REVOLUTIONARY CHRISTIANITY 35 



lilies of the field ♦ Thus only can real freedom be 

 obtained. Thus only can men be set free from the 

 worship of mammon to serve the living God. 



The amusing story of the Unjust Steward may also 

 serve to illustrate Christ's attitude towards riches, and 

 towards those who possess them. We can imagine how, 

 as He was teaching the poor peasants, He noticed the 

 rich Pharisees looking on with a supercilious smile. So 

 Christ addressed Himself to them and, with His ironical 

 wit, turned the laugh against them. He told the story 

 of an incident which might very well have happened 

 in their immediate neighbourhood. A rich landowner 

 had a steward who had been shamelessly exploiting the 

 poor tenants and pocketing the money. At last his 

 exploitations became so flagrant that his master was 

 obHged to interfere and dismiss him. But now, in his 

 extremity, the clever rogue made friends with the 

 tenants by exploiting his master to their advantage, so 

 that when he was out of work he could *' sponge '' upon 

 these very men whom he had been so shamelessly 

 robbing. On hearing of what had happened, his master, 

 an easy-going Oriental, saw only the funny side of the 

 incident and commended the steward for the worldly 

 wisdom of his roguery. Then Jesus applied the story 

 to the Pharisees. They, just as much as the unjust 

 steward, had been exploiting the poor peasants ; but when 

 the Kingdom was established and the poor had their 

 rights, they, the Pharisees, would be out of work ! 

 There could be no use for them in The Kingdom of 

 Universal Brotherhood ! They would, therefore, be 

 well advised to do as the unjust steward, and use their 

 ill-gotten gains, '' the mammon of unrighteousness,'' to 

 make friends with the poor peasants, instead of treating 

 them with contempt. 



But it was not in the ideals of the social revolution 

 that Christ most showed His originality. The conception 



