A few years ago, the most widely read investment newsletter in conservative Christianity spent a few minutes thinking about ethics. The author wrote: "I receive more questions asking for suggestions on ethical investments than on any other single topic. I must tell them I can be of no help. Why not? There are no righteous investments." The author usually quotes scripture to affirm his thoughts. But this time he simply reasoned much like non-Christians who think, "Christians aren't perfect, so why be Christian?"

He isn't alone in thinking that Christian values will not produce a more abundant life for investors. Only a few weeks ago, another conservative Christian financial author sent me a book with a chapter entitled, "The real truth about so-called morally responsible investing." (While I've learned to be skeptical of financial authors who claim to have "the truth," I'd be particularly skeptical of those who have "the real truth.") Unlike other chapters in the book, it too completely avoided scripture. And the author reasoned, "What we find are individuals with virtually no financial or investment background doling out financial advice at the expense of their uneducated and vulnerable followers. The result of this kind of morally or socially responsible investing has been disastrous to say the least. Virtually all of the mutual funds engaged in this kind of screening of their investment selections have under-performed the market year in and year out."

Yet there are highly educated and experienced Christian money managers who reason quite differently. My friend Sir John Templeton was a Rhodes Scholar in economics before founding the Templeton Mutual Funds. Before retiring, he was apparently the best performing mutual fund manager in the world over the past four decades. Greatly respected in both financial and religious circles, John has reasoned, "Ethics and spiritual principles should be the basis of everything we do in life. All that we say, all that we think. Every activity should be based on that, including selection of investments. You will be better off with companies that are truly beneficial. They will go up more in price and grow more rapidly." (As if to affirm John's thinking, Vanguard is getting into screened index funds as they've actually out-performed non-screened index funds during the nineties.)

Similarly, my friend John Carey has a Ph.D. from Harvard. He manages the $6 billion Pioneer mutual fund, the oldest fund in America that avoids the "sin stocks" of alcohol, tobacco and gambling companies. Had you invested $10,000 when the fund was founded in 1928, it would now be worth over $82 million. It still receives top ratings for prudence and performance. Yet this devout Christian has reasoned, "Stewardship is the key: the knowledge (emphasis mine) that everything we have and acquire is only ours in trust, and that we express and build our character as we employ those assets responsibly."

The ability of humans to reason in different--and flawed--ways is why C.S. Lewis said Jesus' counsel was to "take and eat, not to take and understand." So after being offered much human reasoning during the past decade, this Christian investor is now far more interested in internalizing divine thoughts, which are not always our thoughts. And since the very beginning, God has clearly counseled stewards that thinking about our neighbors as well as ourselves is very reasonable in all areas of life. For example, God counseled shepherds to think about managing their livestock and wells so they would do no harm to neighbors (Ex 21:28-33); counseled homeowners to build houses with the same mindset (Dt 22:8); counseled lenders to keep the interests of borrowers in mind as they are equally loved (Dt 23:19); and counseled the owners of vineyards and fields that they have responsibilities for the less fortunate, who are always in God's thoughts (Dt 23:24-25).

In an article entitled "The Greatest Story Never Read: Recovering Biblical Literacy In The Church," Wheaton professor of New Testament Gary Burge wrote, "We live in a postbiblical era where general knowledge of the Bible cannot be assumed (and) if it is true that biblical illiteracy is commonplace in secular culture at large, there is ample evidence that points to similar trends in our churches (Christianity Today, 8-9-99)." Like the authors mentioned above, many pastors I talk with in my seminars have forgotten--and more often never knew--that ancient concepts about managing wealth were instrumental in shaping the "mind of Christ." So it's not surprising that his thinking to "love thy neighbor as thyself" does not make sense to modern investors who think too highly of money. But for stewards who love God with all their minds, it will always be reasonable to manage his wealth in ways that express love for neighbor as self.

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