Invest in Beautiful with Jason Myhre

This faith and finance podcast is underwritten in part by Eventide Center for Faith and Investing. They are an educational initiative of Eventide Asset Management that seeks to help Christians understand and practice biblically faithful investing. For a free list of faith-based funds from Eventide Center for Faith and Investing, visit faithandinvesting.com slash faithfi. That's faithandinvesting.com slash faithfi. Beauty matters to painters, musicians, and photographers, but what does it have to do with investing?

Hi, I'm Rob West. The creation account suggests that beauty lies at the core of faithful stewardship and investing as well. I'll talk about investing in beautiful today with Jason Meyer of the Eventide Center for Faith and Investing. Then it's on to your calls at 800-525-7000.

That's 800-525-7000. This is faith and finance, biblical wisdom for your financial decisions. Well joining us again today is my friend Jason Meyer, Executive Director of the Eventide Center for Faith and Investing.

The Eventide Center is an educational initiative of Eventide Asset Management and an underwriter of this program. Jason, always a delight to have you with us. Hey, Rob.

Good to be with you again. Investing, Jason, is a word we tend to associate, of course, with money, retirement, risk, and return, but rarely, perhaps if ever, do we think the words investing and beauty. So Jason, why should we connect beauty with our approach to investing?

Yeah, man, this is one of my favorite topics. So just to start, we, of course, all experience beauty, and beauty is something that we all need as human beings. This morning, I watched a beautiful sunrise on a clear day.

I enjoyed a pour-over coffee from a specialty coffee roaster that was delicious. This weekend, I watched a masterpiece movie from a Japanese filmmaker I like. We all have these experiences in our lives. We often, though, think about these beauty experiences as taking place during our leisure time.

Yes. And so we tend to pair beauty with, really, rest and Sabbath. And so we, for example, take time to go to an orchestra performance, or on the weekend, we hike the mountains or stroll along the beach.

We might buy a bouquet of flowers to adorn our home. Only do we think about beauty in association with ordinary human work, and therefore with things like business and investing. But beauty matters for our work. In fact, it's essential for our work.

And I want to help make the case that it matters also for our finances and things like investing. Beauty is an essential characteristic of God's creation. And that makes it central to our work as stewards over God's good creation.

Well, I love this idea. Let's talk about the place of beauty in creation, perhaps as a starting point. Jason, where do we see beauty in the Genesis account of creation, and how is beauty connected with work in creation?

Right. So it's helpful to start first with God's work in creation and the connection of beauty there. So this is something we're very familiar with as Bible readers, and we just take it for granted that God is actually portrayed as a worker. He creates everything that exists. He creates, it says, the heavens and the earth, which is a way of saying everything. And everything that God makes is good.

And this is something that the Genesis 1 account really wants us to see. It says seven times in Genesis chapter 1 that creation is good. And the last instance of that, it says that the whole creation is very good. And in the Hebrew derivation, the word good is a word pronounced tobe, and it's translated as good in our English Bibles.

It's a word that's actually very rich with meaning. So it means, of course, moral perfection. So it's good in a moral sense. Creation is morally perfect.

There's no evil. It's good in a functional sense. So creation is functionally excellent.

It's useful for sustaining life and God's creatures. But one of the things we miss is that it's also good in a sense that it is surpassingly beautiful. When God creates, he looks at his creation and says he sees it and declares it good. He appraises it as good.

It's very much like, you know, it's springtime, we're out cutting the grass, and when we get done cutting the grass, we don't immediately go inside. We look back over what we just accomplished, and we feel that it's good. We see it as beautiful.

And that's the idea. It's this aesthetic, evaluative, pleasurable kind of experience that God had. And so one scholar actually says that a better translation of that word good would be actually a compound word, beauty good. So God is portrayed as a wise artisan artfully crafting the world, and in fact, Eden means delight. The Garden of Eden was a place of delight.

I love that beauty in the creation. But how about beauty in our work and what about in business and investing? We'll talk about that with Jason Meyer from the Eventide Center for Faith and Investing just around the corner.

Stick around. We are grateful for support from the Eventide Center for Faith and Investing. ECFI is an educational initiative of Eventide Asset Management that seeks to help Christians understand and practice biblically faithful investing. They do this through their podcast and online journal featuring articles from industry thought leaders and their course called Discover God's Story for Investing. More information is available at faithandinvesting.com. That's faithandinvesting.com. Grateful to have you with us today on faith and finance.

I'm Rob West. Joining me today, Jason Meyer, executive director of the Eventide Center for Faith and Investing, an educational initiative of Eventide Asset Management and an underwriter of this program. Today we're talking about beauty, beauty in God's work, beauty in our work, but also beauty found in business and investing. And Jason, just before the break, you were talking about beauty as an essential aspect of God's work, but what about our work that he ordained us and created us to do? Where do we see beauty connected to our work in the creation account?

Right. So we just got done talking about God's work and how beauty was an aspect of God's work. So God creates, he looks at the things he made, he sees that they're good and declares them to be good. It is actually into this context that God places humanity and then gives us our role to play, which is this gift of work that he gives us. Now, as we think about the beauty and majesty of God's creation, we think, who could add anything to it? And the Bible here is very surprising because it says that we are capable of adding to this beauty and goodness to the world through our work. The place that we see this is in Genesis 2.15. So God places humanity right there in that Garden of Delight, Garden of Eden, and gives us the gift of work.

It says, then the Lord God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. Essentially, God placed humanity in this very good creation. And then the thrust of these instructions is that he's telling them to make it even better through the things that we make and that we add to the world. Yeah, which raises the question, if God's creation was already very good, essentially perfect, then how can we improve on it? Yeah, this is one of, I would say this is just a really great insight that has come to me through books over the years, is that God's creation was absolutely perfect. But it's perfect in a very particular way, okay? So it's perfect, as I'll explain, it's filled with potential, okay?

Let me explain. So we know that God made the world beautiful and good, as we've been discussing. Part of that beauty, we can see with our own eyes. It's manifest in the world that God made, and it's kind of the raw materials of creation.

We can see it. And part of the beauty and goodness of God's creation is hidden within creation as a yet undiscovered potential that it has, and that we are to uncover this potential through our work. So the early church father, St. Augustine, described this potential as seeds. So creation has potential like seeds have potential, and it's the task of us, God's image bearers, to find this potential and through work to develop it and to bring it forth into new kinds of beauty and goodness that has been lying hidden within God's creation. So let me give you some examples just to illustrate this.

A couple of easy ones. So bread and wine. God creates grain, and grain has always had the potential to become bread. Since the day that he made the wheat, God placed that potential there so that we would discover it and make it manifest through our work.

Or grapes have always had the potential to become wine through our work. These are just easy examples of the way in which we have created new things, new good things out of God's good creation. Let me give you now maybe a sophisticated example, one that is relevant in the world of business and investing today. So take semiconductors that power all of our smart devices and computers and cars and you name it. The fundamental material used to create semiconductors is sand. And as my colleague, Christian Sey, who covers semiconductors in his work at Eventide Asset Management, he puts it this way. He said with semiconductors, what we're doing essentially is we're taking sand and we're teaching it how to think. We're taking sand and teaching it how to think.

Sand has always had the potential to become semiconductors, even back in that ancient Garden of Eden, because God planted it there as a potential, as a seed in his beautiful and good creation for us to discover and to develop so that the world would be made even more delightful for us and so that all the glory of creation would be revealed. All that hidden potential would be brought forward and that God's reputation as the creator would be made even more famous and glorious. Let me give you one little final analogy to help solidify this in our minds.

I love this analogy. It comes from one of my favorite theologians, Craig Bartholomew. He says, imagine that you are a sculptor. So Rob West, the sculptor. And Michelangelo says to you, the great sculptor, he says, look, he gives you a phone call and he says, look, I've just started work on this new sculpture, this major, major sculpture, but I want you to come and finish it for me.

I want you to come and to complete the sculpture and to develop the potentials I've built into it so far so that when it's done, this sculpture will enhance my reputation in the art world. Bartholomew says that illustration is an illustration of what God intended with work in Genesis 1 and 2. Wow. That is powerful. What an analogy, and I'd love for you, though, Jason, to help us translate this biblical picture of work that you just articulated so well to the modern world now of business and investing.

What does that look like? Yeah. You know, if we are to be Christians who have a Christian worldview, a biblical worldview, then that means that we need to see the world of business and investing with Christian eyes. We actually need to view them in light of this biblical vision for work. This is the true story of work.

The biblical story. So the Genesis instructions to develop the beauty and goodness of creation are the very same instructions that we have for work for humanity today. This is still God's design. This is still His desire for our work in business and investing, even though very far removed from that Genesis garden picture. And so we must ask ourselves, how can the specific work of business and investing contribute beauty and goodness to creation?

And I want to suggest a couple answers to that. So business is called to create products that are good. You know, we have this language for products in business. We call them goods and services.

And I think that's no accident. The products of business and God's design are intended to be genuinely good, right? The products of business and God's design are intended to genuinely be a service to humankind. So humanity through business is to create goods that are truly good and services that truly serve.

So that's what I would say about business. And what about investors? How does investing enhance the beauty and goodness of God's world? So investors are called to supply the capital that enables and enlarges this good work of business to create those goods and services. So when we're contemplating investing, we need to think about these things and ask, is this prospective investment that I'm thinking about making, is it going to be in companies that are creating goods and services? These are things we should embrace. And we should be asking, in a fallen world, are there any companies that actually are diminishing God's good creation that I should seek to avoid investing in?

These are things I think we should avoid. Yeah, and the exciting thing is there's a whole industry of Christian faith-based investments that have been raised up to make it easier for us to either avoid companies whose products run counter to this biblical vision, or avoid while also targeting the good, looking for companies who meet human needs and enhance the world. So Jason, how can our listeners get more information about faith-based investments? Yeah, we've put together two resources for you today. The first is an article on beauty and investing, like we've been talking about. The second is a list of faith-based investments that are out there. And to get that, you can go to faithandinvesting.com slash faithbuy.

That's faithandinvesting.com slash faithbuy, F-I. This has been incredibly enlightening. Jason, thanks for stopping by. My pleasure, Rob. See you.

All right. Check it out today, faithandinvesting.com slash faithbuy. We'll be right back. Stick around. If you enjoy this radio program, you're going to love all of the many different resources waiting for you at faithbuy.com and the Faith Buy app. You'll find powerful wisdom, free podcasts, articles, videos, and more from leading voices such as Randy Alcorn, Howard Dayton, Ron Blue, and our own Rob West.

Grow in wisdom and knowledge by connecting with a community of thousands of Christians striving to be good and faithful stewards at faithbuy.com or by downloading the Faith Buy app. Nineteen. That's how many pairs of shoes the average American has in their closet.

One. That's how many pairs of shoes it takes to share health, education, opportunity, and the love of Christ to a child in need in the world. You can play a part in changing the life of a child today through Buckner Shoes for Orphan Souls. Visit GiveShoesToday.org and find out how you can provide shoes for a child in need.

That's GiveShoesToday.org. Hey, great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance where we recognize God owns it all. We're stewards.

Money is a tool to accomplish God's purposes. Taking your calls and questions today. All right, let's head to the phones. We'll round out the broadcast today with your questions. We've got room for maybe one or two questions at 800-525-7000. You can call right now. Let's see.

We'll go to Illinois. Hi, Sharla. Hi. Thanks for taking my call.

Yes, ma'am. Going for a family member that we've been trying to help for a couple of years has some long-term medical issues that are not going away anytime soon. We did finally get social security disability, which took some time. That person was unable to work during that time, also had a glitch in some insurance and so has incurred an excessive amount of medical debt, approximately 200,000. Just barely living as far as living expenses are tighter, of course, now. Nothing extra, no savings. We're just really, we're a close family, so we're trying to figure out, and we have been helping off and on, but we're just kind of trying to figure out where to go with this medical debt.

Yeah. Well, I certainly appreciate that, Sharla. The reality is that debt may never be paid back in full, and all they can do with your help or on their own is try and just do the best that they can with the resources they have. Typically, what you would start with is doing a budget overhaul and really determining how much margin is there on a monthly basis. That's the amount that can be used to repay these bills. And contact each medical provider's financial office and get an itemized bill. And then as a result of the work that you do on the budget, offer a monthly amount to each. And if it's accepted, then make sure you honor those agreements. And then just pay on it as best you can over the balance of their life. And Lord willing, you'll pay it back, but in the event you don't, then it would either be handled by the estate or it would go away. So I think that's typically the approach you'd want to take here is just recognize we may not ever get this paid back, but all we can do is all we can do. Does that make sense?

It does. Unfortunately, several of these bills have now gone to creditors and then I don't have the verbiage, but the next level past creditors, then that has proceeded to that as well. So I'm really not sure how that process works when it has left the healthcare provider and then kind of gone into the second step of that process. Yeah.

Very similar. I mean, they've just sold the debt to a collection agency or hired someone to collect on it for them. And so you may have to work with that company instead of the original provider.

But I think the idea here is that they recognize something is better than nothing. And so if you have the ability to send a consistent amount every month that fits into the budget, whether that's on their own or with your assistance, then I think, you know, that's the time to call and say, hey, you know, this is what we have available and we can send monthly and we're happy to start doing that and see if you can get them to agree to that amount so that now you're essentially an on time payer because you're paying as agreed. Now, they may not be willing to take with official agreement what it is you're able to provide. They may want more, but you can only do what you can do. And so I think working with whoever owns the debt currently is the place to go to try to work out a payment plan.

Okay. And can they come back on a homeowner if they're, of course, still paying mortgage on their home? Or can they collect on that debt through either a home or any other type of assets? No, I mean, for all intents and purposes, I mean, you need to talk to an attorney. You know, is it possible that they could win a judgment that, you know, would involve a home?

It's possible, but not likely. And so, you know, I would, you know, probably contact an attorney if you want to understand exactly just based on the laws in your state there, Sharla, what is and what is not possible if a judgment is sought against you to satisfy or your family member to satisfy those unpaid bills. But, you know, many states have property lien laws that allow creditors such as a hospital to place a lien on an individual's home when they're unable to pay their bills. But it really just depends on what's going on in your state.

So I would check with an attorney. Thank you so much. I appreciate your assistance. You are so welcome, Sharla. We appreciate your call today.

Folks, we're headed toward the end of the broadcast today. You know, you've heard us say that there's more than 2300 verses related to money and possessions and the depth and the breadth of the financial wisdom found in God's Word is just staggering. And so we go there and we start with the idea and the understanding that God owns everything. Psalm 24 one, the earth is the Lord's and all that it contains. We look at the creation account and we see God created and we're to then be productive and to take God's creation and improve it. So we should work hard.

And that's, of course, an important value that we need to transfer to the next generation. But then when it comes to money, we see money as one of God's good creations to provide and enjoy and yes, to give away, to be a part of God's activity. And then we look into scripture and we look for principles that we can pull out about those daily money management decisions, starting with spending less than we earn. And I would take you to Philippians four, the apostle Paul in verses 11 and 12. He said, I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know what it is to be brought low. I know how to abound in any and every circumstance. I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

So the apostle Paul learned to be content with God's provision, with God's timing, with whatever was going on around him. We need to learn from that model and say, okay, Lord, we're willing to live within your means. And by the way, practically reducing your living expenses is often the quickest way to increase cash flow.

So that one is really non-negotiable. I think next we need to understand that borrowing is not a sin, but we've got to be careful. Remember the rich rule over the poor, says Proverbs 22, and the borrower is slave to the lender. So borrowing always presumes upon the future.

We just need to really be on our guard there. We also need to be setting goals. Proverbs 16, commit your work to the Lord and your plans will be established. Prayerfully setting goals is the way that you commit your work to the Lord. When you say not my will, but your will be done.

We need to seek godly counsel. That's really important. We also need to define enough, both for net worth and for our spending, our lifestyle spending as well. And that's a really important point we need to really heed. Proverbs 23, do not toil to acquire wealth, be discerning enough to desist.

When your eyes light on it, it is gone for suddenly it sprouts wings flying like an eagle toward heaven. So I hope and pray that you would take these principles and passages from God's word. Think about them, form your own convictions, and then act as you're a faithful steward of God's money. Well, folks, thanks for tuning in today. We're so thankful for you inviting us into your story and asking your questions for your kind remarks about the program. I couldn't do this without the amazing team. We had Dan Anderson today, Amy Rios, Gabby T, and Jim Henry, plus the entire team here at Faithful that makes this happen every day. On behalf of them and so many more, I'm Rob West and we'll see you next time. Bye bye. Faith and Finance is provided by Faithfi and listeners like you.