Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
(Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 16:1-8)
Once
an ecumenical group of pastors was discussing a gospel passage much like the
one we read today. The ministers were baffled
at the obvious implication that people should help others out of self-interest. Is love really the motivator, the ministers
seemed to ask themselves, if one benefits from the action?
The
ministers were responding from the perspective of the influential Lutheran
theologian, Anders Nygren. Intolerant of
self-love, Nygren drove a wedge between real love, which he termed agape or divine love, and acquisitive love, which Greek
philosophers called eros. According to Nygren, the latter has nothing
to do with the former. He would label
any action falling short of selflessness as unworthy of Christian love.
But
Nygren’s thesis does not adequately account for human motivation. We are people with real needs. Beyond physical necessities we need support
and assurance which come to us when we go out to others. It is not necessarily selfish to satisfy
these needs. What differentiates love
from exploitation is concern for the good of everyone. Jesus keeps this distinction in mind in today’s
gospel parable. The crafty steward does not only act on his own behalf; he also
reduces the burden of the indebted. Similarly, God takes notice and helps us when
we help the poor.
