Discussion Questions

In the Mortimer Sly story, Uncle Nick (representing God) praises Mortimer for giving away the company’s assets in a way that looks “dishonest” or “unjust”; what does that suggest about God’s priorities, and what assumptions about God does it confront in you? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Uncle Nick praises Mortimer for giving away the company’s stuff in a way that seems unfair. What does that show you about what God cares about most, and what ideas about God does it challenge in you?

David says the parable becomes clear when you accept that “everything we think we possess on earth is really God’s”; what practical changes would follow if a church actually treated income, savings, property, and investments as “God’s resources” rather than “my earnings”? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If a church truly believed all our money and property really belong to God, how would that change the way it handles income, savings, buildings, and investments?

The chapter lists entire industries (agriculture, petroleum products, lumber, fishing, metals, water, solar, chemicals, medicines, minerals, wind) to argue that nearly all livelihoods depend on created resources no one pays God for; how does that argument reshape the way you think about “deserving” wealth, wages, profits, or retirement security? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If almost every job depends on resources God made and we never paid Him for, how does that change what you think about “earning” wealth, wages, profits, or a secure retirement?

The phrase “make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon… that… they may receive you into an everlasting home” is treated by early Christians as straightforwardly about helping the poor; what do you think made early Christians so confident in that reading, and what in modern Christian teaching makes people instinctively resist it? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Early Christians took “make friends… by unrighteous mammon” to mean helping the poor. Why do you think they were so sure, and why do many Christians today push back against that idea?

David says we “give to the poor… God’s money… not our own,” yet “God turns around and rewards us for the dishonest thing we’ve done”; in what sense is this “dishonest,” and what does this reveal about God’s mercy, generosity, and willingness to credit us for what was already His? JumpstartAnother way to ask: David says giving to the poor is giving away God’s money, yet God still rewards us for it. Why would that be called “dishonest,” and what does it show about God’s mercy and generosity?

Mortimer’s generosity is strategic—he’s securing future housing, meals, work, repairs, and rent; how does that uncomfortable motive compare to why Christians give today (tax benefits, reputation, guilt relief, fundraising pressure, “kingdom investment”), and how does Jesus’ use of this character challenge our desire for pure motives? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Mortimer gives partly to protect his own future. How is that like the reasons Christians give today, and how does Jesus using this kind of person challenge our need to have perfect motives?

David connects Luke 16 to Matthew 25 and claims the only criterion Jesus mentions there is mercy to the needy (food, drink, clothing, hospitality, visitation); what happens to common evangelical “assurance” categories if Jesus really does evaluate final destiny with those concrete acts front and center? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If Jesus really judges people in Matthew 25 mainly by showing mercy to needy people, what does that do to common evangelical ideas about being sure you’re saved?

The chapter describes a preacher who “rushed through” Jesus’ concluding sentence and admitted, “I have no idea what that’s all about”; what doctrines or slogans (explicit or implicit) might cause a teacher to minimize Jesus’ own stated point, and how can a group guard against doing the same thing with uncomfortable passages? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Why might a preacher rush past Jesus’ main point and say, “I don’t get it”? What beliefs or slogans could cause that, and how can your group avoid ignoring hard Bible passages?

David recounts preaching this and seeing “furrowed brows” and “disbelief,” as if he had invented the parable; what does that reaction reveal about the gap between Jesus’ teaching and what many Christians have been conditioned to regard as “orthodox,” and how should a church respond when Scripture sounds “unbelievable” to its own people? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If people act shocked by this parable, what does that say about the gap between Jesus’ teaching and what many Christians think is “right” teaching? What should a church do when Scripture sounds unbelievable to its own members?

The chapter ends by contrasting “justified by faith alone” (attributed to Luther) with James 2:24 (“not by faith only”) and asks, “Whom are we going to believe?”; what specific beliefs about grace, works, almsgiving, and salvation would need to change in your thinking if you took David’s challenge at face value, and what fears or objections immediately rise up when you try to do that? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If you take David’s challenge seriously about “faith alone” and James saying “not by faith only,” what would need to change in how you think about grace, works, giving to the poor, and salvation? What fears or pushback do you feel right away?