Jesus tells a parable this Sunday about a conniving steward caught “squandering the master’s property.” Though caught, he does not stop his conniving. He merely shifts it to “his master’s debtors one by one.” He does so for personal benefit, figuring, “when I am removed from the stewardship, they may welcome me into their homes.” When Jesus says later, “make friends for yourself with dishonest wealth,” he is not affirming the steward’s conniving. The case can be made the steward has not made friends with dishonest wealth. If he had, he would not be so wily or conniving about it nor with people because of it. As it is, the steward is not to be trusted. But he might still be successful with his continued conniving – with people willing to be conned. He might also not be successful – making him much like the cartoon character, Wile E. Coyote, whose conniving always failed. Why? Because the Road Runner trusted Wile E. Coyote to be the conniving character he kept proving himself to be.
Con men isolate the location of trust. It is their first step in the con. They begin by convincing their mark trust is within themselves and should be extended to all people as a virtue – certainly to the con man. Doing so diminishes the mark’s wisdom. Wisdom is the more important virtue when dealing with con men. For it is not our abundance of trust that is relevant, but the con man’s absence of trustworthiness. Wisdom, like that of the Road Runner, focuses us on this truth. This perspective on the wisdom of trustworthiness in others is the perspective of British philosopher Onora O’Neill. Professor O’Neill proposes we trust in differentiated ways. This means we are discerning or wise about whether another person is trustworthy, especially in a particular matter. For example, if asked, “Do you trust the real estate agent,” or “Do you trust the preacher,” we would wisely ask, “To do what?” If it is to give us fair pricing or preach Jesus’ Way, we will wisely consider their pattern of behavior and respond accordingly. If they relay fair pricing or Jesus’ Way, we will respond, “Yes.” If they connive, we will say “No,” and not use their services nor adhere to their preaching. An odd truth is that when asked, “Do you trust politicians,” we keep saying, “No,” and yet, we keep voting for them. We know they are wily about dishonest wealth and lobby for personal benefit. Professor O’Neill suggests we often trust people who consistently prove they are not trustworthy; people who are wily connivers and we need to be more wise. The examples of conniving politicians, real estate agents, and preachers are a match to the conniving steward in the Gospel. They are all con men. They keep convincing us, their mark, to extend our virtue of trust toward them. At the same time they diminish our virtue of wisdom about them. Instead, we could be like the Road Runner, “Disappearialis Quickius”, and steer clear of Wile E. Coyotes, “Overconfidentii Vulgaris,” wise about their lack of trustworthiness. If we were, we would know why a real estate agent who is the current top politician in the White House is so beloved by white evangelical preachers swamping politics. They are all con men. Evangelical preachers love Trump because they are Trump – wealthy white hucksters one and all – with a smile covering their con; be it political, financial, or religious. Whatever wily devices they use – campaign promises, manipulative deals, or Bible verses – all of which come from ACME – they “are not trustworthy,” at all, certainly not “with dishonest wealth.” What we can trust about them is that dishonest wealth has conned them. It acts as their master and they would have it act as ours. But we are too wise to put our trust in masters.
“Th-Th-The, Th-Th-The, Th-Th… That’s all, folks!” (Porky Pig)
Prayer: Holy Spirit, fill us with wisdom.
Question: Who or what might be conning me these days and needs me to be more wise?
September 22, 2019 Gospel Luke 16:1-13 Twenty Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time