Did Jesus have an investment plan? I’ve been asking this question over the past few weeks. Let me explain why.
The previous two weekends, I've watched my fair share of NCAA basketball games. March Madness is in full swing. I've noticed the commercial space during these games is dominated by beer companies, car companies and investment companies. There’s a clever strategy driving these commercials:
- Make me feel like my life is not complete or secure . . .
- Until I have the product these companies are selling.
I find the investment commercials most appealing and persuasive. They tap into two of my deeply held desires. First off, they play on my desire for security and my fears about the future – that I won’t have enough money to put our children through college, that I won’t have enough money to put food on the table as I grow older, and that I might not have enough money even to afford the table I hope to put that food on. Secondly, they play on my longing for heaven, suggesting that if I put my faith in their product, I just might get heaven for the final 25 years of my life on earth.
I’m 35. I’m told that thinking about this and making decisions right now is long-term investing. But is it the type of long-term investing Jesus calls for in Luke?
In Luke 16, Jesus draws our eyes towards heaven and a radically different approach to investing. In two of the parables in this chapter (Luke 16:1-15 and Luke 16:19-31), Jesus teaches that investing our money in people is a strategy that yields eternal dividends. The second of these stories is more pointed than the first and carries an ominous threat – if we don’t invest our money in people like Lazarus, we will find ourselves in hell. Jesus himself quotes Abraham, “Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, but Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.”
In God’s economy, building a heaven for myself on earth may not be a long-term investment policy after all. If I’m reading the stories Jesus told in Luke 16 (and Luke 6:35 and Luke 12:32-34 and Matthew 25:40 and others) right, this strategy may yield a lifetime of comfort but an eternity of agony.
So, I have some questions to wrestle with. Who am I listening to when it comes to investment strategy and planning for my future? Do I trust that Jesus knows what he’s talking about when it comes to long-term investing? Will I live to create a heaven for myself on earth or will I live to bring heaven to others? Do I really believe that heaven is there and that if I listen to Jesus as my investment planner, I might be earning for myself the longest-term dividends possible?
Please join me in wrestling with these questions. Please take some time to contribute your thoughts and questions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Posted on
Mon, March 31, 2008
by Jason Brown