The Steward of Unrighteousness
Question:
What is the meaning of the Lord’s saying: “Make friends for yourselves by the mammon of unrighteousness” (Luke 16:9)?
Answer:
The meaning of unrighteous mammon is not the unlawful money that a person brings through injustice, because such money is not accepted before God.
God does not accept a work of good that comes through evil.
And how true is the saying of the Psalm: “The oil of the sinner shall not anoint my head.”
From here, the Church does not accept any money that it knows is from a sinful source, for all offerings receive a blessing and are mentioned in the Litany of the Offerings before God..
So what is the “mammon of unrighteousness” that the Lord meant?
It is the money of the poor person, which is due from you but you have not given to him.
You are required to give to the Lord tithes, firstfruits, and offerings… If you do not give all of this, you have wronged their rightful owners, and that money becomes “mammon of unrighteousness.” But there may be poor people among your family members who do not fall under your official family responsibility; will you give to them?
The money of the tithes that you did not pay, kept in your pocket, and did not deliver to its rightful owners—the poor—is mammon of unrighteousness.
Therefore, “make friends for yourselves” from this money, the mammon of unrighteousness: deliver it to its rightful owners, the poor, so that they may become friends to you, praying on your behalf.
Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – El-Keraza Magazine, Year Eight (Issue Forty-Three) – October 27, 1977
For better translation support, please contact the center.
