape,
a future which he works actively to create.
And he’s using whatever
resources he has to make that happen.
Even when fired, when the end of
his success seems imminent, he hasn’t given up.
He will find a way.
Jesus says, “The master
commended the dishonest manager because he acted shrewdly; for the children of
this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the
children of light.”
In other words, those who belong
to the world, those who strive to achieve worldly success, are more shrewd,
more clever, more determined to get what they are striving for, than are those
who seek and strive for God’s kingdom.
But what about those who seek
and strive for God’s kingdom: are they as committed? Are they as willing to
keep working? Are they willing to use everything they’ve got in order to be
successful at carrying out their mission, their calling from God?
Jesus says, “make friends for
yourselves by means of dishonest wealth…”
“Dishonest wealth.” It means the
money of this age. The money of this world. All the material wealth that you
have, and all the resources at your disposal…
We all have wealth. We all have
money. We all have resources at our disposal.
Maybe we’re like the manager in
the story, before he was fired, living comfortably with an abundance of wealth.
Maybe we’re like the manager
when he’s about to be fired, when we realize that the money we had or thought
we had coming was about to dry up.
But whatever we have, Jesus
says, we should use it on behalf of God’s kingdom.
And when things don’t go our
way, we can continue working hard, shaping our future, instead of letting
whatever’s going to happen happen to
us. Instead of letting our circumstances shape us, we can direct and guide and
shape our future.
When we invest our money in this
way, it is a good investment. It is the best
investment. Because it is an investment in the kingdom of God. It is an
investment in the beloved community. It is an investment in a life of shalom, a
life of deep satisfaction, for us and for all people, now and in the age to
come.
The dishonest manager invested
in the future even when it seemed that there was no future. He invested in the
future, even when it seemed there was no future to invest in. That is something
to admire, even if he was a “not nice”
guy.
So if this is how a dishonest
manager – a person lacking in moral fiber – can create a future for himself, imagine
how the world can change if people who are
nice – people who are filled with love and compassion and kindness, those who
Jesus refers to as the children of light – imagine what can happen if they – if
we – work hard and manage our
resources and invest our wealth in the kind of world we want to live in…if we
used our resources to create a better future… if we refuse to give up and give
in, and instead actively commit making good things happen…
If we sit back and resign
ourselves to fate, to whatever’s going to happen, then whatever’s going to
happen is what’s going to happen, and we’ll have no say in it.
But if we use everything at our
disposal to shape the future, to help create the future that God is calling us
to create… that is how we wisely and
shrewdly invest in the future. That
is how we go about the work of bringing God’s kingdom on earth, as it is in
heaven.
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