Discover God’s Story for Investing is an ongoing series that examines faithful investing from the biblical story in coordination with the Eventide Center for Faith & Investment.
For investors, it seems like a simple proposition.
Take your investment dollars and buy shares in a publicly traded company that has a favorable outlook. In exchange for your capital, you expect that the company’s management team will grow the business and create value. As the business prospers, you anticipate that your investment will appreciate and produce a return for you and your family.
But we are reminded in Discover God’s Story for Investing that not all investments are equal in God’s eye. As people of faith, we have an obligation to understand the company’s values, and how it creates the products it sells.
“If you thought you might die today or Christ might return tonight, how would your passions or daily activities change?”
Mick Owens, author of the popular book Diamond of Life: The Five P’s of Success and Significance
When we guide people through the investing process, it’s critical that we have a complete understanding of their values so that we can build a portfolio that aligns with their beliefs.
Part of our mission is to serve our clients in a Christ-like manner by assisting them in development and stewardship in their lives, believing that “it profits a man nothing to gain the whole world and lose his soul.”
Our Work Is a Gift from God
Discover God’s Story for Investing also discusses the value of work while challenging people to ask, “What is the point of our work?” “What purpose does God have for it?” “Why is human work a part of His plans for the world?” The short answer to all of these questions is that, in God’s eye, it matters what we make! It must be “beauty-good.”
“Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed companies that profess to be based on biblical principles actually put the almighty dollar in front of those biblical principles, resulting in a bad witness to non-Christian employees,” writes Mick Owens in his personal finance book, Diamond of Life: The Five P’s of Success and Significance.
Compare & Contrast
Here’s a quick snapshot of “good” products or services
“Goods” and “Services” | “Bads” and “Disservices” |
|---|---|
Companies building data infrastructure | Companies involved in abortion |
Cybersecurity | Supplying tobacco to a developing world |
Home improvement | Casinos that prey on the hopes of the poor |
Advanced driving safety systems | Pornography |
Precision oncology | Pay-day loans with predatory services |
Through the investing process, we are called to maximize the “returns” to God’s good creation and to maximize His glory and honor. Nothing gives us greater satisfaction than when we are able to create an investment strategy that aligns God’s wisdom with your personal finances.
