Shortcuts, Trade-offs and the Kingdom
previously published in August 2004
Money makes the world go round. Or so they say. But I can actually believe that. Think about the millions of people dizzy and delirious from making money. New York investment bankers are working easily over 100 hours per week. Unsuspecting mums and dads are being lured to the get-rich quick pyramid-like schemes. Large companies are being brought down from unscrupulous acts. People are ever increasingly thinking of different ways to make money. Reality TV is sweeping the world, enticing the curiosity of millions of people. Come on folks, they don’t make it for entertainment; they make it to make more money. Step back for a minute. Look around you. Do you agree that money makes the world go round and nearly everyone is dizzy from it?
Good. Let’s move on. Now that we know what we’re up against, the next question is how do we deal with that? The buzzword in Christian circles is stewardship. Stewardship is about careful and responsible management of money. Stewardship is often talked, preached, written, and reproved on. I think most of us know the general idea so I’m not going to add to the already rich compilation of literature and counsel.
What I’m going to tell you instead is how to make money. That’s right. Money. Without the act of making money, stewardship is irrelevant. Both are connected, both are equally important. No, this is not a trick. I’m not simply going to tell you that you should be content in being poor, or that you’re already “spiritually” rich, or that your money is in heaven. With God’s grace, I will tell you how to make money, what the trade offs are, and what your underlying aim should be. I am a young professional in my mid-20s, working in the high-end corporate world helping companies make, yes…more money. I started working part-time jobs when I was in 16, went through five years of university, and worked in three different continents.
Now having established arguably some credibility, I will try and enlighten you. There are many obvious principles in making money that I will take as a given. However, there are three key principles that I think are the most important. There are no shortcuts to making money; there are trade-offs that we need to be fully aware of and make the right decisions; and of course, money should be made with the aim of furthering God’s work.
There are no shortcuts to making money. Shortcuts are usually highly speculative, myopic solutions, often unscrupulous, and frankly speaking, simply a myth. Even a hundred years ago, this proved to be an issue. Ellen White observed, “The old safe, healthful paths to competence are losing popularity” (Counsels on Stewardship, p. 231). Making money takes a lot of effort. The more money you want to make, the more effort you need to put in. Education is a great enabler, however, it requires a huge investment of time and money upfront before you can reap the rewards. If an opportunity looks too good to be true, it’s because it usually is. Highly speculative opportunities carry very attractive returns, but the chance of realising the returns is very small. That is the nature of an investment. The higher the return, the higher the risk.
There are important trade-offs that we need to make when making money. The definition of economics is basically the allocation of scarce resources. Likewise, in order to make money, we need to allocate our time. Have you ever heard time is money? Well it is. The more time you put into making money, the more money you make. However, that is all at the expense of family, friends, relationships, and service to God. Each of us needs to be clear on firstly identifying the different factors involved, such as family. In the course of making money, you need to make a trade-off between whether to stay at work till midnight, or go home and spend some time with the family. But remember, “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). The ultimate trade-off is your place in heaven.
Money should be made with the aim of furthering God’s work. “This money (referring to a portion) is to be used in advancing the work that must be done to fulfill the commission given by Christ to His disciples” (Counsels on Stewardship, p. 35). This goal must be set in our mind as we go out there to make money. It is far too easy to forget about this in the midst of studying for exams, working harder to get the next promotion, and so on. This goal is crucial because it enables us to make the right decisions on the trade-offs that we need to make. If we mistakenly place money as our goal, our lives will be in peril. 1 Timothy 6:10 tells us, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
As people around us are dizzy from all the spinning that money is doing, I ask you to stand with me and fight the good fight. Remember, no shortcuts, beware of trade-offs, and always do to further God’s work.
Edmund Yeoh is a management consultant for the Bain & Company office in Atlanta. He attends the Georgia United Korean Church.