Investing for the Kingdom: A full-time ministry 

When a person becomes a Christian, they enter full-time ministry. 

Whether this ministry takes place at a bank, at home, in a classroom, or in a church, we’re all in full-time ministry. And that ministry is one of reconciliation (Paul talks about this in 2 Corinthians 5). 

When God created the world, His desire was to live in relationship with His creation, but Adam and Eve’s choices led to separation from God. Jesus’ death on the cross restored the possibility for us to live in right relationship with the Father, and his resurrection empowered the Church, through the Holy Spirit, to bring an unbelieving world into a reconciled state with our Creator. 

I’ve written previously about how generosity plays a vital role in this ministry, and also about how Christians need to be counter-cultural in the way we do things, particularly in how we manage our finances and investments. 

So, if I’m an investor, how do I ensure my investments align with reconciling an unbelieving world to God?  

We must understand what our mission is

In the very beginning, God commanded us to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it, to have dominion over every living thing (Genesis 1:28). Having dominion means exercising  sovereign authority over something, and for Christians, this sovereign authority is God’s, not our own. We are simply caretakers, stewards, ambassadors for our Creator whose mission it is to make His kingdom known. Thus, whatever dominion we exercise must be to further God’s purposes, not our own. This necessarily informs how we manage our finances, including our investments.  

We must embrace a different posture and motivation 

If we’re sitting on a pile of cash, it’s a good idea to invest it and make it productive. Money works best when it’s active. But we must also check our motivation, and our worldview: are high returns the goal? Or is it to use the resources we’ve been given by God to further His Kingdom? If the former, then we continue investing for maximum return with impunity, in whatever sectors and industries deemed kosher at the time. But if it’s the latter, we are accountable to God and not at liberty to pursue returns simply for our own benefit and material security. What we invest in says something about who we are and what we believe in.  

We must consistently connect the dots between our faith and our investments 

It doesn’t take much digging to uncover the many layers of exploitation and injustice that characterise just about every sector of industry, even ones that have fair trade or ESG certification.* And we know that any form of abuse and injustice grieves the heart of God. There are many portions of Scripture that speak to this, but considering the fact that Isaiah 61 is what Jesus chose to read when he launched his earthly ministry, I think this is a particularly strong indicator of where we should be channelling our efforts:  

“The Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of prison to those who are bound…” 

Investing for the Kingdom  

Impact investing is a great way to put our money where our mission is, and we’re about to announce a suite of new impact investment opportunities for those who hold DAF and Philanthropy Fund accounts.  

The events of early April 2025 exposed how vulnerable even the most stable financial markets can be, crashing and soaring based on one man’s vision of ‘liberation day’. The reality is, markets are fickle. But the Kingdom of God isn’t, and it’s in His kingdom we experience true liberation. Proverbs 16:8 says, “Better is a little with righteousness than great revenues with injustice.” Perhaps it’s time to connect the dots between our faith and our financial practices. A kingdom-focused social impact investment may or may not yield market returns, but this shouldn’t be our only consideration. What motivates us is setting people free from oppression and captivity, whether that be in the form of poverty, addiction, lack of education, tattered relationships, environmental decay, or anything else that prevents humans from flourishing.  

We are here to have dominion, to bring the heavenly kingdom into every corner of society, to drag what is in darkness out into the glorious light of God. Let’s put our money, and our investments, where our mission is.  

Read more on this topic  

I encourage you to read about the vital work that organisations like Hope for Justice and International Justice Mission UK do to keep businesses accountable for their supply chains.  

Can we invest in a way that honours God? 

To connect with networks of like-minded Christians, why not explore Faith Driven Investor and Wonderful Leaders?