by Jonathan Garcia

The Most Important Factor in Faith-Driven Investing is Your Heart

What is this life?

Do I make money?

Do I make disciples?

I wrote these words down in my journal on January 10, 2018. I was reflecting on what to pursue in life. Those were two options. Pursue money or pursue God.

The choice I put before myself that day was between making money and making disciples. Money and disciples are both possible outcomes of an investing action. An investing action is an expenditure of resources (such as your time, mental faculties, or emotions) that produces an outcome like money or disciples. Usually, people choose to concentrate their investing actions in a certain area or field. Over time, consistent investing actions result in what we might call a career or calling.  As an example, a person who consistently carries out investing actions in the field of ministry is a minister.

In my case, I was trying to decide in which field to consistently carry out investing actions. Business or ministry? One primarily produces the outcome of money and the other disciples. It’s worth considering that people will switch what they concentrate on throughout their lives. At one point in their life, a person might concentrate on business, and at another point, on ministry. So, the outcomes, career, and investing actions that a person concentrates on during their life might change.

We can think of the idea developed above in levels. There are four levels:

1. Outcomes

2. Investing actions (concentrated over time to produce a career or calling)

3. Decisions

4. Heart

Outcomes are the results of investing actions. Investing actions are the results of decisions; we choose which actions to take in our lives. Decisions are made using our values, motivations, and beliefs. In other words, they are made by what’s in our hearts. One level flows to another, and everything flows outward from the heart. While what we concentrate on as far as outcomes, investing actions, and decisions can change, our hearts should be concentrated on one thing. Scripture tells us that this is so:

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23-24 ESV)

No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Matthew 6:24)

How does this apply to the faith-driven investor? A faith-driven investor’s actions, at times, may lean more towards business, and at other times, more towards ministry. Maybe some of their investing actions are a balance between the two, producing spiritual and financial returns. But whatever a faith-driven investor does, their hearts should be concentrated only on God. Their hearts should not be diversified, 60% in God and 40% in reputation and materialism as if they were serving man and money as well as God. A faith-driven investor’s heart must be 100% invested in God. Only the heart that is 100% invested in God can carry out investing actions that produce outcomes that are pleasing to God. The heart, then, is the most important factor in faith-driven investing. 

The Heart of the Matter

Much of the conversation about faith-driven or biblically responsible investing has been about following certain principles when making investment decisions. Invest in companies that embody mercy, justice, compassion, and the sacredness of human life. Do not invest in companies that don’t. Principles are, no doubt, a meaningful point of discussion, but our hearts are the heart of the matter. 

Faith-driven investing is more than following rules and principles because faith is more than following rules and principles. Jesus taught this in his Sermon on the Mount. To sum up his teaching: It’s not just that you avoid committing adultery, it’s that you avoid looking at a woman (or man) with lustful intent in your heart.

It goes beyond rule. It’s about intent, motivation, and what’s in your heart. Whatever else faith-driven investing may be it’s at least this: investing that is undertaken by a person whose heart has been radically transformed by the Gospel. I am speaking of a heart that has gone under the Holy Spirit’s surgical knife, a heart that has undergone the operation of being turned from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh that is submitted to God. 

Joseph, Faith-Driven Asset Manager

In the book of Genesis, Joseph was a man with a heart in full submission to God. Though many face hardships in life, most do not face what Joseph faced. His brothers faked his death and sold him for twenty shekels of silver. Joseph was now a slave, owned by a man of means, Potiphar, in the land of Egypt.

The Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, and he was in the house of his Egyptian master. His master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph found favor in his sight and attended him, and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all that he had. From the time that he made him overseer in his house and over all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; the blessing of the Lord was on all that he had, in house and field. So he left all that he had in Joseph’s charge, and because of him he had no concern about anything but the food he ate.

Now Joseph was handsome in form and appearance. And after a time his master’s wife cast her eyes on Joseph and said, “Lie with me.” But he refused and said to his master’s wife, “Behold, because of me my master has no concern about anything in the house, and he has put everything that he has in my charge. He is not greater in this house than I am, nor has he kept back anything from me except you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:2-9)

Potiphar entrusted all his assets to Joseph’s care. Joseph was in the asset management business, and business was good because of God’s favor. Scripture tells us, “the Lord caused all that he did to succeed in his hands.” Unfortunately, good business didn’t continue for long as Potiphar’s wife entered the scene. What’s interesting about Joseph’s situation with Potiphar’s wife is that it happened before Moses had received and prescribed the Ten Commandments. It had not yet been said that “Thou shall not commit adultery.” Joseph didn’t refuse Potiphar’s wife because of a law. He refused because his heart was in full submission to God. How could he do such a wicked thing against God? He did no wrong, but the incident ended with Joseph in prison. 

While in prison, it was discovered that Joseph had the God-given ability to interpret dreams. Pharaoh had two troubling dreams, heard about Joseph’s ability, and called upon him for interpretation. Scripture tells us that Joseph changed his clothes, shaved, and came out of prison and into Pharaoh’s presence to interpret the dreams.

Pharoah’s Return on Investment

“It is as I told Pharaoh; God has shown to Pharaoh what he is about to do. There will come seven years of great plenty throughout all the land of Egypt, but after them there will arise seven years of famine, and all the plenty will be forgotten in the land of Egypt. The famine will consume the land, and the plenty will be unknown in the land by reason of the famine that will follow, for it will be very severe. And the doubling of Pharaoh’s dream means that the thing is fixed by God, and God will shortly bring it about. Now therefore let Pharaoh select a discerning and wise man, and set him over the land of Egypt. Let Pharaoh proceed to appoint overseers over the land and take one-fifth of the produce of the land of Egypt during the seven plentiful years. And let them gather all the food of these good years that are coming and store up grain under the authority of Pharaoh for food in the cities, and let them keep it. That food shall be a reserve for the land against the seven years of famine that are to occur in the land of Egypt, so that the land may not perish through the famine.”

This proposal pleased Pharaoh and all his servants. And Pharaoh said to his servants, “Can we find a man like this, in whom is the Spirit of God?” Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” (Genesis 41:28-41)

Joseph was again entrusted with a vast sum of assets. Pharaoh put him in charge of the whole land of Egypt! And again, Joseph found success managing these assets. He did what said he would do and stored away food for the years of famine ahead. If you continue reading the story, you find that Joseph, through his work, provided food for all the people of Egypt and the surrounding areas, including his brothers who sold him into slavery. He also achieved considerable returns for Pharaoh. By the end of the famine, all the money, land, and livestock in Egypt belonged to Pharaoh because the people exchanged it for food. Pharoah earned quite a return on investment by entrusting his assets to Joseph.

Lessons from Joseph’s Life

Admittedly, some artistic license was used in portraying Joseph as an asset manager, but here is what we can observe from his life: (1) Joseph was faithful to God through temptation not because of a law but because of his heart for God. (2) Joseph used his God-given gifts of interpreting dreams and managing resources in an exceedingly effective way. (3) Joseph had a far-reaching impact through his efforts; he sustained a large number of people through a famine. (4) Joseph earned vast returns on Pharaoh’s assets. 

Joseph is a model for faith-driven investors. Just as he did, the faith-driven investor can use their God-given abilities to achieve far-reaching impact and earn returns at the same time. Joseph was faithful to God because of his heart for God and not because of a law. While we strive to follow the principles (or maybe we can even say “laws”) of faith-driven or biblically responsible investing, let us also consider the condition of our hearts. If we follow principles but our hearts are divided between God and something else, then our faith-driven investing is compromised. 

Joseph also remained faithful through different circumstances. Throughout his journey, he was a slave, prisoner, and a person of high rank in the kingdom of Egypt. No matter what he was going through, good or bad, he remained faithful to God in his heart. The faith-driven investor will find themselves in different situations throughout life. They will encounter successes, failures, opportunities, and hardships just as Joseph did. However, just as in Joseph’s story, everything will ultimately turn out for good if they remain faithful in heart through it all. 

The Most Important Factor

The most important factor that determines success in faith-driven investing is the condition of your heart. In the new heaven and earth, God will reward each faith-driven investor according to their investing actions. Only the heart that is 100% invested in God can make investing actions that produce outcomes that are pleasing to God. That complete investment of heart can only come about through faith in Christ and the renewing power of the Holy Spirit. 

Let the faith-driven investor examine their heart to see that it has been made new and is completely invested in God, not man or money. That complete investment of heart, in God, will make all the difference in the outcomes that are produced by all other investments of time, abilities, mind, emotions, and yes, even of finances. The faith-driven investor might not see all the returns of their faith-guided investments on this earth, but their ultimate reward will be when they hear Jesus say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21)

by Brett Smith

“For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?” Mark 8: 35-36

What would you say if I told you that secular investors are far outpacing faith-based investors in the practice of impact investing? Let’s first define the term, of course. Impact investing is defined as “investing with an intention to generate positive, measurable social and environmental impact alongside a financial return” (GIIN, 2020). 

Faith-based investors often align their values with their investments, but we’re only getting half the picture. Recent studies suggest 88% of faith-based investors use some form of negative screening to eliminate companies or industries that they consider unsuitable. However, only 11% of faith-based investors allocated capital to impact investing, missing out on the opportunity to screen in positive outcomes such as human flourishing (1). 

While people have speculated about possible explanations, we developed a study at the L.I.F.E. (Leading the Integration of Faith & Entrepreneurship) Research Lab at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio to understand how faith-based investors were able to overcome some of the challenges that were holding them back from impact investing. Through a collection of 99 data sources including interviews, conferences, and secondary data, we identified four key issues that enabled faith-based investors to participate in impact investing. 

1. Impact investing is about multiple identities. One of biggest challenges for faith-based investors considering impact investments was managing their identities. While much has been written about our identity in Christ, investors often experienced multiple identities in the context of impact investing. Specifically, investors managed three different identities: an investor identity – which focused on the economic side of gaining a financial return, a social identity – which focused on solving a persistent problem to contribute to human flourishing, and a faith identity – which focused on listening to where they were called and contributing to human flourishing. For faith-based investors, one of the primary lessons was gaining an awareness of these multiple identities and the potential tensions among these identities in the context of impact investing.  

2. Impact investing requires prioritization. Due to the potentially conflicting goals of these three identities, investors often experienced identity tensions as they were pulled in multiple directions. While impact investing idealizes the potential for maximizing financial, social and spiritual returns, the expectations from the norms of investing occasionally conflicted with the goal of human flourishing. As investors compared these trade-offs, they often prioritized their faith-based identity in order to reduce these tensions. While prioritizing didn’t eliminate these identity tensions such as accepting concessionary returns, it did provide a focus for their decision-making. 

3. Impact investing depends on measurement. While clear models exist for investors to measure financial performance, there is much greater ambiguity and challenge for measuring social and spiritual performance. As a result, investors used two different paths for measuring these latter types of performance. One approach simplified the challenge of measuring spiritual returns. For example, some investors viewed social returns, such as the employment of marginalized people, as a spiritual return. This approach simplified the challenge of measuring spiritual returns. Other investors engaged in a process of measuring financial, social, and spiritual returns separately. The measurement of spiritual returns ranged from generalized rankings (1-5 scale) to specific measurements of fruit of the spirit (2). Regardless of the approach, investors engaged in due diligence on the social and spiritual returns of the investment.     

4. Impact investing is about obedience. Faith-based investors clearly identified the importance of obedience to God in regard to their investment practices. For some investors, obedience meant the intentional inclusion of social and / or spiritual returns as part of their investment portfolio. For other investors, obedience required them to sacrifice some financial returns for increased social and / or spiritual returns. For example, MIGMIR funds is called “up and left” to concessionary financial outcomes and magnified social and spiritual outcomes. Regardless of the calling, faith-based investors were generally called to surrender their will for the capital to submit to God’s will for the capital. The act of surrendering was not a one-time decision but rather an ongoing, daily process. As one active investor explained, “I am on my knees every morning asking about His will for the capital…but, I am still on the S in surrender.”        

While impact investing is expanding rapidly across the globe, the vast majority of faith-based investors have yet to include impact investing as a significant part of their portfolios. These four lessons may help inform other faith-based investors about impact investing and encourage their participation in the intentional inclusion of impact investing in their portfolio.

It’s important to acknowledge that obedience of faith-based impact investors varied just as obedience does in the Bible. In the Bible, some were called to avoid eating an apple and others to go to a place that God will show them. In the same way, the specific form factor is far less important than the obedience to pursue how God might be calling you into impact investing. Greater participation of faith-based investors in impact investing offers the potential to mitigate persistent social problems for marginalized people around the world and promote human flourishing for the sake of the gospel and the glory of God. 

For a copy of the complete study, please contact me directly: smithbr2@miamioh.edu

Thanks to my co-authors Amanda Lawson, Jessica Jones, Tim Holcomb, and Aimee Minnich. 

Thanks to many of our friends within the FDE / FDI community that made this study possible. Special thanks to Greg Lernihan, Tim MacCready, Aimee Minnich, and Henry Kaestner who were gracious with their time and insights. 

Finally, thanks to L.I.F.E. Research Lab for providing funding to make this study possible. The goal of the L.I.F.E Research Lab is to create practically-relevant, academically-rigorous research at the intersection of faith and entrepreneurship. For more information, please visit: https://miamioh.edu/fsb/academics/entrepreneurship/focus-areas/social-entrepreneurship/leading-the-integration-of-faith-and-entrepreneurship-research-lab/index.html

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Footnotes
(1)  Engaging Faith-Based Investors in Impact Investing, Global Impact Investing Network (2020). 

(2)  For additional information about this measurement approach, see Eido Research: https://www.eidoresearch.com/

Photo by William Fortunato from Pexels

Article originally posted here by Science Direct

by Brett Smith

While research highlights the importance of an entrepreneurial identity in acquiring resources, our exploratory study advances research on identity, entrepreneurship, and resource exchange by highlighting the other side of the coin: the role of an investor identity. Based on our qualitative study, we find that investors engage in sensegiving through organizational identity claims and actions to (re)define their organizational reality about who they are and what they do. They engage in investor identity work to adapt to the strategic changes in a market category and sustain resource provision. Our findings have theoretical implications for identity and entrepreneurship research including the construct of investor identity and its sensegiving function, its dynamism and role in strategic changes, and its role in subjective assessment of investor decision-making.

Acquiring financial resources is one of the most important and challenging processes for entrepreneurial ventures (e.g., Ko and McKelvie, 2018). It is important because entrepreneurial ventures need resources to exploit identified opportunities (Shane, 2003); yet, it is challenging because new ventures suffer from a liability of newness, whereby their uncertainty and lack of operating history make it difficult for investors to evaluate them (Stinchcombe, 1965; Zimmerman and Zeitz, 2002). For entrepreneurial ventures, one way to acquire resources amidst this uncertainty is through their entrepreneurial identities, “the constellation of claims … that gives meaning to the questions of ‘who we are’ and ‘what we do’” (Navis and Glynn, 2011: 480). Using identity claims, entrepreneurial ventures attempt to influence investor perceptions about their organization and “these claims provide an important starting point” for investor evaluations (Pontikes, 2012: 111). Extant research offers rich insights into how entrepreneurial ventures use their identities to acquire resources from investors (e.g., Martens et al., 2007; Navis and Glynn, 2010, 2011; Santos and Eisenhardt, 2009; Younger and Fisher, 2020).

While the attention on entrepreneurial identities has been useful, it has also resulted in an incomplete picture of the resource exchange process, as it disproportionately focuses on one side of the coin – the identities of entrepreneurial organizations as a means to acquire resources. This is unfortunate because resource exchange is a dyadic process, including both resource acquisition by entrepreneurs and resource provision by investors (e.g., Huang and Knight, 2017). A nascent stream of research suggests the identities of investors play a key role in resource exchange (e.g., Fisher, 2012; Pontikes, 2012). This focus on investor identity is important because it can extend our knowledge about resource provision and investor decision-making (Navis and Glynn, 2011). However, we know little about the role of identities during resource exchange from the other side of the coin – the investor perspective.

To address this gap, we seek to make three contributions. First, we augment the literature on entrepreneurial identity in resource acquisition by focusing on investor identity during resource provision. Second, we show how the dynamic nature of investor identity work can lead to and enable strategic changes by investors. Finally, we extend research on investor decision-making, complementing work on objective decision-making criteria with research focused on identity and subjective criteria.

Click here to read more!

Article originally posted here by Beacon Wealth

by Beacon Wealth

In an effort to get me out of the house growing up, my dad would often proclaim “Son, an idle mind is the devil’s playground.” This axiom is proving true during the Covid-19 pandemic in a big way. While pornography may not be making national headlines or inflicting physical death, its rise in prevalence during the worldwide shutdown is proving highly destructive to people all around the world.

Providers and distributors of pornography have attempted to seize upon this opportunity to pump up profits and increase viewership during our period of self-isolation and quarantine. As people are alone, bored, and inert, the odds of turning to pornography to fill the void are becoming increasingly high. Pornography companies have made it easier and even more accessible to cultivate this addiction. For example, Pornhub, the largest Internet porn provider, announced it was offering free access to its site along with member privileges to people in Italy, one of the nations most affected by the virus.

As a result of this action, which has also now been extended to both France and Spain, pornography viewership in those countries increased by an average of 50 percent. On March 17, worldwide pornography internet traffic was up 26.4 percent.[1] 

Pornhub declared that these statistics reflected an overall rise in “happiness and distraction” in a period of tragedy and sadness. Is it true that pornography provides joy and a harmless escape from the broken world? Not exactly.

Recovering addicts sing a different tune, with some relapsing after just three weeks of quarantine and others barely avoiding the urge to view pornography again. Why would people fight so hard to avoid going back? It is because pornography is an addiction that is devastatingly harmful to the mental health and emotional and spiritual well-being of millions, not to mention marriages and families.

Not only have studies proven its detrimental effect on mental health and high addiction rate (comparable to that of crack cocaine), pornography sites have also habitually emboldened perpetrators of human trafficking, sexual abuse, and rape. For example, images of a 15-year-old who went missing in Florida for over a year were spotted on Pornhub and other similar websites.[2] While Pornhub touts a proven verification process for ensuring trafficked girls are not appearing in videos on the site, the case in Florida shows this process to be lacking.

This is just one of many examples of pornography providers being complicit in crimes of human trafficking and the denigrating of human dignity. Pornhub may claim they are providing “no strings attached” happiness, but often that happiness is both dangerous to the user’s mental health and comes at the expense and objectification of another human being created in the image of God.

Many major publicly traded companies in the United States facilitate sexual exploitation. The “Dirty Dozen” is a list of twelve companies,  including Amazon, Google, and Netflix, that actively support and profit from pornography addiction and human trafficking.[3]

Friend of Faith Driven Investor, Beacon Wealth Consultants, have a zero-tolerance policy prohibiting investing in companies that profit from pornography. Their LightPoint portfolios seek to invest only in corporations that are making a positive difference in the world. These are what they affectionately call “Shining Light Companies”. These exemplary companies are actively upholding human dignity and promoting human flourishing.

This is not a practice that needs to be singular to Beacon Wealth. If Faith Driven Investors want to act on the message we preach, ensuring that we stay clear of companies that support morally corrupt behavior is a must.

[1] https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/03/coronavirus-lockdowns-porn-companies-see-opportunity-in-isolation/

[2] https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/demonic-deal-pornography-industry-targets-the-isolated-in-coronavirus-pande

[3] https://endsexualexploitation.org/dirtydozen-2020/

by Chris Evans

I recently got an email from Harris, a friend in whose company I’d invested.  After several years of striving mightily to make the venture succeed, he was sharing the news that it had failed.  I was naturally disappointed the investment didn’t pan out, but what really hit me was how hard Harris was taking it.  He was a mature and committed Christian who tried to run the business on Godly principles, but it failed.  I could sense him questioning if he somehow had disappointed God.  With 2/3 of Angel investments ending in a loss, there are probably many faith-driven entrepreneurs who have had to ask this question.  It doesn’t help that in one of Jesus’ most famous parables, the Parable of the Three Stewards, the entrepreneurs in the story are both successful.  I wish sometimes he’d included a fourth steward in this story.   

The parable starts like this: 

“… For it is just like a man about to go on a journey. He called his own servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents, to another two talents, and to another one talent, depending on each one’s ability. Then he went on a journey. 

It’s clear at this point that the Master only invested in his own servants — people he knew well.  Often times investors start by taking investments from friends and family.  While it hurts to disappoint any investor, often those who trusted you first and know you longest hurt the most.  Also note that the master invested at different levels with different servants. The first received five times what the third did.   Jesus continues…

“Immediately the man who had received five talents went, put them to work, and earned five more. In the same way, the man with two earned two more. But the man who had received one talent went off, dug a hole in the ground, and hid his master’s money. “

Here it’s clear that Jesus respects hard work and initiative.  The first two stewards got to work “immediately”, wanting to show how much they valued the master’s trust in them and eager to show that trust was warranted. 

“After a long time, the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five talents approached presented five more talents, and said, ‘Master, you gave me five talents. See, I’ve earned five more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’ “The man with two talents also approached. He said, ‘Master, you gave me two talents. See, I’ve earned two more talents.’ “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.’ 

So far, so good.  Note that the master seemed just as happy with each servant – both will be put in charge of “many things” going forward.  The last servant, however, had a different approach and got a very different response:

“The man who had received one talent also approached and said, ‘Master, I know you. You’re a harsh man, reaping where you haven’t sown and gathering where you haven’t scattered seed. So I was afraid and went off and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ “His master replied to him, ‘You evil, lazy servant! If you knew that I reap where I haven’t sown and gather where I haven’t scattered, then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and I would have received my money back with interest when I returned. “ ‘So take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten talents. Matthew 25:14–29 (CSB)

The last servant didn’t lose his masters money, but did almost nothing with it.  He literally buried it in the ground!  The master calls him evil and lazy.  He’s not so much angry at the return as the lack of effort, imagination, and faith on the servant’s part. 

As an entrepreneur, I love the story of an investor giving servants funds and later praising them for their return on investment, but what about those who try their best to make a return but fail?  Imagine this fourth servant in Jesus Parable that the master gave three talents to:

“… Immediately the man with three talents investing in goods that he shipped to far-away lands growing the investment to thirty talents.”

While the first two servants generated respectable Return on Investment (200%); given a “long-time”  you could probably generate a much higher ROI if you were willing to invest in a riskier enterprise.  However, with greater risk comes a greater chance of failure and in my modified parable the fourth servant learns this the hard way… 

The man was excited to share his results with his master, but then he got word that a storm had sunk all of his ships and his entire investment had been lost.  Right after that, he was told that the master had returned to settle accounts with his servants. 

After the master’s scene with the first three servants, imaging this interaction:

… Then the man with three talents also approached. He said, Master you gave me three talents.  I grew it to thirty talents through shrewd trading but see, all was lost when a storm wrecked the ships carrying the treasure I earned and I have nothing to return to you.”

How do you think the master would respond to this servant? Would he praise him like he did the first two servants, or rebuke him as he did the last?  Failure is a part of entrepreneurship and investing.  We can try our best to avoid failure, but there are always factors and events beyond our control that can wreck our venture (or, for that matter, make them wildly successful).  

I believe Jesus would have had the master say “Well done, good and faithful servant! You were faithful over a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Share your master’s joy.“.   That’s because Jesus’ parable wasn’t really about return on investment, it was about faith.  The difference between the servants that pleased their master and the one that earned the rebuke was that the first two acted on faith, risking what was given to them so that they could put it to work and show their master the fruit of their efforts. The third servant was so afraid of making a mistake and displeasing his master that he had nothing to show for his opportunity – based on Jesus comment about the bankers, even if he’d invested his talent in one of the other servants he would have been praised.  

Faith is so important that when Jesus’ disciples asked him (Jn 6:28-29) “What must we do to be doing the works of God”, Jesus answered, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent”.  Jesus isn’t really concerned with the quality or quantity of the treasure you are able to bring him – after all he created the treasure in the first place.  What he really wants to know is “did you think, speak, and act like you completely believe that I am who I say I am?”.  The third servant was paralyzed by a fear of failure but what he didn’t see was that the only way he could fail was by being paralyzed by fear – God wanted to see him show faith and take risks. 

This is also reflected in Hebrews (11:6) “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek him.” The writer then goes on in the rest of chapter 11 to list out those who demonstrate the kind of faith God is looking for.   

So whether you are an entrepreneur launching a company you hope will honor God, an investor hoping God will be pleased with how you use the wealth you’ve been given, ask yourself if you are reflecting your belief in Jesus in your efforts and you can look forward to hearing “Well done, good and faithful servant” regardless of how well your ventures or investments do.  As I wrestle with this question, I try to look past the financial investments I make and also look at how I invest my time in people, being willing to take risks relationally as well as financially and expecting to settle accounts someday with the master who gave me all my days to invest.  

If you are a faith-driven investor, there will be times when you get news as I did from Harris.  While it may be disappointing, if you believe they were faithful and did all they could to make the investment succeed, give encouragement to such faithful entrepreneurs.  This is what I did for Harris. Take time to thank them for all they did to try to make the venture succeed, while reminding them (and yourself) that it is natural and common for new ventures to fail. There is no shame in that sort of failed venture. If you are a faith-driven entrepreneur whose enterprise has come to an end, reassure yourself that, as Phillip Yancy wrote in What’s So Amazing About Grace, there is nothing you can do to make God love you more and nothing you can do to make Him love you less.  If you were not afraid to trust Him in your venture, then you’ve profited from the experience and will be that much more prepared should you choose to start another venture later.  After all,  the master said “You have been faithful over a few things, I will put you in charge of many things.”