A couple of days ago, I attended a financial investment seminar for the first time. It was touted as a seminar that would teach you how to get really rich really fast. According to the speaker, an author of best-selling books on topic, you could go from $10000 to a $1 million in 5 years. You would be amazed how many, I would guess about 4000, people turned up eagerly to lap up what he had to say. I must admit I did feel like a fish out of water initially. Everyone of the thousands had "ambition" written all over their foreheads. You could sense the competitiveness in the air, from the way they competed for parking space before the event to the way they rushed to get the best seats, to the way they strutted around the auditorium networking during the breaks. From the type of cars most of these people drove, I gathered most were the ambitious middle class trying to break into the fortified world of the rich and famous where, according to the speaker, the 'fast-track' to cash existed. "Why buy a Volvo when you can buy a Porsche?" said the speaker. "I don’t look good in cheap cars!". Everyone in the audience laughed supportingly. The speaker, in his expensive tailored suit, looked every bit the multi-millionaire he was trying to convince us we could all become. But here's the catch, you had to buy his expensive products that would tell you how to get rich. I went home feeling somewhat cheated. I had paid money to get advertised to. What a genius. Maybe that's why he drives a Porsche and I drive a Honda.
You may be asking why I went to the seminar in the first place. Isn't wealth and Christianity somehow incompatible? After all, Jesus taught that we should build up treasures in heaven and not on earth. Looking at how fast my little baby girl was growing up, the need to provide for her future has become increasingly real recently. The need to provide for retirement has also become increasingly real. After all, isn't the government constantly saying that many Singaporeans aren't planning for their retirement and won't have enough to survive after they stop working. Despite the fact that I'm only 30 and already earn enough to qualify for a platinum card, the future does seem worrying. Everything is money, money, money. Car, maid, housing, kid's education, medical costs. Everything costs money. Then we superimpose the Christian ideology of not chasing money and struggle to fit the two together.
I have searched my heart and realised that at the core lies the fundamental issue of trust. Do we trust that God provides, both financially and materially? If we somehow feel that we can't trust Him to provide or that we want much more than we think He will ever provide, then we take it upon ourselves to strive, to build our kingdoms of wealth in this world. After all, the end of wealth is security. But even if I accept that I do trust God to provide, and am secure in my faith in Him, everything isnt so simple. I am still expected to be wise and prudent about money, the way I spend it, the way I save it and the way I invest it. Many forget that the wise servants in the parable of the talents (in Matt 25:14-30) actually went out and traded the money they were entrusted and got 100% returns on their investment. And they were commended for that. The context of this parable is being prepared for the Second Coming of Christ. We are told to be watchful for we do not know the hour of His coming (Mat 24:42). We are told to be a faithful servant during this time (Mat 24:45-51), and to be wise and prepare ourselves (Mat 25:1-13). The crux of the message, in our preparation for the return of our Lord, we are to be good stewards of the money and abilities and time He has given us. Having considered all the issues, I think this is where the balance of attitudes lie.
We recognise that all the things of this world are transient (temporary) and that shortly Christ will return in final glory. Only that which He considers important is truly important.
Secondly, we trust that God provides for His children more than we can ever ask for imagine. And our exercise of faith in this respect causes His grace and provision to flow into our lives. This frees us from alot of strive and anxiety and foolish decisions we make in our pursuit of money.
Thirdly, we recognise that although wealth is transient and that God provides, He still expects us to be good stewards of the money He has given us. Like every part of the equation of the Christian life, we co-operate with God, responding in faith and obedience to His grace. It is here that investment and sound financial planning finds its place in the Christian life. Money is not a god we worship, but it is something entrusted to us as stewards and we will have to account to God as to how we manage it and use it to provide for the people and the ministries God has entrusted under our care.
Will I attend another financial seminar or investment talk? I probably will, but with a clearer perspective the next time...