This is the first video in a series on “Biblical Foundations of Financial Wellness by Ronald Blue Trust.” It’s important to remember that we all have a choice about where we get our truth, the facts and reality, about money. We either get them from the world or from the Word of God. In this video, we take a quick look at what the world says versus what the Bible says in seven key financial areas.
Click on the image below to watch.
Most of the decisions we make throughout the day involve money on some level. How we use money bears eternal significance. Maybe that’s why God’s Word provides more guidance on how we handle our money and resources than on nearly any other topic. At least one-third of Jesus’ parables involve the use or misuse of funds.
The parable of the talents (see Matthew 25:14-30) is a clear example of God’s distinct desire for us to invest the resources He entrusts to us with the expectation of fruitful increase. Whether we have been given great abilities, influence, and wealth, or very little, we must put to work what we have in keeping with our Master’s wishes.
But that’s not all God cares about. Psalm 112:5 teaches “Good will come to those who are generous and lend freely, who conduct their affairs with justice.” God wants us to put His resources to work, and cares how we do it. This requires evaluating investment priorities and employing wisdom and integrity in our key decisions.
The book of Proverbs provides a wealth of insights for stewarding God’s provisions, encouraging us to pursue an investment mindset that has at least three characteristics.
1. Informed – Develop wise, strategic, and intentional plans.
Proverbs 21:5 states, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”
2. Incremental – Patiently make good decisions over time.
Proverbs 13:11 states, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but whoever gathers money little by little makes it grow.”
3. Honest – Operate with integrity, faithfully asking for and following God’s leading.
Proverbs 28:20 states, “A faithful person will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.”
God cares what we do in putting to work what He’s given us and how we do it, taking an informed, incremental, and honest approach. From there, we make strategic decisions to invest with companies that sync with our beliefs and provide a meaningful return, in relationship to society and creation, above and beyond profits. It also helps us distance ourselves from investments that are in opposition to our faith. For instance, as early as the 18th century, the Quakers morally evaluated investments, withdrawing from the lucrative slave trade rather than profiting from the immoral activity.
Investing that Impacts the World
But is it enough to simply invest ethically with attention to both social impact and creation care? What if we consider how every aspect of our finances (investment funds, credit cards, even banking) can support causes in alignment with Scripture?
Most Christian consumers are not aware of the opportunities to align their finances with their faith on such a basic level. In fact, numerous financial service companies specifically seek to steward investments while leveraging profits to support organizations and causes that reflect Christian values.
Consider this example from my own office at Evangelical Christian Credit Union (ECCU), serving Christian consumers in the United States. Our products are competitive with any bank (everyday accounts, savings accounts, loans, etc.). However, unlike most banks, our underlying mission is to “fuel Christ-centered ministry worldwide”, which means reinvesting profits into global ministry.
ECCU provides low-cost banking services to missionaries and low-interest loans to ministries. It may not sound like much — especially when our members are asked to do nothing more than everyday banking — but, last year we saved missionaries more than $1 million in fees. And that’s with having only 10,000 members in our midsized credit union.
The Pew Research Center reports some 806 million evangelical Christians worldwide. What if they all or a portion of them switched to a faith-based bank? A bank profits about $500 annually on an average family’s bank account. Adding in credit cards and loans, this could translate into an approximate $735 billion swing toward banks and credit unions that align with biblical faith and values.
Now, here’s the exciting part. ECCU is just one of many Christian financial institutions that can leverage funds into ministry fuel — helping Christians use their money to grow God’s kingdom.
All this points to resourcing Great Commission efforts (see Matthew 28:18-20). A powerful way that we as Christians can make Christ known is by actively engaging with ministries and organizations that will multiply the impact of our money — to do more good together than we can do on our own.
by David Sinclair
Finding a Christian financial advisor isn’t always easy. How do you know where to look? What are you even supposed to be looking for? These questions plague people seaching for a faith-driven investor. Thankfully, Robert Netzly of Inspire Investing put together a great article with helpful advice on what to look for in a Christian financial advisor and how to find one.
How do you find a Christian financial advisor? It can be a stressful process. Who can you trust to skillfully and wisely guide you through all of life’s financial twists and turns? What if you find a Christian financial advisor and they end up being the wrong pick? And what if you don’t realize they are the wrong advisor until it is too late? And for us Christians, are there biblical considerations that we should take into account to find a financial advisor?
Here are four qualities that Christian investors should demand when looking to find a financial advisor.
If you want a financial advisor who has wisdom, then this is a non-negotiable. The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.”(Proverbs 9:10) If we are to believe the Bible, which we do, then this verse states very plainly that only those who fear the Lord can attain to wisdom. If the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and a certain financial advisor does not fear the Lord, then scripture says that financial advisor does not have wisdom.
But some may challenge this notion, asking, “Surely there are non-Christian financial advisors who give good advice, aren’t there?”
To answer that question, let’s start by assuming that the Bible is actually correct, which it is. Next, let us consider the definition of “wisdom”. Does wisdom mean making decisions or giving advice that has beneficial earthly outcomes, such as a high performing investment portfolio? Or is there a deeper, and more important element to wisdom that the Bible is referring to?
Consider another verse of scripture dealing with wisdom, “For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness,’ and again, ‘The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.’”(1 Corinthians 3:19-20) This verse makes clear that God has a different definition of wisdom than the world does — and importantly, His definition is the correct definition!
True wisdom has its roots in the fear of the Lord, and as such it always brings glory to God. Worldly “wisdom” has its roots in the cleverness of men, and as such never brings glory to God. We must recognize that there are decisions that the world would count as wise but that are complete foolishness to God. Conversely, there are decisions that God counts as wise, yet the world sees as abject folly.
Which decisions would you rather make?
But, that does not mean that all Christian financial advisors give wise advice.
That brings us to the second point. At the risk of sounding redundant, if a Christian investor is going to seek advice from a financial advisor, they should only seek advice from a Christian financial advisor. Always.
And they should also demand excellence from that Christian financial advisor, just as they would from any other professional advising them on the most important decisions in their life. Always.
Scripture warns believers about receiving advice from those who are not following after Christ:
“Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1-2)
We must remind ourselves that apart from Christ, “None is righteous, no not one” (Romans 3:10). Only by grace through faith in Christ can we escape our wicked, sinful, scoffing state of depravity. “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.’” (1 Corinthians 1:30-31)
The implication is that no matter how nice, talented or helpful an unbelieving financial advisor is, they have not had their minds, hearts and spirits renewed by faith in Christ, and as such their advice is inherently, spiritually flawed and the Bible warns us not to seek their guidance, not to “walk in their counsel”.
However, that does not mean that Christian investors should choose to work with just any Christian financial advisor. Putting a Jesus fish on a business card is not a free pass to deliver sub-standard performance. “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men…You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23-24)
Christian professionals should be the hardest working, most trustworthy, devoted to excellence individuals in the marketplace. Christian investors should demand excellence in their search to find a Christian financial advisor.
Jesus said, “Each tree is known by its own fruit.”(Luke 6:44)
There are many people who may claim the name of “Christian”, yet their pattern of life does not give evidence of the Lordship of Christ. Put another way, there are many financial advisors who may claim the name of “Christian”, yet there is no “fruit” to give us confidence that they are born again followers of Christ.
Worse than that, there are also those who would masquerade under the Christian banner with the explicit purpose of defrauding Christian investors. Wolves in sheep’s clothing.
Before doing business with a Christian financial advisor, be sure to evaluate their character and pattern of life. Check character references from a pastor, ask them what church they attend and what ministries they serve or volunteer in.
Only God truly knows the heart, but the Bible exhorts us to be wise in our assessment of the people in our life, and especially those who we take advice from.
Finally, Christian investors should look for a Christian financial advisor who is skilled in biblically responsible investing (BRI).
BRI is the practice of aligning investment portfolios to support biblical values by excluding companies that are engaged in immoral activities, such as abortion or human trafficking, and instead seeking to invest in companies which are more closely aligned with God’s heart and operate as a blessing to the world.
Unfortunately, many Christian financial advisors do not have the resources or experience to deliver high quality, biblically responsible investing advice. Often this is no fault of the advisor, but rather a result of their firm not having a robust lineup of biblically responsible investing offerings. And sometimes the advisor may have the investments available for his or her use, but lack experience in managing a quality BRI portfolio that rivals or exceeds the results one would expect from a worthwhile investment.
Thankfully, there are a growing number of biblically responsible investing options becoming available to Christian financial advisors at firms across the nation. And there is also a growing knowledge bank of best practices, training, screening technology and other professional resources becoming available to equip Christian financial advisors to become proficient in providing biblically responsible investing services.
The largest multi-firm, nationwide membership network of Christian financial advisors dedicated specifically to advancing the BRI movement is Christian Wealth Management. Full disclosure, I am also the founder and CEO of Christian Wealth Management, so I might be a little biased in saying that www.ChristianWealthManagement.com could be a great place to start for investors looking to find a Christian financial advisor to provide them with sophisticated guidance from a biblical perspective. I recommend you visit the site and judge for yourself.
There are many important considerations when choosing a financial advisor, and for Christian investors there are additional qualities in the areas of godly character, fear of the Lord, God-glorifying excellence and biblically responsible investing which must be examined. Find a Christian financial advisor who displays all of these traits, and you have found an advisor who is worth listening to.
Scripture compels us to live our entire lives for the glory of God, and the management of our finances (which ultimately belong to God) is no exception. Don’t settle for anything less.
Photo by Jordan Opel
Could we see the end of extreme poverty in our lifetime?
Just two hundred years ago, almost the entire world’s population lived in extreme poverty. Today, less than 10 percent do. (In the past forty years alone, the percent of people living in extreme poverty has dropped by over 30 percentage points.)
In my years of work in Christ-centered economic development, I have had the privilege of visiting places ranging from the small towns in Haiti to remote villages in northern Afghanistan. And I have come to realize that while poverty runs rampant in our world, the situation in so many communities is unquestionably getting better. Even with the depth and complexities of poverty, the situation is not hopeless. The Church is on the move.
Love in Action
Jesus said that the world would know that we are His followers in how we love. And we consistently see Jesus model love and care for some of the most marginalized in society: widows, orphans, foreigners, and those living in poverty.
For generations, the Church has recognized the importance of following in Christ’s footsteps to love and care for those on the margins. The Church has run toward those in poverty—showing the world what it stands for and not only what it stands against. Today, there are growing numbers of people and organizations committed to bringing the love of Christ to individuals around the world and empowering whole communities to flourish.
Here are three hopeful trends as the Church addresses global poverty:
Stand with local leaders.
Our culture is obsessed with superheroes. In ten years, Marvel movies alone have totaledover $17 billion in the box office worldwide. In elementary school, our son loved his Spiderman outfit, and now our youngest proudly wears his Black Panther costume. We celebrate the heroes who risk their lives for the sake of others. Regardless of age, gender, or social class, heroes—both in real-life and on the screen—captivate our attention.
Unfortunately, this hero-centric perspective translated into our early poverty alleviation efforts as well.
When the Church first came onto the scene of global poverty, we were foreigners trying to play the part of the hero. We handed out blankets, donated clothes, painted buildings, and gave out food. Even with good intentions, our short-term-missions trips too often fell prey to paternalistic attitudes as we saw ourselves as the hero of the story.
But in the last few years, there has been a growing realization and repentance for massively underestimating the capacity and competency of the global Church. We’ve seen how infinitely more capable the global team is to engage in long-term effective poverty alleviation. We’ve seen the brilliant leadership expertise of people like Christine Baingana—CEO of Urwego Bank, the microfinance institution I worked for when I first arrived in Rwanda. (There is simply no question that she is an infinitely more capable and equipped leader of Urwego than I ever was or will be!) We’ve seen the incredible knowledge of Jean de Dieu Bizimana—HOPE International’s country director in Burundi—and the passion he has to serve the underserved in his community. We celebrate the fathers and mothers, businesspeople and church leaders effecting change in their neighborhoods. We celebrate the expertise and passion of our brothers and sisters around the world who seek to love and serve their communities with excellence. (Since they know their culture, their resources, and their people better than we do, they do the work better.) And we celebrate because the Church is recognizing its identity as a global Church. We need each other in this mission!
Recognize assets.
Although we might have looked at a person or community in poverty through a needs-based lens in the past, recently we have changed our focus. Instead of seeing “not enough,” we see an individual’s assets, skills, and dreams. Instead of seeing “the poor,” we see a mother with a sewing machine, a passion to make clothes, and a firm determination to provide for her children. Instead of seeing a “needy person,” we see a father with a small field, a knack for farming, and a dream to build a home for his family. We see people as the solution.
The greatest Gift-Giver of all time entrusted each of us with unique gifts, skills, and abilities. In Romans 12:6, Paul writes that “we have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” What a mistake it would be if we didn’t recognize them in ourselves and in others!
While in Burundi several months ago, I had the privilege of meeting a construction team who, at the time, didn’t have nails for their upcoming project. So, they began to make nails by hand by using small scraps of metal. This is but one example of the millions of men and women around the world who, every day, inspire us with their hard work, innovation, and resourcefulness.
We celebrate the shift from seeing needs to seeing capacity. We celebrate the resourcefulness, diligence, and creativity of our brothers and sisters around the world to transform their communities. We have much to learn from them.
Champion employment.
It’s been said that “the world’s best welfare program is a job.” And today, there is a growing cadre of organizations who understand the importance of work.
Jobs for Life is just one of these organizations. With a mission to equip the Church to prepare individuals for meaningful work, Jobs for Life wants to see all people flourish in their work and relationships.
They understand that work provides dignity, value, and purpose. Work verifies our identity, creates communities, produces jobs, and renews cities. Today, many are without work or underemployed, and this robs them of their God-given dignity and purpose.
In their initiative Flip the List, Jobs for Life seeks to transform the way the American Church fights poverty. Right now, the Church pushes back against poverty by handing out food (62 percent), providing housing (55 percent), and giving away clothing (22 percent). Only two percent of the Church’s poverty-alleviation efforts are geared towards employment.
Jobs for Life’s goal of “flipping the list” is to move employment from the bottom to the top of the list. When the Church focuses on meaningful employment first, provision for food, housing, and clothing will naturally follow as families increase their capacity. Flipping the List empowers men and women to provide for themselves—replacing a cycle of poverty with one of dignity.
We celebrate that an increasing number of organizations and efforts have been addressing poverty in a dignity-affirming, God-honoring, and jobs-centered way.
New Approach, Lasting Change
The Church is beginning to combat extreme poverty in a more complete way. It focuses on long-term systemic change and lasting employment patterns, not short-term quick fixes. It emphasizes the importance of partnerships and local champions, not external “saviors” descending to solve the problems of those considered less fortunate. The hope of the Gospel is integrated through tangible acts of compassion that have long-term reach.
This is a movement where discipleship, job creation, training, and financial services are building on local relationships to empower communities to break free from poverty.
“Poverty does not belong in a civilized human society,” Nobel Prize Winner Muhammad Yunus said, “Its proper place is in a museum.” As the Church continues to stand up for local leaders, identify skills and assets, and champion employment-based solutions, we may realize that the end of extreme poverty is much closer than we think.
Author’s Note: This article was originally published in the January/February issues of Mission Frontiers magazine.
I was recently a guest on MoneyWise radio with my friends Rob West and Steve Moore (you can listen here).
We talked about the creation account in the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. I spent 5 years in almost daily study of the Hebrew text of the early chapters of Genesis and then spent another year writing up that research into a 240 page thesis for which I was awarded the Sacred Licentiate in Theology degree (STL) by the Collegium Augustinianum. In other words, I’ve spent a lot of time on this: I’m not winging it.
Four things stand out to be about the creation account which inform our daily work:
First, God makes something, then calls it ‘good’ but then comes back the next day and changes things again. Good is not done. God’s work is first creation from nothing (which he alone can do), but after that, he’s taking good things and making them better.
Entrepreneurs will get this right away. We’re always trying to make our processes and products better. There’s a management tool called ‘continuous quality improvement’ which is very much a Biblical idea (and it historically came out of Biblical influence).
But it’s not just entrepreneurs who honor this principle. Every worker has the opportunity to improve. If a perfect God works to improve the output of his labor, imperfect humans certainly should too. Maybe it’s building a Fortune 500 company. Maybe it’s getting better at loading the dishwasher. The principle is the same, and is part of what it means to be in the image of God.
Second, God organizes things before filling them. The earth is ‘formless and void’. The first Bible translator in American, Charles Thompson, translated that as ‘unfurnished’. I actually think that his practical American mind might have gotten us closer to the market than the tradition of translating it using abstract philosophical ideas, such as chaos. God was building something and the raw materials were there, but it was not yet according to the final specs. Unfurnished, unfinished, not yet fit for purpose. And also empty.
So it’s unorganized and empty. The first thing is to make it organized, which he does. The first three of the six days focus mainly on dividing things: heaven from earth; night from day; waters from dry land.
When I decided to fix up my garage, first thing I did was build shelves. Then I put stuff on the shelves. God built his shelving system first.
Third, then he filled the shelves. Dry land gets plants; sky gets sun, moon, and stars; air gets birds, seas get fish and other sea creatures; dry land gets animals and then humans.
Fourth, God delegates authority to the things he creates. He organizes things, which is an extremely important part of the creation account and continues as a key theme throughout the rest of the Torah. Those separate shelves are separate zones of authority. Then he gives authority to do jobs to the officers he creates to fill them. The firmament is given the job of separating the waters above from the waters below. The sun ‘rules’ the day; the moon ‘rules’ the night). Humans are then given rule over the earth.
If a perfect and omniscient God, one who has no inherent limits on his span of management, one who never gets overwhelmed with decision making, delegates his authority, then finite and fallible humans certainly should.
There’s quite a lot to all of this, and I hope you will click here and listen to the discussion.
Photo by Owen Beard
When a man overseeing $5.7 trillion speaks, the global business community tends to listen. So when BlackRock founder Larry Fink posted a letter to CEOs demanding greater attention to social impact, it sent shockwaves through corporations around the globe.
In the letter, titled “A Sense of Purpose,” Fink wrote,
We … see many governments failing to prepare for the future, on issues ranging from retirement and infrastructure to automation and worker retraining. As a result, society increasingly is turning to the private sector and asking that companies respond to broader societal challenges. … Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose. … Companies must benefit all of their stakeholders, including shareholders, employees, customers, and the communities in which they operate.
Fink’s letter dropped just days before the 2018 World Economic Forum, an annual gathering of the global financial elite in Davos, Switzerland. I was attending the forum and watched as CEOs anxiously discussed the stern warning from a man whose firm controlled substantial ownership stakes in their companies. Many publicly professed sympathy for Fink’s message but privately declared his emphasis on broader social welfare to be anathema to the logic of private enterprise.
Looked at narrowly enough, they’re right: publicly traded companies are in it to win it, bound by fiduciary duties to maximize profits. But in the age of AI, this cold logic of dollars and cents simply can’t hold. Blindly pursuing profits without any thought to social impact won’t just be morally dubious; it will be downright dangerous.