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Many people would argue that giving is the greatest way to make an impact in the world. This is certainly not an untrue statement. Giving is a very direct and effective way to make the world a better place, and we are called to give.

  • 2 Corinthians 9:7 (NIV): “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
  • Proverbs 11:25 (NIV): “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”

However, there is another way that we can make the world a better place with our money! Investing.  Yes…investing!  Investing is a way that you can promote human flourishing in the world. Because of this, investing can be used as a force of good in the world. 

 

The Creation Mandate

There are two stories out there right now:

  • The World’s story: Creation, Fall
  • God’s story: Creation, fall, redemption, new creation

Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. God put Adam & Eve in the Garden to work it and to keep it. There’s more work that needs to be done. God said that everything is good, good, good, good, good, and good. But God still called Adam to work the land. He put man in charge of His creation to bring out all of the embedded creative potential of creation, to unlock and unleash it into the world. In Genesis 5, we see how people were creating things and also created culture. 

God then calls Adam to “keep it”, which means to “watch over it, guard it and even steward it well. We are not just to exploit the world through our usage of it and its resources, but we need to take what we have been given by God and “watch over it, guard it and when and where we can utilize it to enhance its value for mankind.

It is interesting that as we look from cover to cover in the Word of God, we see that it starts in a Garden in Genesis, and in Revelation it ends in a city. That’s kind of what investing does. When we take capital (what God called Good), and we care for it and put it to work in a good, orderly and proper way, we can put its resources and the money that we make with it to help fulfill even more of what God has called us to do. 

Here is a simple, yet thought provoking illustration of what we are talking about: Communion. According to the Word of God it involves Wine and bread. Can you just go out to a field and find these products?  NO!  Why is that?  Because neither of these grow naturally. Bread and wine are man-made creations. We are to take the God given elements and then through our processing, our extended work, we wind up with these man-made elements that GOD ordained in one of our most sacred acts of worship.

 

Gnostic View of Money – Flesh is bad. Spiritual is good.

Gnosticism encompasses a variety of ancient religious movements that often emphasized spiritual knowledge (gnosis…”to know”) as the way to salvation. While there isn’t a singular Gnostic view of money, some Gnostic texts and teachings suggest a negative or ambivalent attitude towards material wealth and the material world in general.  How is this “fleshed out” for us? The body doesn’t matter. Do what you want, as long as you are giving. The most spiritual thing to do with money is give it all away.

This is not a healthy balanced view of a Christian’s relationship with money.  Why do we say this?  Look at all the people who had significant wealth Solomon, Abraham, Job, Lydia. All very wealthy people who were praised for how they valued wealth and relationships, and not criticized for the fact that they didn’t give it all away. God is clearly not against wealth and material possessions!  The question that one ought to ask is if their wealth possess them?

How is one to get “wealth”?  There are many ways, and in this episode we will be looking at one specific way, and that is through investing.

 

There is positively something good about investing wisely.

If done well, investing brings about many different things in one’s life.  To name just a few things: Wealth, financial security, philanthropy, and social impact. Along with these, we want to dive a little deeper about one area of investing as a moral act.

“Bad” Investing

Bad investing is when you invest (use your God-given resources) in companies that produce goods or services that harm mankind and/or that are explicitly sinful. Examples are: casinos, pornography, certain medical/biological/pharmaceutical companies. 

Or it could be investing in companies that manage their people and their relationships in a way that exploits them, rather than free them to higher levels of service and good work. Example: Human resources. Humans are a resource to be exploited, not an investment to be nurtured. 

Another form of bad investing is putting your capital in companies that have a social agenda which is antithetical to the Christian faith. This could include product sponsors who actively vote shares that they hold for their investors according to their social agendas.

“Good” Investing

What would be a good definition of good investing?  It would be:  Investing in companies that produce goods and services that enhance human flourishing AND are consistent with a Christian worldview.

What makes them “good” is that they treat their relationships like an investment, not a resource to be exploited. One example is that they may pay their employees a little but more than average. Because of that investment in extra salary for their workers, those employees’ work is done with a higher quality and care.  Usually when this is done, those employees and more productive than someone who just shows up to punch a timecard.  The end result is that the employee is “invested” into the company to see it succeed, not just get a paycheck!

Another form of “good” investing is putting your resources in companies that care for the world well, which would include the environment. This does not mean going out and hugging a tree, but what it does mean is our Heavenly Father’s world is cared for, not exploited to destroy it for profit. By caring for our world well, we enhance and unlock its inherent goodness, and usually this brings about a blessing from the Lord!

 

Is Giving money away to good Christian ministries a more spiritual, God-honoring endeavor than investing money well?

The answer is that both can be done to the honor and glory of God. Both can also be done poorly to the harm and detriment of the Kingdom. The good steward seeks to give money away faithfully and consistently to demonstrate that he loves God more than money. 

The good steward also seeks to invest his capital in such a way to create a culture or society where the Kingdom of God can grow and flourish. 

If the good steward is able to see a good increase in their investment, then generosity can continue, and even increased to bring about an even greater Kingdom impact!

 

Stewardship Application

How do you do this well?

One of the ways that we are doing this with our clients is both encouraging them to step up their giving game, while saving on taxes. Another way we are doing this is by helping clients invest their capital in a Biblically responsible manner. 

Working with a Christian financial firm can be so helpful for stewards who want to do both giving wisely and investing for greater Kingdom impact.

There are problems in this world that we can help solve! We can relieve suffering through the creative potential that God built into this world. We can invest in companies that invest in new therapies and treatments that will actually solve real human problems and also human suffering. 

In the book A Praying Life by Paul Miller, he talks about God answering prayer. His daughter had a pervasive autism diagnosis that prevented her from speaking. God answered their prayer through a computer that could create a voice for her. She now has a voice because a company created a product that helped meet that need. These are the kinds of things that are beneficial for people…and even beautiful when implemented; and we believe that these are the kinds of things that God has called us to do in Genesis 2:15…as we are called to “work it and keep it”…

 

 

Next Steps

 

Material presented is property of The Stewardology Podcast, a ministry of Life Financial Group and Life Institute. You may not copy, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, or exploit any content without the expressed written permission of The Stewardology Podcast. For more information, contact us at Contact@StewardologyPodcast.com or (800) 688-5800.

The topics discussed in this podcast are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations.Investing and investment strategies involve risk including the potential loss of principal. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

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