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The Tensions of Wealth

Within the Christian community, there is real friction between three distinct philosophies about the wise use of money. As Christian financial professionals, we work at the intersection of these viewpoints every day, striving to find balance among priorities that often compete. Understanding all three is the first step toward a healthy Christian view of money.

The first perspective says that radical giving breaks the spiritual hold wealth can have on us. In this view, money is a potential snare that can pull us away from our devotion to God, so the wise response is to give it away quickly. Some go further, suggesting that funding global missions and evangelism could hasten the return of Christ. To them, accumulating significant assets is a failure of stewardship, and mission-focused giving is its highest form.

The second perspective sees business and investment as an extension of the cultural mandate, the charge God gave humanity to steward and cultivate the earth. Here, our time, skill, and capital are put to work developing creation ethically for God’s glory and human progress. However, an intense focus on productivity can shrink what is available for direct giving. It can also crowd out our ability to simply enjoy God’s provision, or even breed the idea that God depends on human effort.

The third perspective focuses on finding joy in God through His material blessings. After all, God declared His creation “good.” The goal is to delight in the Creator through the gift, not in the gift itself. Yet this view is easily mistaken for a pursuit of luxury and status. The lure of wealth never goes away, and it can shift our focus from eternal things to immediate, self-centered gratification.

Holding these ideals in balance is hard for us, because we tend to lean toward one extreme or another. History shows that society swings like a pendulum. These ideas behave like magnets with matching poles: they push against each other and resist an easy synthesis. So let’s look at each movement more closely.

 

1. The Giving Movement

Wealth is good, comes from God, and ultimately belongs to God. This means the money in our possession is essentially on loan from Him. When we treat our money as if it ultimately belongs to us, we are guilty of theft. We are stewards, so we need to consider the desires and intentions of the Owner when deciding how to use our resources.

Tithing Comes First

Our first priority with money is to give a tenth of it back to the Lord. We call this tithing. Tithing gets a bad rap these days. Many believe that “grace giving” has replaced tithing, yet the net result of this way of thinking is often less giving, not more.

Giving Breaks the Power of Money

We are called to be generous, and there are many reasons for it: gratitude, obedience, and worship among them. We teach something I learned from Ron Blue: “giving breaks the power of money in our lives.” We give not because God needs our money, but because we need to prove to ourselves, to the world, and ultimately to God that He means more to us than money.

Perhaps the best author representing this teaching is Randy Alcorn. He stresses the danger money poses to our souls and encourages us to give sacrificially now, so the love of money can’t give the devil a foothold in our hearts. He wants you and me to live more by faith, give more than we think we can afford, and watch how God provides for all our needs. One of the most inspiring things about Randy’s message is that he lives it every day. His story is proof that God is good and will do far more abundantly than all we can ask or think.

Scripture returns to this theme again and again. Here are a few passages that capture it:

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'” (Acts 20:35)

“They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” (1 Timothy 6:18-19)

For further study, see Proverbs 11:24-25, Malachi 3:10, Luke 6:38, and the remarkable example of the Macedonian churches in 2 Corinthians 8:1-5, who gave beyond their means out of deep poverty.

 

2. The Investing Movement

God requires more of stewards than simply giving their money away. Consider the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14-30). The story has two kinds of characters: the master and the servants. The master entrusts some of his resources to three servants (in the Greek, this word means to hand over a right or authority) and then leaves on a journey. When he returns, he calls all three to account. Two had doubled what they were given, and one had done nothing with it.

Here’s the point I’d like you to zero in on. How did the two faithful stewards double the resources entrusted to them? They did not give it away. They went out into the world and traded, provided goods or services, or ran a business. And the master richly rewarded this wise investment.

We know Jesus was not primarily teaching a lesson on investing. He had in mind the faithful use of resources and abilities to grow His kingdom. But I ask you: how does the stewardship of our investments and business activities reflect the goodness and glory of God to a world that is lost and dying?

The Creation Mandate

Consider Genesis 2:15: “Then the LORD God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it” (NASB). This passage is often called the Creation or Cultural Mandate. I would argue it’s actually the business mandate. God gave marching orders to all of humanity through Adam: we are to care for and cultivate creation.

To cultivate means far more than tilling the ground or planting gardens. It means taking the raw potential God placed in creation and developing it for the good of humanity and the glory of God. It is our duty to faithfully operate businesses that bless the world through their products and services. This verse also gives us a limiting factor: creation care. We are not to exploit creation, harming or destroying it at the expense of others.

With the parable of the talents and the business mandate in view, we can see that God requires more of us than giving away all our money. We are to work as unto the Lord, doing good to others.

Investing for Human Flourishing

Author and investor Robin John helpfully points out that these principles don’t just apply to business owners. They also apply to anyone investing through an IRA, a 401(k), or other long-term, market-based accounts. In his book The Good Investor, he develops a theology of work and investing and shows that a great return on investment is not the investor’s only concern. We are to invest in a way that enhances human flourishing, in good goods and services delivered wisely at a fair price.

Practically speaking, Christian stewards should care about Biblically Responsible Investing. This means aligning investments with our faith and screening out companies that profit from things like tobacco, alcohol, casinos, pornography, and abortion. There are many forms of good God intends for this world that are better suited to come from business than from charity.

Saving Is Stewardship Too

Saving and investing are part of wise stewardship. It would be poor stewardship to assume that every resource entrusted to you should automatically go to charity. Sometimes that is exactly God’s call (see the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19:16-26), but prayer and counsel should be sought.

Scripture is full of examples and admonitions about keeping reserves. A few of them:

“Precious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling, but a foolish man devours it.” (Proverbs 21:20)

“Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it.” (Proverbs 13:11)

“But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” (1 Timothy 5:8)

See also Proverbs 6:6-8, Genesis 41:35-36 (Joseph’s plan to store grain before the famine), and Luke 14:28-30.

 

3. The Enjoying Movement

According to Scripture, giving and investing often lead to good outcomes. God blesses the generous, and He tells us that wise planning and saving naturally lead to prosperity. So what are we to do with a surplus? Should we give it away? Invest more of it? Is it wrong to enjoy the blessings of God?

The final part of the Christian money movement is what I call the Christian Joy Movement. It recognizes that God placed us in a physical world He called “good” and gave us physical senses to interact with His good creation. To deny ourselves the joyful use of God’s blessings, as though that denial were good in itself, misunderstands the nature of God. We are not Gnostics who believe the physical is bad and only the spiritual is good. We should celebrate God and His goodness by enjoying His physical blessings. When we worship God through His blessings, we please Him and show His glory to a lost world.

Guarding Against Idolatry

Yet we must guard against materialism and pride. Joy and delight can become ends in themselves. We must pursue and worship Christ, not His blessings and benefits. Romans 1:22-23 warns that those who claimed to be wise “became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images” (ESV). It is a great evil to worship anything other than God. Our hearts are idol factories, manufacturing replacement gods, and our time and money are often the primary ways we serve modern idols.

The English Puritan Thomas Brooks once said, “Adversity hath slain her thousands, but prosperity her ten thousands.” We may hear that warning and still feel like Tevye singing “If I Were a Rich Man” in Fiddler on the Roof, asking God for a small fortune. We say, “God, I can pass the test of wealth!”

We should heed the warning of Deuteronomy 8. As Israel prepared to enter a land of abundance, with wells they didn’t dig and vineyards they didn’t plant, God told them: “Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth'” (Deuteronomy 8:17). The human tendency is to claim the credit for our wealth and forget God. But the very next verse reminds us: “You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth” (Deuteronomy 8:18).

Enjoyment Is God’s Gift

At the same time, the Preacher in Ecclesiastes points out again and again that constant toil without ever enjoying its fruit is vanity and chasing after the wind. Consider these passages:

“Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil, this is the gift of God.” (Ecclesiastes 5:19)

“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” (1 Timothy 6:17)

“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.” (1 Timothy 4:4)

See also Ecclesiastes 3:12-13, Ecclesiastes 9:7, James 1:17, and Deuteronomy 12:7.

 

The Synthesis: A Balanced Christian View of Money

So how do these three movements fit together? Picture a mountain. Each movement is a different view of the same mountain, seen from a different side. None of them tells the whole story alone, but together they reveal its true shape.

Giving breaks the power of money. Investing promotes flourishing and confronts injustice. Joy delights in the Giver. Together, they form a robust, biblical Christian view of money that paints a complete picture of God’s wisdom, goodness, and love.

[Optional call to action: invite readers to contact your team or schedule a conversation about aligning their finances with their faith, linking to your contact page.]

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, unless otherwise noted. Genesis 2:15 is from the NASB.

 

 

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