Unjust Steward: Condemnation of the Simple;
or How the World Truly Works
I struggled to understand why Christ appeared to commend the obviously crooked steward in this story while chastening believers supposedly for not using unrighteous mammon {elements of wealth and control} of this world (Lk 16:1-13). One of my foundational pillars of exegetical hermeneutics is when I do not understand the Bible I need to rethink my perspective rather than ignorantly interpret Scripture as I want to believe {eisegesis}. However, to explain the actual interpretation requires me to return us back to the Wizard of Oz to understand the purpose of the Yellow Brick Road and American public educational purposes {Wizard of Oz’s Wokeness.}.
Each country functions according to its cultural, religious, and historical biases which are propagated through its public, and usually private, educational systems. America’s educational purpose “…is not the communication of knowledge but the sharing of social experience, so that the child shall become integrated into the democratic community. He believed that morals were essentially social and pragmatic and that any attempt to subordinate education to transcendent values or dogmas ought to be resisted” {The Tragedy of American Education: The Role of John Dewey. Institute of World Politics. A.M. Piedra. Quote: Christopher Dawson, The Crisis of Western Civilization, Washington, D.C., 1961. pp. 62-6.}. At the beginning of the 20th century, John Dewey realigned America’s education system to fit the goals of the Progressive Era, and beyond. Thus, America began the awesome task of training its people to accept the guidance of the State. Francis Bellamy’s Pledge of Allegiance fit nicely into this goal and became the mantra of nearly every school child throughout the 20th century. Today, those who claim to be against socialism demand that school’s continue forcing children to recite this mantra even though it speaks against their core value of personal autonomous liberty. His accompanying hand salute was so inspiring that it was probably copied by Herr Hitler to become the infamous Nazi salute {Bellamy Salute. Wikipedia.}. But education has certain limitations; if there was only other means to assist education into achieving these socialistic goals…technology to the rescue!
Antonio Gramsci trailblazer the concept of cultural hegemony by which socialism would be introduced throughout a culture through its educational, entertainment and cultural systems. This was pounced upon by various groups including Fabian Society and the Frankfurt School to produce true believer disciples to go forth into these cultural arenas and develop the proper programs for indoctrinating the masses. Needless to say, the new medium of movies, and later its sibling offshoot television, were to prove invaluable in this endeavor. They essentially weaponized the Dunning-Kruger effect; a little knowledge is a dangerous thing! Otherwise, dumbing down the American psyche produces self-proclaimed experts easily manipulated by the true experts from behind the scenes. Americans became experts because they were told they were in simple terms via their movies and television programs.
Education Teaches You to Think Simplistically;
Movies, Television and Music Prove Simple is Truth
Let us go back to our Wizard of Oz and I invite you to read the previous post linked above to bring you up to speed. Glinda, the Good Witch, gives Dorothy the Ruby Slippers, making the Wicked Witch of the West her enemy, tells her to go to Oz to see the Wizard about how to go home and sends her on her way via the Yellow Brick Road. Needless to say, Glinda uses both Dorothy and the charlatan Wizard to eliminate her rival, read murder, all the while shackling Dorothy with three witless men who keep her from thinking too much about why she was in this deadly predicament. In this post I want us to focus on the purpose of the Yellow Brick Road. There were certainly other roads but these are ignored and the Munchkins democratically persuade Dorothy to blindly follow Glinda’s direction. If she had not followed this road she would not have picked up Scarecrow, Tin-Man nor the homosexual stand-in, Cowardly Lion.
The Yellow Brick Road is the approved path of knowledge to reach the approved goal. Wandering off the Yellow Brick Road, one becomes mired in disinformation, lies not told by government, or misinformation, truth that contradicts approved information from trusted sources. The goal is keep your attention focused on government, of the approved party. To keep you on the path there is even the approved poppies of contentment or soma whose roots go back into very ancient antiquity; as well as, Brave New World. Oz is the government which is essentially a sham in the New World Order. Its purpose is to issue orders and reward subservience with meaningless decorations. When things get too obvious, government makes a quick retreat leaving the real power in charge, Glinda whose origins are never explained and whose powers are never enumerated.
The people follow this simplistic worldview because they have been trained to do so by their education and through their entertainment and information (news) systems. People have been spoon fed a steady diet of simplistic plots proved true by black and white villains and heroes. Good guys wear white hats, evil men have mustaches, women are usually moral and eventually good triumphs(ish). Comedies depict smart, cunning women manipulating witless, gullible men; and so forth. Hollywood uses stereotypes all the while decrying your use of the same! If people appear to catch on to the gimmick they simply change the facade from mysteries to westerns to science fictions to fantasies and back again. They give you just enough information for you to believe you know what is occurring when you have little understanding of the true deceptions being carried on behind the scenes; think Plato’s, The Cave! But, even the belief of enlightenment is a facade as one remains ensconced on the Yellow Brick Road. As long as you move toward Oz, you ignore the reality just off screen as depicted in the above graphic. In reality, everything you believe to be true is a sham with the true Control conducted in secret backrooms from which you are excluded.
Even if You Accept Misinformation;
How Do You Know it is Truth?
Christ commended the lying, swindling unjust steward, not because of his illegalities but because he knew how to use the world’s wealth system, mammon, to his advantage. His believers simplistically believed they could just pray evil away or hope for miracles when the time for miracles had pass (He 1:1-2). Christ used the Parable of the Talents {wealth measurement} to explain that use of one’s wealth to further the Gospel will gain greater reward than sitting on one’s hands waiting for a miracle in empty faith (Mt 25:14-30). The one who sat on the mammon given him did not evidence faith but faithfulness; i.e., was not saved. Thus he, she, was cast into hell. We should not be extolling the virtues of such a person nor should we be gullible enough to believe that someone who spends their wealth on themselves or furtherance of the World’s System is anything but Lost.
The Lost will succumb to the World’s System because they do not accept Truth (Ro 1:18-28). What is Truth (Jn 18:38)? We look for a city to come that is not of this World System (Jn 18:36; He 11:13-16; Re 21:1-5). There are many routes of disinformation/misinformation that lead back to the Yellow Brick Road of Propaganda. This is only one path that leads, not to Oz, but to the heavenly Jerusalem that is to come. Christians must use what resources given them to spread this message rather than squandering it on political parties, governments and religions that promise miracles but give only hopelessness in return. Christians need to throw off the simplistic propaganda instilled in them and recognize the deep complexity of Satan’s World System that will only be removed by Christ (Re 20:7-15). They need to be as wise as serpents but harmless as doves; like Christ who allowed Pilate to condemn Him so He could be the Paschal Sacrifice for our sin (Mt 10:16). This is our living sacrifice back to Him (Ro 12:1-2). Then may He say to each of us, “Well done good servant” (Lk 19:15-19).