by Josh Ruyle

HOPE International’s journey into deepened support for SME business owners across our network began in many ways with the Login family of Western Ukraine.  We had the privilege of watching as their microbusiness – a bike shop – blossomed into a platform for real impact in their home village, namely, helping adolescents with a tendency to turn their backs on family and fall into drugs and alcohol addiction in their teenage years.  As the business scaled, profits not invested back into the business went towards their tithe and deepening their impact on these youth – creating a youth bike club program, opening a free-to-use BMX grounds next to their shop, and organizing community biking competitions for families to connect with each other and the church.  And given they came to Christ just before they started the business, it’s not surprising to see them making their decisions with a Kingdom mindset – in their words, “when God gives, we are called to give back.”  We’re grateful to now offer spiritually-integrated SME lending and coaching services in five of HOPE’s nine microfinance institutions, and we’ve come to appreciate the enormous potential for Kingdom impact through continuing to invest in businesses like the Logins’.

Impact investing is a relatively new yet burgeoning industry, with the market growing to over $500 billion since the term was formally coined in 2007[1]. Likewise, the marketplace for faith-driven investments is nascent but growing, as investors seek to steward their resources in alignment with Biblical principles. This means there are many new and exciting offerings in the marketplace, from retail products like mutual funds and exchange-traded funds to private placements like venture capital, private equity, and direct investments. 

One area where there are relatively few Christ-centered offerings is low-interest debt. To be sure, there are many fixed-income-type products that have strong social and/or environmental impact, yet very few that also incorporate intentional discipleship and Kingdom impact into their model.  Given how microfinance institutions are traditionally financed – using debt capital to leverage equity and expand loan portfolios – we realized that an investment offering that would allow us to scale our SME portfolio while maintaining a values-aligned and spiritually-integrated approach to our work could fill a unique gap in the impact investing marketplace.

Earlier this year we launched HOPE Global Investments (HGI), a for-profit lending vehicle that enables accredited investors to provide debt financing to HOPE-network microfinance institutions around the world for follow-on lending to these local, small- and medium-sized enterprises.  We are particularly excited about this Kingdom opportunity as research has shown that SMEs in the developing world generate 58% of all new jobs and 67% of GDP/income growth, yet these businesses nearly always lack access to the full capital needed to realize their growth potential.  As business owners like the Logins have an opportunity to receive capital and be discipled towards faith and obedience to Christ, the potential to harness the latent power of the business for the expansion of God’s Kingdom is immeasurable.  HGI is the result of an increased demand from both current and potential borrowers in the field — many of whom have outgrown micro-loans and require larger capital infusions — and investors — who are seeking investment opportunities with a clear strategy for business growth, Gospel proclamation, and Kingdom impact.

 In addition to filling the market gap for faith-driven debt offerings, we believe HGI is unique for a few other reasons:

1.     It builds on HOPE’s 22-year foundation.  By God’s grace, HOPE International has been making microfinance loans since its founding in 1997, and now serves nearly 1,000,000 people across 16 countries. HGI is first-and-foremost built on HOPE’s long-term relationships with clients, a portion of whom have the capacity to make the transition from microenterprise to SME, scaling the business and employing staff beyond the immediate family.  Staff within HOPE network MFIs nurture client relationships, provide capacity-building support for borrowers and their businesses, and use a strong and standardized control structure for underwriting, securitization, and oversight of loan capital.  

1. HOPE has a deep commitment to spiritual integration and spiritual impact. We celebrate the coming of God’s Kingdom as we witness material, social, and personal impact in the lives of SME business owners, their families, their employees, and their communities. Yet HOPE’s commitment to spiritual impact as an integrated part of our loan process — from initial contact, to underwriting, to loan visitation, training and support — is what makes us most unique. We track and report on spiritual integration metrics for the SME business owners we fund on a quarterly basis.

3.     HGI is simple in structure and provides options to investors. HGI is a simple, fixed term note structure that provides accredited investors a variety of options, including the country of investment, duration, target rate of return, and level of risk.  The investment vehicle was structured to allow for maximum simplicity and transparency on the usage of funds, to allow line of sight from investment to SME businesses funded. 

All of us at HOPE International and HGI are motivated by the great commission and the greatest commandment to love God, love our neighbor, and make disciples of all nations. As the faith-driven investing marketplace continues to mature and live out these mandates, we are excited to be along for the journey, and to see God’s Kingdom coming to the nations through the advancement of this movement. We dream of a day when more entrepreneurs like the Logins are able to grow their businesses, deepen their faith, and serve their communities.

If you’re interested in learning more, please email jruyle@hopeinternational.org.

[1] https://thegiin.org/assets/GIIN%20Market%20Sizing%20Report%20Press%20Release.pdf

 

by Chris Meyer

Since adolescence, I’ve aspired to work toward a just and sustainable world. My motivation stems in part from feelings of dread and urgency about the trajectory of life on earth and in part from my desire to seek shalom, which I define as right relationships between humans, God, and the earth. Through influential authors and classes, as well as significant personal and spiritual reflection, my vision for change emerged during my college years. 

I was keen to learn about complex issues and determine the most productive path toward changing our systems. While I agreed with the merits of many causes and movements, protests weren’t my preferred method. I wanted to address root causes of problems, not just deal with effects. I felt called to know and understand the levers of power.

I determined that the greatest power – for good or for bad – seemed to rest in the financial world. And I wanted to maximize the amount of systemic change I could accomplish using my skillset within the economic system. 

I eventually learned of a job opportunity centered on shareholder advocacy at Praxis Mutual Funds®, a mutual fund family of Everence Financial®, a faith-based financial services company. Praxis practices shareholder advocacy – also known as corporate engagement – which means using the rights and privileges conferred by stock ownership to promote corporate change. It can take many forms, including letter writing, dialogue with company management, shareholder resolutions, and voting shares of stock.

I had learned about shareholder advocacy as a student from my now-colleague Mark Regier, who established Praxis’s stewardship investing program. I was intrigued with this use of power to promote sustainability from within our economic structure, and was excited to join Praxis.

Some may argue that trying to better an unjust system is a waste of time and that we need to be focused on creating a different one. I, too, have a vision for a harmonious way of life distinct from our current economic and political reality, and I had some reservations about the messy work of engaging the world’s largest corporations. While I support causes that are focused on developing an alternative paradigm, however, it is also a valid and faithful practice to ameliorate the system as it exists now, particularly because we are all connected to it.

Studies show that over half of Americans are invested in the stock market. The way most people invest is through mutual funds, whether in employer-based retirement plans or personal investment accounts.

If you’re invested in mutual funds, you’re a part-owner of hundreds of companies. What are you doing with that power?

Most people are unaware of this power, and they’re not invested in mutual funds that practice corporate engagement. The absence of active ownership through corporate engagement means defaulting to investing convention – the notion that investors are solely concerned with maximizing financial returns. 

Praxis is an investment manager for tens of thousands of people. Through corporate engagement, we harness the power of client investments for greater good.

Our shareholder advocacy work is concentrated on several priority issues. Our current themes are Promoting Creation Care, Working to End Modern Slavery, and Addressing Inequality. There are many sub-issues under each theme.

We don’t do this work alone but collaborate with many faith-based and values-aligned investors to engage corporations. We often lean on nongovernmental organizations to gain expertise in certain issue areas. We’re also members of organizations that seek to improve the environmental, social, and governance policy and practices of companies. Some of these organizations include the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), Ceres, USSIF: The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment and the Thirty Percent Coalition.

Partnering allows us to increase the breadth and depth of our advocacy reach. We lead some engagements and participate in others. We and our partners pursue trusting and mutually beneficial relationships with the companies we work with, while also pressing and challenging them relentlessly on issues where we believe they can do better. We represent both our core values and the investments that our clients have entrusted to us. We want the companies we engage to be financially successful in a way that’s beneficial to all stakeholders.

Much of our work occurs behind the scenes. For instance, most corporate dialogues are kept private to foster openness, and meeting summaries refer only to the general points covered. Positive outcomes from engagement are rarely attributed directly to shareholder advocates; companies want to be seen doing the right thing on their own. Combined with the fact that engagement with companies can be long and tedious work, one can see how critics might view shareholder advocacy as insufficient or unproductive. 

Nonetheless, shareholder advocacy has been able to move mountains. Shareholder advocates are often on the front lines of change, and I’m continually astounded at the power and influence we wield – especially considering our relative size. We have access to the people and rooms where decisions are made, and a small tweak to corporate policy can make a difference to millions of people. And along with many of our partners, it helps to be rooted in faith conviction that carries some moral authority.

In our role, Praxis has influenced companies to adopt human rights standards in supply chains, source fair trade ingredients, transition to a low carbon economy, end predatory lending practices, and honor the claims of residents affected by toxic pollution (among many other instances of progress). Here are a couple of recent examples …

 For the past two years, Praxis has led a shareholder engagement with NiSource focused on greenhouse gas emissions reductions, climate change scenario planning, and transition to renewable energy. In fall 2018, NiSource announced a plan to retire all its coal generation plants by 2028, reducing its carbon emissions by 90%. The capacity will be largely replaced with renewable energy, and the new wind and solar installations will effectively double Indiana’s renewable energy capacity. The changes will take place within the Northern Indiana Public Service Company (NIPSCO), NiSource’s electric subsidiary. NIPSCO serves nearly 500,000 customers in northern Indiana, including the Praxis and Everence corporate office.

Another example involves a large investor coalition of ICCR members who approached JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) about its financing of private prison companies, beginning in 2017. After a series of dialogues centered on human rights policies, JPMC announced in March that it would withdraw from private prison lending. Nearly all the largest U.S. banks have since followed JPMC’s lead and committed to ending their ties to the private prison industry, illustrating the effect that one company’s policy can have on an industry. Praxis did not lead the JPMC engagement, but we participated in the dialogues along with many colleagues—a testament to the power of collaboration.

From my experience, I’ve learned that real corporate change more often occurs from honest, respectful engagement with the company than from pitchforks at the gate, and that the most visible campaigns aren’t always the most effective. Shareholder advocacy seeks to make a difference, not just a statement.

Even after 13 years in this field, it feels strange to face criticism from people who share the same values that I do. Some may think we’re enabling an unjust system and that avoidance or divestment are the only ways forward. I can understand the impulse to pursue purity, but since all our hands are dirty as participants in the economy, I would rather seek the practical instead of the symbolic way of change.

I live on an off-the-grid homestead powered by solar panels in rural Ohio. I feel out of place walking the corporate halls of power. I’m self-conscious in the elite circles where I professionally operate. And I’m still not comfortable wearing suits. But I’m OK with that dichotomy. I’ve retained my identity and convictions without being consumed by structures of power. I’m also acutely aware of the privileged position I’m in to be able to wield this power on behalf of our faith-based investor community, and the responsibility that comes with it.

We are all part of society and tied to our economic and political systems. There are many ways to engage in transformative change, and an incredible amount of work can be done within the system to make it more just and sustainable. Shareholder advocacy offers an often-overlooked way to make use of power through collaborative, bridge-building interactions.

Chris is Manager of Stewardship Investing Advocacy and Research at Praxis Mutual Funds® and Everence® Financial.

A version of this story originally appeared in The Mennonite.

As of Sept. 31, 2019, the Praxis Value Index Fund has invested 0.09% of its assets in NiSource; 3.44% of its assets in JPMorgan Chase; the Praxis Growth Index Fund has invested 0.19% of its assets in JPMorgan Chase; and Praxis Impact Bond Fund has invested 0.82% of its assets in JPMorgan Chase. Fund holdings are subject to change. To obtain holdings as of the most previous quarter, visit praxismutualfunds.com. 

Consider the fund’s investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before you invest. The fund’s prospectus and summary prospectus contain this and other information. Call 800-977-2947 or visit praxismutualfunds.com for a prospectus, which you should read carefully before you invest. Praxis Mutual Funds are advised by Everence Capital Management and distributed through Foreside Financial Services, LLC, member FINRA. Investment products offered are not FDIC insured, may lose value, and have no bank guarantee.

By Mike Sharrow

In 2001 a 79-year-old man starting a financial services business asked me if I’d join him as an associate in starting a new business.  I’ll never forget his response when I asked what in the world a 79-year-old was doing starting a business, “Mike, retirement is deadly.  It’ll kill you!  We’re made to work. I’ve retired from companies a few times but want to start a business doing what I’m good at with people I like.  Will you come help me?” I dove into the world of defined pension plans, wealth management, investment portfolios and apprenticing with this WW2 veteran and bastion of practical business wisdom. He lived in Lake Forest, Illinois and also exposed me to an echelon of affluence, giving, spending, investing, and thinking I had not known before as a young guy just transitioning from teen years on Medicaid, housing assistance and limited financial resources.

In 2008 I exited an 8 year run with a F50 company to join the staff of my local church. A local philanthropist was intrigued by my career move and reached out to get to know each other better. That resulted in me joining him on his giving endeavors, going around the world to various project sites where he had been quietly and generously investing in helping people for decades.  He introduced me to the idea of clandestine giving, where you don’t let your generosity corrupt your relationships or identity in a community as well as humbled me with rethinking Christian “charity” by making me read great books like Toxic Charity, When Helping Hurts, African Friends & Money Matters and more.  He mentored me in ways I didn’t fully appreciate the gravity of until after he had died.  

In 2011 I exited both a business I had created and my local church staff to become a “Chair” with C12.  Within a year I was facilitating groups and serving a couple dozen CEOs and business owners around this idea of building great businesses for a greater purpose. I walked with leaders from across the spectrum – from struggling to make payroll, those ones giving millions away.  In the years that followed I came to know, intersect, enter into relationship with some of the most fascinating, generous and creative people and regularly said “I’m wildly wealthy in relationships!” 

In 2016, as then CEO for the C12 Group, I was seeing too many business owners in C12 struggling with selling to parties who feigned appreciation for their culture or taking on capital partners who post-transaction shut down any Gospel-expressing elements. I set out on a quest to solve that dilemma. Originally, in my clear marketing brilliance (my marketing team is shaking their head) we forged a “Consortium of Like-Minded Capital Partners,” which then evolved into a more formal and better branded 3Ten Coalition.  In the process of developing that I toured the country meeting with Private Equity, Venture Capital, Incubator, Investment Banker, and Private Investor firms who shared our concern for the Gospel in the marketplace.  

Along this journey, I’ve become increasingly aware of some seductive lies I believe are absolutely toxic for entrepreneurs and investors alike.  They are seductive because they sound so good and they flirt with being Biblical but they can be a hallucinogen to the zealous.  In our wealth creation, investment and distribution let us be mindful of these traps: 

(1) God needs the money (I’m pretty sure He’s loaded!)

(2) I’m “bringing money into the Kingdom” (what is not already His?)

(3) God loves the way I leverage people and businesses to extract money for His work “out there”

(4) My generous plan to “give” God 10-20% of wealth from that liquidity event really motivates Him to sprinkle blessings on my venture

(5) I’m part of God’s Kingdom Bank, so I’m pretty essential, important…the Kingdom Enterprise might really get tripped up if I don’t keep it cash-flowed

These are seductive.  They can lure us to justify “for God” neglect of our souls, of our family, of people, of the ministry of the present, of the Gospel, of God.  Even for Kingdom Investors, Faith-Driven Investors we must heed the warning of Jesus, “What does it prosper a [investor] if he gains the whole world but loses his soul in the pursuit?”

Personal dashboards of Gospel vitality are essential.  Gospel-driven calculus for what makes a good investment, return and venture narrative must be rigorously worked out to protect us from these common drifts.  

A mentor of mine rocked my world when at a seminar at a fancy dining club one day he said, “You know…whatever your price, the Devil will pay it. For many Christians the greatest way to get you off courses is not a direct assault of discouragement or evil pursuits – it’s burying you with success. The kind of success that warrants just a little more, postponing obedience just a little longer because of all the “good” you’ll do with it.If success is what it takes to get you to suppress the call of life in Christ – the Devil is happy to pay it. Stand guard!”

This article was originally presented at The Christian Economic Forum 2019.
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The Christian Economic Forum hosts a world-class Global Event each year to connect the top industry leaders and experts from around the world with other individuals who are compelled to act upon the principles of God’s economy. The following paper was presented at CEF 2019.

— by Mats Tunehag

She was amazed and perplexed at the same time. She was treated with respect and dignity. She was a woman challenged with disabilities. But her life had changed. With no or little prospect of ever getting a job, she was now working in a manufacturing company. She was creative, she had made friends, and she made money.

 Women in this country and in this religious context were treated as second-class citizens. If they had mental or physical handicaps they were often further down.

 But the company she worked for employed and offered jobs with dignity to women with disabilities. It was unheard of, and it made a huge difference not only for her, but also for the other women who worked there. It even had a transformational impact on families and the community.

 This woman asked herself, Why is this workplace so different? It changes lives on many levels. She knew that the founder and CEO was a follower of Jesus. So she told herself, If that’s what it means to be a follower of Jesus, I will also follow Him. It was a huge and risky step for a handicapped woman in a conservative Muslim environment.

 What brought her to Christ? A gospel tract? A Jesus film? A Bible study? No, it was human resource management informed by biblical values, underpinned with prayer. Ultimately, it was, of course, God’s doing. 

This true story from the Middle East highlights some important issues as we serve God and people in and through business. There is a need for an integrated outlook on work and worship. We also need to understand timing, our call, and God’s role. We need to understand avodah, chronos and kairos.

 

Sunday Talk to Monday Walk

In the global Business as Mission (BAM) movement we talk about taking our Sunday talk into a Monday walk. This means that whatever we believe and profess in church on Sunday should be permeating our lives and business practices the rest of the week.[1]

 We must strive towards a seamless integration of Sunday and Monday, of work and worship. There is a risk of seeing Sunday and Monday as two separate compartments.[2]

There are pros and cons with compartmentalization. It has been a key to scientific development. But the danger is often that one may fail to see the greater whole, how bits and pieces overlap, interact, and connect.

 

Water and God

For example, H2O is hydrogen and oxygen. It can be compartmentalized and analyzed; it can manifest itself as water, ice, and steam. If you’re thirsty you don’t want a chemical formula; you want water, the integrated whole.

The church teaches that God is triune; we can observe the three in one, and one in three throughout history. We can compartmentalize God: focusing on the Son, for example. But we mustn’t fail to see how the three divine persons overlap, interact, and connect. It is a mystery, indeed, but nevertheless a truth to embrace.

 

Avodah

When we deal with Sunday and Monday, with serving God and people, with work and worship, we should learn from the use of the Hebrew word avodah found in the Holy Scriptures. It is used interchangeably for work, worship, and service. Here are a few references:

•       The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work (avodah) it and take care of it. (Genesis 2:15)

•       Six days you shall work (avodah). (Exodus 34:21)

•       This is what the LORD says: Let my people go, so that they may worship (avodah) me. (Exodus 8:1)

•       But as for me and my household, we will serve (avodah) the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

Worship in a building is different from manual labor in the field. But that doesn’t mean they are disconnected from who we are—created in God’s image with a purpose both to work and to worship. Work can be worship.[3]

Avodah is a picture of an integrated faith. It is a life where work and worship come from the same root. “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

 This is also a challenge in BAM as we talk about the quadruple bottom line: financial, social, environmental, and spiritual. BAM is not doing business with a touch of “churchianity.” BAM is not Christians just doing social enterprise. BAM recognizes God as a stakeholder who has a vested interested in the multiple bottom lines and multiple stakeholders.

We can and should set goals in each of these four areas individually, as we plan, operate, and evaluate. We also need to recognize, however, that these areas of impact overlap, interact, and connect; the result is greater than the sum of its parts, as we learn from the story from the Middle East.

We must avoid polarizing. It is not hydrogen versus oxygen, God the Father versus the Son, work versus worship, or financial bottom-line versus a spiritual impact. They are not the same, but they belong together.

 

Entrepreneurship as Calling

Thus our daily work is intimately related to serving God and people. Our businesses are not a distraction from “doing ministry.”[4]

“Entrepreneurs, managers and all who work in business, should be encouraged to recognise their work as a true vocation and to respond to God’s call in the spirit of true disciples. In doing so, they engage in the noble task of serving their brothers and sisters and of building up the Kingdom of God.”[5]

To work is deeply divine and deeply human. The same applies also to creativity in business. It is a reflection of who we are, created in God’s image. But our work is also a part of God’s redemptive mission throughout history. Thus, our work is part of a greater story—His story. To do BAM for God and people is about making history.

 As Pope John XXIII said, “In the work on the farm the human personality finds every incentive for self-expression, self-development and spiritual growth. It is a work, therefore, which should be thought of as a vocation, a God-given mission, an answer to God’s call to actuate His providential, saving plan in history. It should be thought of, finally, as a noble task, undertaken with a view to raising oneself and others to a higher degree of civilization.”[6]

 

Timing is Important

BAM must be underpinned by a biblical worldview, informing our planning, operations, and evaluations. One very important aspect of worldview is time. This has implications on what we can do and what God does.

 Time affects how we plan, operate, and evaluate a BAM business, aiming at a positive impact on multiple bottom-lines for multiple stakeholders. As we do this, there are extremes to be avoided: quantifying and monetizing everything or nothing.

 

Chronos and Kairos

We need to ask, “How is God a stakeholder in our business? How can we aim at a Kingdom of God impact in and through business?” This is where chronos and kairos come in. These are two Greek words for time.

 Chronos is quantitative and sequential; it is the basis of the English word chronological. We operate in the chronos—it is where we plan and evaluate our businesses. It’s where we live our day-to-day lives.

 Kairos is qualitative, the supreme moment, the right time. This is used for God’s intervention, in the fullness of time. We cannot control this, but we can set the stage for it to some extent.

 

Civil Service as Mission

We can learn from Daniel and his three friends who were involved in Civil Service as Mission. In the first six chapters of the Book of Daniel we observe that Daniel and his friends served God and the nation with professionalism, excellence, and integrity. They served faithfully in the chronos.

 God used this stage set in the chronos to occasionally intervene (kairos moments), to bring glory to Himself, and to transform people and nations.

 However, most days for Daniel and company were just another day, week, year, or decade in the office. It was their faithful and good work (in the chronos) that set the stage for miracles and changed lives; in the right moment and in His own time, God intervened (kairos).

 

Another Day in the Office

This is essential as we do business. How can we serve our customers, staff, and suppliers with professionalism, excellence, and integrity? We can and should carefully plan, execute, and evaluate accordingly.

We also need to understand that we cannot convert anyone by pushing through or forcing a spiritual impact. So what steps can we take in the chronos to set the stage for the kairos? Or in the words of the apostle Paul, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God caused it to grow.”

Like Daniel and his friends, we must be prepared for another day, week, year, and decade in the business. No matter how mundane the day-to-day may seem, we must remind ourselves that we are constantly and intentionally shaping the business for God and people, for various stakeholders and multiple bottom-lines.

The CEO of the manufacturing company in the Middle East served faithfully in the chronos—with excellence, professionalism, and integrity. God used that to draw a woman to Himself—there was a kairos moment. 

Chronos and kairos can help us to plan and set reasonable expectations, as well as to help us to see the role we can play alongside what God does. Having this view of time can hopefully encourage us to relax and trust God. We plant and water, but God will bring life and growth.

Avodah, chronos, and kairos are key to understanding our calling in the marketplace. This gives us more BAM for the buck.

 

[1] See https://www.matstunehag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Business-as-Mission-is-bigger-than-you-think.pdf for 12 examples of key Christian values and biblical themes and how they translate into business.

[2] Dorothy Sayers notes in her essay, “Why Work”: In nothing has the church so lost her hold on reality as in her failure to understand and respect the secular vocation. She has allowed work and religion to become separate departments, and is astonished to find that, as a result, the secular work of the world is turning to purely selfish and destructive ends, and that the greater part of the world’s intelligent workers have become irreligious, or at least, uninterested in religion. But is it astonishing? How can any one remain interested in a religion which seems to have no concern with nine-tenths of his life? The Church’s approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours, and to come to church on Sundays. What the Church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables. 

[3] Tomas Aquinas’ definition of beauty also has three parts: Integritas (integrity), Consonantia (proportion), and Claritas (clarity). Again, three in one. They can be analyzed one at a time or two in contrast, but it is the combined three that constitutes beauty.

[4] See the video, Business like Bach, https://vimeo.com/152713982 or at https://matstunehag.com/videos/. This very short video makes the cogent point that just as Bach put years of hard work and practice into developing the extraordinary musical gifts given to him by God, some of us are given the gift of business as a way to bring glory to God. We should not see business as a distraction but rather as an instrument worthy of our time, energy, and for “the greater glory of God.”

[5] Vocation of the Business Leader, published by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

[6] Mater et magistra. Encyclical of Pope John XXII on Christianity And Social Progress, May 15, 1961.

This article was originally published here.

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by Jerry Bowyer

The confrontation with the moneychangers has been used to enlist Jesus into an ideological war against finance. There are many examples, but probably the best known of them is FDR’s inaugural address in which he extensively referenced this text.

“Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths.”

Is that really what this story means? Is it a general indictment of financial commerce? I don’t think so.

We’ve been tracing Jesus’ journey from Galilee down to Jericho into Judea and now to Jerusalem. The pattern has been that Jesus’ denunciations of wealth coincide with two circumstances: proximity to Jerusalem and proximity to the ruling class. Jesus is toughest on accumulations of riches when in Judea, least so when in Galilee. He’s tough on religious and political elites (often the same groups) who extract wealth, as opposed to those who create wealth through work, or even investment. That latter point – tolerance towards financial dealings – was counter-cultural in at least two ways. ‘Conservative,’ that is aristocratic, elites were tied to the land; the newly forming order of financial markets would have been somewhat alien to them.

David Fiensy makes this point in Christian Origins and the Ancient Economy,

The first thing we should say about the ancient economy of the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions is that it was agrarian. This observation is so common as to be beyond dispute.2 An agrarian economy was based on land ownership and farm production…the way to acquire wealth in an agrarian economy was to acquire more land. There was not much else a person could do with wealth but buy land. One could invest in trading and shipping, but it was risky. The culturally acceptable and economically less risky investment was land…

But Jesus tells several parables which involve finance, as opposed to agriculture. There is the Parable of the Unfaithful Steward, and the Parable of the Talents, both of which seem oriented towards a positive view of the investor. In fact, at least one, and probably both, of these parables put God in the role of the investor. This would be odd if Jesus thought of finance as an unrighteous profession.

Therefore, it is unlikely that Jesus’ confrontation with the money changers was simply because they dealt with finance.  Given Jesus’ criticism of the temple and its elites, it seems more likely that their location on temple grounds was at least one part of His objection. The account specifies that He confronted them when He entered the temple, therefore they were on temple grounds. He specifically criticizes their presence there, contrasting it with Solomon’s temple which was to be ‘a house of prayer for all nations’. Instead, it had been turned into a “robbers’ den” – a reference to Jeremiah who also criticized the temple elites of his time. The text makes clear that this activity taking place on temple grounds was an issue.

“And they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to cast out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves;

16 and He would not permit anyone to carry goods through the temple.

17 And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations ‘? But you have made it a robbers‘ den.”

18 And the chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for all the multitude was astonished at His teaching.”

(Mk. 11:15-18 NAS)

Mathew21:12 And Jesus entered the temple and cast out all those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves.

13 And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a robbers‘ den.”

(Matt. 21:12-13 NAS)

I’ve highlighted several phrases to draw attention to some points which might be missed otherwise. One of them, I’ve already discussed, is the fact that the moneychangers were confronted after Jesus entered the temple, therefore they were on temple ground. Also, please note the phrase ‘”robber’s den”. I’ve already mentioned that this is borrowed from Jeremiah. But it’s important to see how appropriate this designation was. Jesus calls this a robber’s den because they are robbers. The temple system was dishonest in numerous ways, which we can discuss in great detail elsewhere.

One matter which stands out is the dishonest nature of the currency transactions. According to Alfred Edersheim’s monumental tome, The Temple:

…But by far the largest sum was derived from the half-shekel of Temple tribute, which was incumbent on every male Israelite of age, including proselytes and even manumitted slaves. As the shekel of the sanctuary was double the ordinary, the half-shekel due to the Temple treasury amounted to about 1s. 4d. (two denarii or a didrachma). Hence, when Christ was challenged at Capernaum1 for this payment, He directed Peter to give the stater, or two didrachmas, for them both. This circumstance also enables us to fix the exact date of this event. For annually, on the 1st of Adar (the month before the Passover), proclamation was made throughout the country by messengers sent from Jerusalem of the approaching Temple tribute. On the 15th of Adar the money-changers opened stalls throughout the country to change the various coins, which Jewish residents at home or settlers abroad might bring, into the ancient money of Israel. For custom had it that nothing but the regular half-shekel of the sanctuary could be received at the treasury. On the 25th of Adar business was only transacted within the precincts of Jerusalem and of the Temple, and after that date those who had refused to pay the impost could be proceeded against at law, and their goods distrained,2 the only exception being in favour of priests, and that ‘for the sake of peace,’ that is, lest their office should come in disrepute…

So, the temple shekel was double weight, which no doubt had pious justifications about the glory – literally the heaviness – of the matters of God. But the bottom line is that worshippers had to pay twice the amount, due to dishonest weights and measures. And the mechanics of this financial abuse were carried out by the money changers. That is why Jesus calls them ‘robbers’.

You may notice that I highlighted phraseology which singles out the dove merchants as particular objects of Jesus’ ire. Matthew’s and Mark’s Gospels both mention the doves. Luke’s account is generally similar but doesn’t mention dove merchants.

John, however, focuses heavily on the dove sellers, so heavily that he portrays Jesus as speaking only to them.

15 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the moneychangers, and overturned their tables;

16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a house of merchandise.” (Jn. 2:15-16 NAS)

What is the significance of the doves? Under the Torah, the sacrifice of doves was a provision for the poor. Poor people bought doves. The whole system of money-changing was dishonest, but the dove sellers who charged double because of the dishonest shekel were specifically the group which was hurting the poor, such as were Joseph and Mary when they first started out.

“And when the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every first-born male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord “),

24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.””

(Lk. 2:22-24 NAS)

Luke doesn’t mention doves, probably because his intended gentile audience would not understand this detail of Torah.  But John has Jesus addressing only the dove-sellers. Why would John be particularly focused on the dove merchants? Remember John was probably the closest to Mary who, as we saw above, was herself exploited by this particular group. Jesus arranged for Mary to adopt John at the cross and according to early church historians, John and Mary stayed together, traveling to Ephesus.

This would also explain Jesus’ anger. His own mother had been exploited by this system. Jesus called out religious leaders for devouring widow’s houses. Perhaps He thought of his own, probably widowed mother. Jesus, on the other hand was not a devourer, but rather was Himself devoured by zeal for God and for the good of the people. That at least is how His disciples interpreted the confrontation with the dove merchants:

“and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a house of merchandise.”

17 His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Thy house will consume me.””

(Jn. 2:16-17 NAS)

But Jesus was not the only one who was consumed. It was immediately after this incident that the chief priests and the scribes decided to destroy him.

“And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine.” (Mk. 11:18 KJV)

There were consumed with fear at His popularity among the people. Up until then they had merely been irked by Jesus because of His challenge to their religion, but now He was challenging their money, and for that, He had to be murdered.