How Will You Invest?
Over the past month or so the news has been dominated by the Greece financial crisis. All this is a direct result of the worldwide financial crash of a few years ago. Finance and investment is a big deal for the whole world right now. The financial crisis has made us all more focused on getting value for money.
Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly thinking about
- How to invest our time
- Which relationships to invest in
- How to invest our money
So we need to be asking:
“What does our investment look like from a ‘kingdom of God’ perspective?”
Over the last five Central Gatherings we have been talking about the ‘Five Capitals’:
Spiritual, Relational, Physical, Intellectual; Today we are looking at the last of the five capitals: How will we invest our financial resources in pursuing the Kingdom of God?
What is God saying to you & what are you going to do about it?
Jesus taught his disciples how to invest their time, energy, and money for a bigger return than just financial reward.
The Gospels are filled with parables and conversations around money, capital and investment.
In Matthew 13 we are given five parables about the ‘Kingdom of God’.
These parables show us that we need to sow, to search for and to sift out the Kingdom. There is work involved. They show us we need to invest in the Kingdom of God.
The good news that Jesus announced was that the true wealth of a life with God in his kingdom was now available to everyone. And you do not need to be rich to obtain it. It’s like a treasure a man found in a field, Jesus said. In his joy, he sold everything he had and bought the field! Or it’s like the merchant when he found a fine pearl he went away and sold everything and brought it. Do you realise that it is well worth trading the temporal for the eternal? It’s a much better investment.
It’s said that, Martin Luther, the man who began the Protestant movement, stressed these three types of conversions: conversion of the head, conversion of the heart, and conversion of the wallet.
Jesus talked about money quite a bit. He talked about how we could turn it into an idol, if we are relying on it for significance or security. But he also affirmed that it’s simply a form of capital that allows us to invest in other capitals that are worth more.
When did you last asses you finances in the light of your giving and investment in God’s kingdom?
Every year we should be doing a financial audit.
Ask yourself what am I investing in financially?
Often this will reveal to you what you see as important.
Now read Matthew 6 v 19-21.
David Williamson
The money image is by Lawrence Lew on Flickr