I\'d be interested in your response to these questions, too. After Paul instructs Titus and the Cretian believers \"to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need\" why does he then go on to say: \"Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, IN ORDER THAT THEY MAY PROVIDE FOR DAILY NECESSITIES AND NOT LIVE UNPRODUCTIVE LIVES\" implying (again) that providing for ourselves and the ministry is through our own labors? (Titus 3:13, 14) Why no mention of getting this support elsewhere, like, rich unbelievers? According to James, isn\'t it wrong to \"show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes (rich folk)\"? Instead of the rich man being seen as a friend and help of ministry, James says the rich are \"the ones who are dragging you into court...(and)...slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong...(Read the entire slam on \'rich\' people in James 2:1-7). How should one understand this in light of your interpretation? Isn\'t it inconsistent of Jesus to commend the POOR widow for her \'two lepta\' while minimizing the \"many rich people\" who \"threw in large amounts\", and who gave \"out of their wealth\"? (Mark 12:41-44) Is she a poor steward of the \'unrighteous mammon\'? She was not commended for having solicited the favor of the rich people, but rather, for the greater value of HER small gift. Is it right for Jesus NOT to emphasize the value of the rich people\'s contributions over hers? In John 12:3-8, why didn\'t Jesus commend Judas as a faithful and shrewd steward of \'unrighteous mammon\' when he objected to wasting the perfume, worth a years wages, on Jesus\'s feet? Wasn\'t Jesus disobedient to his own command to faithfully recruite the wealth of the rich by letting the rich young ruler leave discouraged without offering up some kind of persuasive argument to stay and finance his ministry? (Luke 18:18-25) Peter and John are guilty, too. In Acts 8:9-25, they turned Simon the sorcerer (rich unbeliever) away when he \"offered them money and said, \'Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit\'.\" (vs. 18-19) In fact they rejected his PARTNERSHIP in their ministry because his \"heart is not right before God\" (vs. 21). A right heart is not even a necessary requirement in your version of the unjust steward, only money is. Did they let a big fish get away in direct disobedience to God\'s command? Do you find anything wrong with the understanding of the \'parable of the unjust steward\' I shared in another response?