The Most Important Factor in Faith-Driven Investing is Your Heart
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:
Outcomes
Investing actions (concentrated over time to produce a career or calling)
Decisions
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)