Tending Our Financial Gardens

Audio By Carbonatix

John Stott once wrote that “[i]t is a wonderful privilege to be a missionary or a pastor, if God calls us to it.” However, he continued, it is a mistake to organize callings into a hierarchy, as some Christians and Christian traditions wrongly do. In his book Christian Mission in the Modern World, Stott wrote, 

We often give the impression that if a young Christian man is really keen for Christ he will undoubtedly become a foreign missionary, that if he is not quite as keen as that he will stay at home and become a pastor, that if he lacks the dedication to be a pastor, he will no doubt serve as a doctor or a teacher, while those who end up in social work or the media or (worst of all) in politics are not far removed from serious backsliding!  

While it would be rare to hear this said as bluntly from the pulpit today, the same neo-gnostic sentiment still infects the church; for example, in how we think about money. Is our only job in the present moment to give to the Church and to missionaries, to stay out of trouble and maybe debt, and wait for Christ’s return? 

God created humans to work in His creation for His glory. Adam and Eve were not placed in the Garden to retreat from the world, in a life of unending vacation. He intended them to work. The Garden was to be tended. In fact, it was to be expanded over the face of the earth. The call to labor isn’t a secondary vocation of humanity. It is the first command of God for his image bearers. It is our calling, one that has never been revoked. 

Gardens are not made with random seeds that have been tossed around before walking away. It requires intentionality and focus, about what to plant and where, and a commitment to watch over it for protection and growth. In our acts of labor, we participate with and add to God’s creative work in this world. Because this work is now done after the fall, additional moral considerations are required. 

In his 2025 book, The Good Investor: How Your Work Can Confront Injustice, Love Your Neighbor, and Bring Healing to the World, author Robin John wrote: 

The world is God’s garden, and He asks each of us (in our own ways and with our own gifts and resources) to make His garden beautiful. God has made each of us gardeners, made us responsible to tend and nurture his vast, abundant creation. 

John is co-founder and CEO of Eventide, “an asset management firm dedicated to honoring God and investing in companies that create compelling value for the common good.” As he noted, if we are not intentional in how we think and employ money, “We become owners of companies we don’t believe in, making money from products or services that harm God’s image bearers and diminish the beauty and goodness of His world.” 

As John pointed out, there is a metaphorical kind of gardening available today that has not been around historically, when only the very wealthy could invest and have a say in businesses. Today, Christians can have influence on even the biggest of corporations, even bringing morality into the corporate conversation. As John put it: 

As investors (owners) in these investment portfolios, we should be engaged (or invested) in everything about the companies in the portfolio: their purpose, their products, their services, their practices, their values, their risks, their impact and their profit. 

This means, to the best of our knowledge and abilities, not putting cash into the hands of people who use it in harmful and sinful ways. By investing wisely, we can oppose what is evil and mend what is broken in our world. Christians will, of course, disagree about the best way to do this. But it should be part of Christian consideration in this time and place, so that, like William Wilberforce 200 years ago, God will use our financial gardening to not just make money but to build a better world. 

Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/Creative-Family

John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.

BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.