Christian financial adviser Gary Moore spent more than 15 years keeping pace with the daily fluctuations of Wall Street. But after the stock market crash in the fall of 1987, he came to realize money, upward mobility and other elements of the “American Dream” were unable to provide security and happiness.
That sent Moore on a biblical quest for insight which resulted in “The Christian’s Guide to Wise Investing.” One of the most important things he discovered in researching the Scriptures, he said, was God didn’t want 10 percent of his money — he wanted 100 percent.
“I also discovered that I could have avoided 90 percent of my investing mistakes over the years if I had spent a little more of my time reading Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Luke and James,” he wrote in his book. “Proverbs and Ecclesiastes not only provide wise, perceptive, assuring and frank guidelines on the subject, but also prove that God addressed the subject of money and security very early in the history of the faith.” Among the verses he cites are Proverbs 1:33, 15:6, 20:21 and 28:20, and Ecclesiastes 5:10-12 and 11:1-2.
The author of these two books, Solomon, compares the pursuit of wealth to chasing the wind, he said, something proven by a survey of wealthy individuals. Although respondents had an average income of $194,000 and assets of $750,000, two-thirds felt guilty about being affluent and 40 percent did not feel financially secure. That is why it is so important for Christians to bring their lives, including financial planning, into conformity with biblical principles, Moore said.
“Most of the problems investors face can be attributed to one thing: self-centeredness,” he said. “Two hundred years ago, Adam Smith, the father of modern economics and a professor of moral philosophy, said that self-interest could be good for all of a society if it was enlightened by moral values. If not, self-interest could destroy a society.”
Christ wants people to place their trust in him, Moore added, not in savings, investments, institutions or governments. However, since God gave his children a role in cultivating his resources, he said, Christians should be concerned with earning financial returns that can benefit the Lord’s work.
For believers who want to multiply resources, he outlined these seven investment principles, which he said will keep use of money prudent but productive:
1) All investments involve risk.
The higher the promised return the greater the risk, including certificates of deposit and bonds. “Advertising, media listings, banks and brokers have successfully trained modern Americans to seek the greatest promises. Far, far too few of these mention little or anything about the risks involved.”
2) If it looks too good to be true, it is.
The largest single obstacle to investing success today, he said, is that there are too many ways to make average investments look very attractive; the best returns usually don’t come from the top of the lists offering the highest promised returns.
3) Be skeptical but not cynical.
While greed and corruption exist in the worlds of insider trading, junk bonds, penny stocks and commodity pits, most of these are far removed from the domain of conservative investors, he said. If investors stick to productive, conservative areas, Moore said, they will be safe.
4) What goes up will assuredly come down, at least for awhile.
Successful investors combine a faith in the future with a respect for, and acceptance of, the downs along the way, according to Moore. Thus, he said, those who spend time trying to predict the future would do better evaluating why successful investors make money year after year.
5) Fear and greed may drive Wall Street, but they shouldn’t motivate Christians.
“Scripture teaches that we are to free ourselves from fear of the future and from greediness,” he said. “We should be productive and prudent with money. Our investing will benefit greatly by remaining confident yet conservative.”
6) If everyone is doing it, it’s wrong.
“The hardest thing to learn about investing is that following the crowd never works,” Moore said. Christians have always been called upon to be different from the world and “faith will help you practice this principle, and your investing will benefit.”
7) Keeping faith with others is good business.
“Socially responsible investing should be the cornerstone for any Christian who handles money,” he said. Moore noted a national study showed over a 30-year period that investing in companies with a written code of principles returned nine times more than a composite of Dow Jones stocks.
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Copyright (c) 1995 Baptist Press
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