BRI Part 3: Why It’s Important

[INTRODUCTION] Welcome to Christian Financial Perspectives, where you’re invited to gain insight, wisdom, and knowledge about how Christians integrate their faith, life, and finances with a Biblical worldview. Here’s your Christian Financial Advisor’s host, Bob Barber and his co-host, Shawn Peters. [EPISODE] Shawn: Welcome to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. Today we’re going to be covering part three of our three part series on Biblically Responsible Investing. Now, if you like videos on finance and investing related topics, but from a Christian perspective using biblical principles, I would encourage you to smash that subscribe button and like this video. Now, I want to do a quick recap. We’re going to be covering part three of course today, but part one, we covered the definition of Biblically Responsible Investing, the history of it, how it’s not ESG, and the many biblical responsible investment choices that we have today. In part two, we actually covered the positive screens that we look for in Biblically Responsible Investing and the negative screens, and the technologies that can be used to actually do these screens with examples. If you haven’t already, we’re going to have links in the descriptions and we should have those videos shown on screen. We definitely encourage you to go watch those, but otherwise, you have been warned. Spoilers ahead for those of you who haven’t watched those two episodes. Bob, what are we covering today? Bob: Those are some good episodes. They really cover a lot. Especially with those evaluator and inspire reports that we have. Shawn: We’ll wait a second. Go ahead. Go watch those. All right, if you’re still here, you’ve either watched them, or you didn’t listen. Let’s go on to part three. Bob: Today we’re going to talk about why Biblically Responsible Investing is so important, especially for a Christian with a biblical worldview. We’re going to go into the scriptural basis and why, what scripture says, and that is so important about being, BRI or biblical responsible. Shawn: That’s the B in Biblically Responsible Investing. Bob: Hey, there you go. The Bible. That’s exactly right. How BRI makes a difference even in the marketplace. That’s where we want to make a change, a positive change. Shawn: We mentioned that a little bit in part two. Bob: Why is BRI so important, Shawn? Shawn: Well, it sheds light in the middle of the darkness and exposes it. Bob: It really does, doesn’t it? When you come into the marketplace and you’re making a difference with how you even invest, and you’re saying , I’m not going to invest in these companies involved in immoral activities, and I’m actually going to look for companies that are abiding by biblical values. It’s just as important as voting for a conservative candidate when it comes to Biblically Responsible Investing. Shawn, you remember we did the podcast on “Voting Right, Investing Ieft.” Shawn: Which again, comes down to if voting is important to you, then investing should also be important to you because that is the way you are voting with your dollars, and affecting our society, our culture. The next one is, it’s very scriptural, which we’re about to cover those scriptures. Bob: It aligns with a Christian worldview. Shawn: Finally, Biblically Responsible Investing is pro-life, pro-family, and pro God. It gives light to darkness. Bob: The scriptural bases for BRIs, there’s several that we’ve picked, but there’s literally hundreds that we could pick from. Shawn: Can I get dibs on this first one? Bob: You sure can. Shawn: I love this one. Psalms 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;” I almost said that one earlier. Bob: You’re getting it memorized because we spend a lot of time on that. I believe that is probably the number one scripture when it comes to stewardship in the Bible. If we do believe that God owns it all, it’s his, and we are managers, this is a true scriptural basis for being biblically responsible. Shawn: Biblically Responsible Investing according to the scripture, it’s just one piece of the puzzle. The idea is that if everything, the world and everything in it, and all who live in it belongs to the Lord, then every area of your life is an act of worship. What you do from day to day, your finances, everything. Bob: Spiritual decisions for a Christian or financial decision, and vice versa. Financial decisions should be spiritual ones. 2 Corinthians 6:17 is a well-known scripture and it says, “Come out from them…”, from the world, from the, from the secular worldview. “Come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you.” This is truly what we’re trying to do with Biblically Responsible Investing; by being separate and not participating in the fruitless deeds of darkness. Shawn: Exodus 20:13-14, “You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery.” That goes back to a couple of the negative screens and why we say that we shouldn’t be supporting companies, or supporting abortion, or giving to that. Bob: Fetal tissue research. Using the parts from babies. Pharmaceutical companies do that. We don’t want to invest in those companies. We steer clear of that. Let’s go find the companies that are doing good. Pharmaceutical companies that are doing good, like cures for schizophrenia, and things like that. Shawn: Then the other one, you should not commit adultery. Well, Jesus said if you lust after a woman in your heart, you’ve committed adultery. I’m pretty sure pornography would, maybe pornography the word is not mentioned, but pretty sure that’s covered by that scripture. Bob: We showed last week how many companies are involved in a direct or indirect way in the distribution, or production of pornography. I think if you go back and you watch part two, you’ll be very surprised finding which companies these are. Another one is Psalms 139:13, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” This is a pro-life scripture. It’s as pro-life as they come. Biblically Responsible Investing is pro-life. It’s looking for companies that are helping life, not companies that are tearing it apart. It completely, like I say, steers away from companies like Planned Parenthood. If a company’s giving money to Planned Parenthood, we’re not going to be involved in that company. Shawn: Matthew 5:13-16, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Bob: You think about that scripture, right? We are being salt and light when we’re deciding to be biblically responsible with the investments that God owns in the first place. 1 Peter 1:15-16, “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” Another really strong scripture that backs up being biblically responsible. Shawn: Be holy because I’m holy also makes sense because we’re made in God’s image, so should we not try to reflect his nature, his character? Then the last scripture in this group is Exodus 20:3, “You shall have no other gods before me.” I always think of that one as if you don’t give God your finances as well, you’re effectively saying that God is Lord of your life except finance. Finance is Lord of your life in that area. Bob: I worry sometimes. I go to a Baptist church where we put them all the way well, you gotta go down into the water and then you come up. Except last year when we were having a drought, I don’t know about that. We had a bad drought here in Texas. I’m just kidding. Anyway sometimes I think people, they’re baptized and they kind of hold the wallet up, and they’re saying, “Well, you get everything God, but not this.” Well, Biblically Responsible Investing is really saying, “God, you get it all, including my investments,” because those investments ultimately belong to you, and I want to honor you with them. Shawn: God requires his people to worship, honor and glorify him alone. They are to have no other God, including the God of materialism, net worth, and rate of return. Bob: How BRI makes a difference. It makes a difference to me, I’ve seen this over my 27 years in, be involved in BRI Shawn. It makes a difference in my own life and in my soul. It’s taken me into a much deeper relationship with God. I have seen this, Shawn, with clients that have been with us for 20 and 25 years. Their relationship with God. This is another form of worship, like you said. It’s saying, okay, God, this belongs to you. I’ve had many clients that has taken them into a deeper relationship being biblically responsible. Shawn: Well it also makes sense too, Bob, because the number one, I think reason for divorce is finance related. If you and your spouse are both thinking of how do we make sure God is Lord of our finance as well? I’m not saying you won’t have problems, but it’s getting that right mindset. I would think it would grow your relationship with God and maybe reduce the chances that you have issues in your relationship. Bob: Another place it makes a difference. Shawn: To our Father in heaven. You are managing his funds with honor and glory. With His glory in mind. Bob: There’s no guilt feelings with being BRI. None at all. Another thing where it makes a difference is companies and Wall Street. They’re noticing. They’re noticing BRI. Shawn we talked about the history in part one and I remember when this started off with just a few thousand dollars. I remember when Art Alley, the founder of the Timothy Plan, he was a laughing stock of Wall Street. They’re like, this is not going to work. You’re crazy. Shawn: Who’s going to want to invest like this? Bob: Now there’s billions and billions and billions of dollars invested in biblically responsible companies. Shawn: I mean how many billion, like when you think of some of the companies that we work with a lot as well. You’ve got Timothy Plan. Bob: I could easily say it’s 10 billion. Shawn: I mean, Eventide’s got, what are they? $7 billion or so on the, $6 or $7 billion on their own. I mean we’re at least in double digits at this point of billions. Bob: That’s right. Shawn: That’s just between those three. Bob: You start adding it up and it is really, it is making a difference. The difference that it’s making is we’re holding companies accountable to elicit behaviors, and supporting anti-biblical agendas and behaviors. We can actually move their stock price now because BRI is getting big enough that it can move the stock price of the company. We’ve had some very positive things happen with some Fortune 500 companies that they were starting to support some of these illicit behaviors. We said we’re going to sell your stock if you continue to do that, got ahold of the finance department. Robert Nestle from Inspire, did a great program on this. I saw him do a speech on this and how he got this major company. I mean, I’m going to going to mention the company, but it’s big. He got them to stop funding the Gay Pride Parade. Because of that, and they said we didn’t realize that was happening. They pulled back the finance for that. That is a good thing. We have a voice, and if enough Christians will come together through the BRI movement. Shawn: I’d like to say one thing on that, Bob. There is a big difference between giving money to support Gay Pride Parade and being on board with treating people with respect especially as a Christian. If someone is part of the LGBT community, do not treat them poorly, do not discriminate against them. For one, that is absolutely against what Jesus told us to do. We’re to go and make disciples of all men. Bob: All are welcome in the church. Shawn: What did Jesus say? They will know you by your love for one another. There’s a big difference between loving those people and wanting to be available to help them and want them to come to know Christ. That is not the same as, oh, I want to take money, or I want to invest in a company that is taking money off the profits and paying to promote that very thing. Those are two very different things. I just want to make sure people don’t get that confused. They’re not the same. That’s all. Bob: If the company makes widgets, they need to be in the business of making widgets. Not supporting agendas that violate biblical principles. Shawn: If I had a choice, I would say, you know what, if no companies were very Christian leaning, but they just remain neutral. They just didn’t get involved in either way, that’s fine. Just let the individuals, let those individuals make the choice of what they want to vote for and support. Just stay out of it. Bob: Well, I hope this three part series has been very informative to you on Biblically Responsible Investing. If you did not hear part one and part two, I really emphasize that you go back and you watch those or listen to those. We hope that through this faith-based investing, we’ve touched your heart. If you would like to align your Christian faith with how you invest, then we are here to help you do that. You can find out more by giving us a call at (830) 609-6986 or texting that number as well during regular business hours, Central Standard Time. Or you can find out more by going to our website to christianfinancialadvisors.com. Remember, this is the last thing I want to say. Being biblically responsible in your investments is pro-life, Shawn: pro-family, and pro-God. Bob: It gives light to darkness. Shawn: Thank you for joining us and hope you join us next time. God bless. [DISCLOSURES] Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors®, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors® believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.