Click below to listen to Episode 113 – Christian Fundamentals For Investing
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Christian Fundamentals For Investing
The Bible says a lot about stewardship and finances. In fact, stewardship is one of the most talked about subjects in the Bible! As a Christian, we believe that God owns everything, even our money. If we truly believe that God owns everything, then shouldn’t we be trying our best to invest and manage our money in a way that honors God?
In this episode, Bob presents various financial fundamentals for Christians that are looking at investing their money wisely and according to Biblical principles. From involving your spouse in investment decisions to staying consistent over many years, here are 10 Christian fundamentals for investing.
HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
CO-HOST: Shawn Peters
Mentioned In This Episode
Christian Financial Advisors
Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
Shawn Peters
Want to ask a question about your specific situation? Schedule a complimentary 15 minute phone call.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
[INTRODUCTION]
Welcome to “Christian Financial Perspectives”, where you’re invited to gain insight, wisdom and knowledge about how Christians integrate their faith, life and finances with a Biblical Worldview. Here’s your host Christian Investment Advisor, Financial Planner, and Coach, Bob Barber.
[EPISODE]
Shawn:
All right, well, Bob, it’s good to be back this week with our episode 113.
Bob:
Thirteen’s a lucky number for me. That’s when I met Rachael. Lucky number 13. So, I don’t let these superstitions get ahold of me. All right. Well, and today is gonna be such another informative episode that’s going to educate our listeners, which is what I want to do for our listeners and our viewers now.
Shawn:
So what are we talking about today, Bob?
Bob:
We’re gonna be talking about Christian fundamentals for investing.
Shawn:
You think we’ll have some scripture?
Bob:
Just a little bit. We have scriptural reasons behind every one of these Christian fundamentals for investing, and the Bible has so much to say about stewardship. There are many scholars that will tell you there’s over 1500 scriptures on stewardship, and that Jesus spoke on stewardship more than heaven and hell combined. So, when it comes to…
Shawn:
You think stewardship’s important?
Bob:
Exactly. So, then it comes to how we’re handling money. And there’s so much that the Bible says about it. So, we have some really good scriptures today. By the way, we’re not gonna share 1500, like I’ve said.
Shawn:
No, we picked a few, a few hundred.
Bob:
Exactly.
Shawn:
All right. Well, let’s let’s get into the first one, Bob. Invest in the kingdom first.
Bob:
You like that?
Shawn:
I do like that one.
Bob:
Yeah. Before you start investing in yourself, invest in the kingdom, invest in God’s kingdom. Invest in ministries Proverbs 3:9-10, and I took this from the New Living Translation. It says, “Honor the Lord with your riches and the first of all you grow.” I love that part that says “first of all you grow” because we’re talking about investing today. So if we’re talking about investing, we want it to grow. That’s what investing is about is growing. “But honor the Lord with your riches and the first of all you grow, then,” you notice it’s got the word “then” in there. “Then your storehouses will be filled with many good things and your barrels will flow over with new wine.” Rachel probably likes that part.
Shawn:
Well, you don’t want the wine to be too new. It’s not gonna taste as good. Then, it’s basically just grape juice.
Bob:
Bring me some fresh wine, stuff made this year. Not that old stuff. Okay.
Shawn:
So, our next scripture, Acts 20:35, “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work, we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”
Bob:
That’s a good one. It’s totally different than what the world would say. Isn’t it?
Shawn:
Yep. Cause the world is all about what I get and gotta get mine, you know? I don’t know any other fun phrases the kids say these days.
Bob:
So, that first fundamental was before you start investing in yourself, invest in the kingdom.
Shawn:
And so I guess I would cover like, your tithe and giving, and that should apply for everything that you have. It’s your time, your money, anything that God has given you.
Bob:
And your talents. Number two is establish a written financial plan and stick to it.
Shawn:
So, Bob, you put written. Why did you put written?
Bob:
Because I like to write things down and when you write it down, you see it. You absorb it. That’s why.
Shawn:
Well, I remember when we did our New Year’s episode, and when we talked about the importance of writing it down and it was just, I don’t remember all the stats off top of my head, but like the percentages of people that make goals that actually write them down and the people that stick to them and basically what the data showed is that if you don’t write your goals down, you’re not going to meet them.
Bob:
And those that had written them down had performed so much better than those who hadn’t.
Shawn:
And again, just writing that down doesn’t automatically mean you’re going to meet the goals, but it was crazy. It was a complete opposite. The people who didn’t write them down, basically for the most part, didn’t achieve their goals. People that wrote them down, huge portion of those people typically met most, if not all, of their goals, because it’s that writing it down so you have something that you can look back at. You can reference.
Bob:
Think of it as a blueprint, too. Would you build a house without a blueprint? No. Would you go on a trip? Would you go on a long trip? We’re down here in Central Texas. Would you drive from here to California or here to Michigan or New York without a map without plotting out what you’re gonna do first?
Shawn:
No. I mean, thankfully it’s a little easier in the traveling, cause you probably use the app maps on your phone. But can you imagine, well, I’m gonna drive from here to there and I don’t have navigation on my phone or in the car. I don’t have a map. I’m just gonna try to figure it out as we go. Like, well, how do you know you’re even gonna get to where you need to go?
Bob:
Can you imagine building a house like that?
Shawn:
Oh my goodness. No.
Bob:
Just figuring it out as you go.
Shawn:
I mean, building a house is already stressful enough. You really wanna do it with no plan? Like, oh, you know what? We forgot the plumbing for the bathrooms. Maybe we should have planned for that.
Bob:
So, the scriptures behind this are just so powerful. Proverbs 20:5, and then it’s 21:5. So, both of these verses, “The purposes of a person’s heart are deep waters, but he who has insight draws them out.”
Shawn:
That’s good.
Bob:
I highlighted that part, you noticed that. And, “The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.”
Shawn:
Those are really good for number two, establish a written financial plan and stick to it.
Bob:
Exactly. That is exactly right. So we had invest in the kingdom first and establish that written financial plan and stick to it.
Shawn:
Number three, seek wise advice.
Bob:
Well, you’re gonna hear some scriptures here that you’ve heard me talk about a couple of times.
Shawn:
How about I read a couple of them. We got Ecclesiastes 4:9, “Two are better than one because they have a good return for their labor.” See, that’s why we have two co-hosts.
Bob:
That’s right, exactly right. If it was just me, I’d be boring, you know? You’re providing all that great stuff that…By the way. He’s my son-in-law too. So I have to say that.
Shawn:
Oh, I thought you actually thought that.
Bob:
I do. I do think that, brother.
Shawn:
All right. And then the second verse, Proverbs 19:20, ‘Listen to advice and accept discipline. And at the end you will be counted among the wise.”
Bob:
There is nothing wrong with seeking wise advice, but for some reason, our society tries to teach that you don’t need anybody, but yourself.
Shawn:
Yeah. And the other thing I think of with the wise advice, especially when you’re talking about investing, but it really can be with anything. We are emotional creatures. We’re made in God’s image. And one of the things that we have is emotions. And when you’re operating in a vacuum of just on your own and trying to make a decision and you don’t seek wise advice, you are so much more likely to be caught up in the emotions and
Bob:
Make mistakes
Shawn:
And make mistakes. So, seeking wise advice, preferably from, I would say check with at least two people, two different people. And if they have different, slightly different kind of a background perspective, even better, because that’s gonna help you identify potential pitfalls or issues with whatever it is that you’re thinking about or considering, because they’re gonna have a different perspective than you, you know? And obviously, I mean, scripture backs that up.
Bob:
We we’re talking about these scriptures here. I would go to the third chapter of Timothy and it talks about the virtues of an elder and deacon in a church. And I would look at those virtues. Who’s the person you’re gonna seek advice from. And we’ve done an entire program on that – a good reputation in the community. They’re stable. They have a teacher’s heart. They’re patient. There’s like 17 or 18 virtues that are in that chapter. Fourth one.
Shawn:
Number four, take a long term perspective. Don’t start something you can’t finish. That’s a good one.
Bob:
Yeah. It’s good for everything in life, isn’t it?
Shawn:
And with that, we’re gonna wrap up the episode. Oh, you want me to read the scripture?
Bob:
Well, don’t start something you can’t finish. That has to do with everything in life. Especially in marriage, stick it out. Stay married. And so, yeah. Go ahead, say the scripture.
Shawn:
Luke 14:28, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.” We were just talking about the housing. “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower, won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?”
Bob:
Yeah. It’s wisdom. That’s wisdom. So stick with it. Take the long term perspective. Don’t look things in the short term. It’s not based on that. It’s not based on hour to hour, day to day, month to month. It’s based on year to year and years upon years. That’s the way you build a strong financial plan that is built on Christian principles.
Shawn:
It makes sense for the investing. It makes sense when you think about the real estate and things that’ve been going on with that. Just because interest rates are going up, that doesn’t mean that you can’t buy something because there may be a need for it. If your family has to move and you have a new job, like, I mean, there are obviously reasons to buy, but also at the same time, you shouldn’t make a rash decision. Like, “Oh no interest rates are about to go up. So I need to hurry up and buy.” Well, no, that doesn’t make sense. If anything, if interest rates are about to go up and you don’t have to buy, wait. Because all you’re gonna be doing is maybe locking in a slightly lower interest rate, but you’re buying a house that won’t be worth what it’s worth later.
Bob:
I mean, it could be, so take that long term perspective, not the short term. Don’t look at that that way. Number five is diversify across many sectors. We’ve talked about this a lot in this, but this is definitely a Christian investment principle. Ecclesiastes 11:2, “Invest in seven ventures. Yes, in eight.” You notice, I didn’t say one. It doesn’t say invest in one or two. It says invest in seven or eight because you do not know what disaster may come upon the land. Disaster upon the portfolio, upon the investments.
Shawn:
I love that verse
Bob:
And there’s always gonna be something that may be doing well.
Shawn:
Yeah.
Bob:
And there’s gonna be something that may not be doing well, and by having a diversified portfolio and especially if you’re retired and you need to take an income, you take from the parts that are doing well.
Shawn:
Yeah. I guess, for people listening or watching, it’s the different types of asset classes, you know? So when you’re talking about with an investment management portfolio, even within equities, there’s lots of different types of equities, many different fixed income. There’s lots of different types of fixed income. That’s a way we look at it when you divide to seven or eight, and then the other thing too, of course, is if a client is closer to retirement or in retirement, they have income needs. There might be multiple accounts that they have. And so they have some of their capital that’s in a more conservative, more income focused type of a strategy. And then they have other capital that’s in something that’s focused on growth because they’re not gonna need that for 6 years or 10 years.
Bob:
That’s the long term perspective. So you have the short term perspective of the income needs, but then you have the long term perspective that would come under being able to take from the portfolio and you can change it around. So it’s really easy to do. Number six, stay consistent over the years. Consistency is so important. I’ve tried to really keep that in my own life. Proverbs 13:11 says, “Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.” It’s not about getting rich quick. It’s not about getting to a million dollar portfolio quickly. It’s about over time. Build it on a solid foundation, not one that’s gonna crack.
Shawn:
That reminds me of the episode we did where we talked about the traits of wealthy individuals or wealthy investors, and it kind of tied directly into that was one of the things about not chasing high investment returns. You have people that, especially in a bear market, every time there’s a bear market, go to this, go to that.
Bob:
They chase around advisors.
Shawn:
Exactly. Yeah. And the problem is, if you’re doing it just for that reason, your chances of being successful are gonna be minimized, and you need to stay consistent. You need to have an advisor that you understand how they work. You understand how you’re being invested and that you realize there are gonna be good times. There are gonna be bad times, but if you don’t allow the strategy to play out in both the good times and the bad times, you’re constantly chasing that next one.
Bob:
You are. You’re chasing it. It’s like a dog chasing its tail.
Shawn:
Well, number seven, avoid investing in immoral companies.
Bob:
We believe in that around here. We’ve got what’s called biblically responsible investing.
Shawn:
Yeah. Most people, probably more recently, they hear about faith-based investing. And one of the things that we like to try to address is that yes, what we do is faith-based investing, but not all faith-based investing is equal, you know? And some people may say and I would definitely challenge you that if you’re working with someone who says they’re faith based, have them explain like, well, how is it that they’re investing differently than the rest of the world? How is it that they’re investing differently than just a secular company that doesn’t talk at all about faith based? And if they don’t have a good answer, if they can’t talk about that and explain. Like for us, there’s negative screens. There’s things that we avoid, like certain kinds of activities for companies that we avoid investing in. But then there’s also positives where we look for companies and the investment partners and like we look for people who are making positive impact and changes in their environment and their staff, their community, the products that they’re creating. That’s the plan. And for us, Bob, you’ve been doing this for a few decades, you know? It’s typically, what we call it is, biblically responsible investing. That is a type of faith-based investing, but we very clearly explain what does that mean.
Bob:
And on our website, if you’ll go under the investing part on our website christianfinancialadvisors.com, you’ll see the seven ways that we invest, and it talks about that in there. And so, what do we mean by that? I’m just gonna get a little bit deeper. There’s screening criteria that we look at. Here’s an example. If a company is supporting planned parenthood that is involved in abortion, or if a company is doing fetal tissue research from baby parts.
Shawn:
Or maybe it’s a company that’s involved in producing tobacco products or alcohol products. It’s not saying that scripture says that alcohol is immoral. It’s not that the alcohol or the tobacco in that case is necessarily wrong, but it’s a vice for many, many people. And there’s a lot of homes and families that have been destroyed by some of those things. And so for us, as believers, as Christians, it doesn’t really make sense to support that, to support making money off of companies that that’s what they do when there’s so many other options. And so just don’t get aligned with that. That’s the part that when people ask like, well, how much of an impact are you making? I only have such a tiny percentage ownership of this company. I would challenge you – biblically responsible investing and the reason we look at those screens and avoid certain negatives and we’ve looked for those positives is think of it as if it was your company. If you owned a hundred percent of the company, would you want to be doing what that company is doing? Would you stand by, would you say, in front of the Lord, I stand by what I did for the alcohol, for the tobacco, for supporting planned parenthood, and providing those services. And if the answer is, no, you wouldn’t do that. Then it’s semantics of whether it’s a fraction of a percent or a hundred percent, you’re still an owner. You still have a responsibility to answer for what that company has done.
Bob:
And there’s scriptural reasons I have behind it. There’s so many, but I’m gonna just use these two right now from 2 Corinthians 6:17 that says, “Therefore, come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” And also, we’ve mentioned this many times here on the program is Psalms 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, and all who live in it,” all that dwell on the earth. It belongs to God. When we’re talking about investing, we’re managers. We’re not owners. It belongs to God. So that’s why the avoidance of investing in immoral companies is so important.
Shawn:
And also, there’s another scripture that makes me think of that, too, when it comes to managers and stewards where the went away for awhile. He went on a trip and he entrusted three different servants with his assets, with their talents, depending on which version you’re talking about, and you had two of them that they did a good job. They wanted to be able to present back to their master and say look what we did with what you trusted us with. You had one of them that went and buried it, and when it comes down to it, no matter whether it’s money, investments, time, your capabilities, your talent, the point is one day, you will have to provide an account of what you did on this earth to the Lord. So everything, including the investing, you should be thinking about it like that. Would this be something that when the owner comes back from the trip, or when you’re standing before the Lord, would he say well done that good and faithful servant or not?
Bob:
Yeah, exactly. So number eight.
Shawn:
Number eight, be careful of using debt to invest.
Bob:
And there’s a lot of that going on in real estate. People will go borrow a lot of money to buy real estate.
Shawn:
I mean, just primary homes. You look at people buying and where the stats that we had talked about before was 80, 87%.
Bob:
National Association of Realtors have said in the last couple of years, 87% of people have borrowed money to buy.
Shawn:
Again, there’s not necessarily something wrong with that for your primary home, but where you can definitely get into trouble is that if you’re not talking about just your primary home, but you’re buying an investment home, or you’re trying to flip a property, or whatever it is, you need to be careful of the debt that you’re getting involved in.
Bob:
And remember another thing that I’ve said before, and Ron Blue has said this, who I love dearly and started Kingdom Advisors, is that when you take debt on, you’re presuming upon the future. And really, none of us know what the future is. Proverbs 22:7 says, “The rich rule over the poor and the borrower is slave to the lender.”
Shawn:
That is strong language.
Bob:
The scripture doesn’t say we should not go into debt, but it sure gives a lot of warnings about being in debt.
Shawn:
Basically, the idea is be careful. Debt isn’t wrong, and it’s not wrong to have debt. But like you said, it’s presuming upon the future. So you need to really think about if this is a good fit.
Bob:
Now, you’ve heard me say this, and this is the country boy coming out of me. Just so y’all know, I’m from South Texas, six generations. An old country boy told me one time. He said, son, I ain’t never seen nobody hurt by being debt free. And he said that to me, like 25 years ago. And it struck me yeah back then. It’s not that I’m totally against the use of debt, but be careful of it because you get too much of it, you’re gonna become a slave to the lender. Number nine of our Christian fundamentals for investing is have the right motive behind it. It’s not about just getting super wealthy, and be careful of getting caught up in greed because greed will take you down a slippery slope. “Better a little with a fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoils,” Proverbs 15:16. Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil, because I have seen great wealth cause turmoil. And the wealthier you are, the more stuff and pressure is put on you.
Shawn:
Yeah. Well that reminds me of, it’s not a scripture, but I’ve heard you say this phrase many times, especially involved with investing, but “the pigs get fat and the hogs get slaughtered”. It’s that idea of that if you’re just focusing on like trying to get as much as I can, I’m gonna get all I can get. And if you just focus on that and you don’t have the right motive and you don’t have that plan behind it, you can get in a really bad spot.
Bob:
That’s my country boy saying again, wasn’t it? Pigs get fat. Hogs get slaughtered.
Shawn:
My apologies to all our vegan and vegetarian listeners.
Bob:
Last one. Oh, this is so important. And hear us on this last one for these Christian fundamentals for investing.
Shawn:
Is number 10 involve your spouse in investment decisions.
Bob:
Exactly.
Shawn:
Because man, what is it? They talk about it. It’s sad, but the number one cause for divorce is financial related.
Bob:
Genesis 2:24 says, “This is why a man leaves his father and mother, and is united to his wife. They become one flesh.” So you should not be making large investment decisions without your spouse’s approval behind it.
Shawn:
Yeah. And that being said, like obviously we understand that there’s a lot of couples that one or the other tends to be the one that’s like, Hey, they’re more organized and they’re the one that’s really following the budget. They’re the one that is just usually a little more level headed or they’re the one that just handles paying the bills. Like I know like for my parents, my dad is the one who’s working, but my mom actually handles most of the paperwork and the bills, things like that. They’re a team, but the point is is that you need to be on the same page. It doesn’t mean that both spouses like need to be doing exactly the same stuff, but you just wanna make sure that you’re on the same page and you’re not making those financial decisions without the other person.
Bob:
Shawn, I’ve been married 38 years in November of this year. I have never made an investment decision without my wife being involved in that. Never. Not one time. And did we always agree? Come on. We’ve been married 38 years, but I always had her involved. I just would emphasize that. So, there’s your 10 principles, your Christian fundamentals for investing. I hope this has helped you a lot. We are here for you to help you move through this maze of all these fundamentals for investing.
Shawn:
And if you have questions, we’re happy to talk with you on the phone. You can give us a call. You can text us at (830) 609-6986. You can also check out our website for the podcast, Christianfinancialpodcast.com or just look us up, Christian Financial Perspectives. Thank you. And God bless.
[CONCLUSION]
That’s all for now.
We invite you to listen to all of our past episodes covering many financial topics from a Christian Perspective. To make sure you don’t miss any of Bob’s upcoming episodes you can subscribe to Christian Financial Perspectives on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, or Stitcher. To learn more about integrating your faith with your finances, visit ciswealth.com or call 830-609-6986.
[DISCLOSURES]
Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.