Most people in Western society would like to control their environment, which can be seen in a demand for consumer goods that range from automobiles to radios. They also desire personal resources, which enable them to purchase those goods, but which they tend to guard jealously. Christians are not immune to these tendencies. Claim, cherish, and protect that wealth though they may, Christians must always remember that Jesus is Lord of their wealth.

Let us remember two basic facts:

1. What we consider ours really isn’t. As others have pointed out, we come into the world with nothing and we leave with nothing. Once we are dead, we own nothing. We can build the largest mausoleum to hold our bones, but once we take up residence, we won’t own it. We are, for our short stay, merely stewards of the wealth placed in our care. All that we claim to own will eventually be given away either while we are alive or through our executors after we die.

Since everything will eventually be given away, we might as well exercise our responsibilities as stewards and enjoy the process. Nineteenth-century American industrialist Andrew Carnegie set a great example by giving away large sums of his personal wealth during his lifetime. In this tradition, a more recent dot.com, half-a-billion-dollar-plus entrepreneur has commented: "If I die with a dollar left in my bank account, then I have miscalculated." Although there are not many Carnegie-sized estates around nowadays, there are many people who own fortunes in the six and seven and eight figure realm.

2. Wealth measures only wealth. Most of us can recall hearing sermons to the effect that God wants to bring us to "a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing" (Deut. 8:9). If we accumulate some measure of wealth over the years, we often assume that God has provided it, in accordance with another passage just a few verses later: "But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth.…" (Deut. 8:18). This gospel of prosperity has strong appeal.

However, other sermons warn us that prosperity must mean Satan has us in his grasp, for if we truly follow the Lord then problems—not prosperity—will be our lot. Also, consider Matthew 19:23: "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God" (Matt. 19:23). Our safety net of resources can become a snare that drowns us.

We may assume that we have acquired wealth as a result or our own hard work and cleverness. In reality, those who acquire it most often do so as a result of family connections or the circumstances of the country into which they are born. They may have obtained it by simply being in the right place at the right time, something that business analysts claim is, in fact, the largest contributor to success.

Having or not having resources is not the main issue. The important issue is the use of personal resources as a measure. Unfortunately, resources are easy to measure—and to use for judging others. In his book When All You Ever Wanted Isn’t Enough, Harold Kushner claims that many American men don’t develop close friendships until their fifties because they are so competitive they would rather win than have close friends. In the book Desiderata, Max Ehrmann offers a contrasting perspective: "If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself."

Indeed, wealth is only a measure of wealth. Would anyone looking around at the world’s distribution of wealth say it has been allotted on the basis on godliness, spirituality, morality, intelligence, or righteousness? Hardly. Looking through Scripture, one sees that friends of God could be rich in earthly resources (for example, Abraham David) or severely lacking (for instance, John the Baptist and, of course, Jesus). Wealth proves nothing to its holders, their friends, or God, other than that those who hold it are wealthy.

If, then, we are only stewards for a season, and if we cannot measure God’s favor by the size of our estate, how can Jesus be considered Lord of our resources? In current vernacular, we might say that Jesus is our asset manager and that he cares about two things. First, he wants us to invest our resources so that they yield a return, and, second, he cares about the form of that return.

Perhaps the best biblical illustration along these lines is Matthew 25:14–30. Recall from this parable that three servants are given five, two, and one talents, respectively. The first two invest their resources and double them, whereas the third simply buries his, which prevents him from reporting an increase. The master praises the first two servants, but condemns the third, takes away his talent, and gives it to the first.

The master wanted one thing: he wanted the wealth to be invested so it would yield an increase. I propose that such sound investments do one of two things: either they spread the gospel or they make the world a better place for fellow humans. The list of good investments certainly includes tithes and offerings in support of the local and world church, the health and education of our own families, and a response to a continuous theme in Scripture that calls us to provide for widows, orphans, and the poor.

But there are also valid secular investments, among them homes; education; churches; medical care; infrastructure like roads, water, and sanitation; factories; stores; and businesses for products and services that serve humanity. All of these provide jobs. In Jewish tradition the highest form of charity is to provide someone with a job without that person knowing it. Such investments make life productive, rewarding, and enjoyable.

So what cannot be considered good investments? I hesitate to judge, but not long ago a painting was sold at auction for more than ten million dollars. Afterward, it disappeared into the vault of a private collector to be enjoyed only at his whim. Investments that consume resources and do little or nothing to spread the gospel or help fellow humans might very well be considered talents that are buried.

In short, resources are not ours. It is foolish to measure our standing with God and fellow humans by the extent over which we have been made managers. Contentment is found by being good stewards who invest resources under our care to promote the gospel and the good of mankind—and hearing a "well done" from the Lord of our resources.

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