Investment
“You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.”
I first read that quote 20 years ago as a Christian trying to put into practice Christian principles of generosity. Part of my personal story involves growing up with a scarcity mindset due to formative years being lived under great economic uncertainty and constant financial stress. I graduated college as an upwardly mobile young professional with a depression era mentality! I’ll save those stories for another time.
As a result, giving has never been natural for me. In fact, it’s been hard and taken a lot of effort, faith and accountability. Thankfully, we’ve made some progress towards following Jesus in giving, but the shadow side of me is always there-- tempting me to hoard resources to my detriment. And then comes 9/11, the financial crisis of 2008 and now COVID-19. These are global events that I’d never wish for or try to put a positive spin on. At the same time, we follow a God who is sovereign over all events and promises to use everything for our good. So, how am thinking about this current crisis from an economic and investment perspective?
Yes, I am considering what practical steps I need to take to minimize losses and plan for the future. That’s wisdom as God does not want us to check our brains at the door while pretending physical needs are not important. That is a biblical error. Bigger than that though, I am allowing this crisis to help clarify a longer-term investment strategy. Let’s get back to that Randy Alcorn quote, “You can’t take it with you but you can send it on ahead.”
“Any measure of wealth kept in this world is incredibly fragile.”
As trillions of dollars of wealth are erased in a moment, what I realize in clear terms is that any measure of wealth kept in this world is incredibly fragile. Stocks, bonds, gold, real estate, cash….it doesn’t matter in the final analysis. While I avoid looking at my 401K at all cost (ok, I’ve looked twice), I’ve had a new experience that I did not experience during our last economic crisis. I’ve experienced actual joy, peace and thankfulness for the resources that we were able to give towards Kingdom purposes. What I’ve realized is that those investments have weathered this crisis and are in fact still compounding with interest! I’m not merely talking about money we’ve given to our local church. It also includes other charities and more than just dollars. The time we’ve invested with loved ones. Career and lifestyle trade-offs made to allow for margin to spend time with our children, loved ones and engage others. If all of life is a gift to be stewarded (and it is), then this is a perfect time to consider rebalancing your investment mix of time, talent and treasure. These are things I am really thinking about now. While this health and economic crisis is massive, it will eventually pass. How might we live differently in light of this glimpse into an eternal perspective? I highly recommend Randy Alcorn’s little book as well!