Money Matters
Faith, Life, and Wealth
Author R. Paul Stevens & Clive Lim ISBN 9780802877512 Binding Trade Paper Publisher WM B. Eerdmans Publishing Company Publication Date January 26, 2021 Size 140 x 216 mmA guide to investing in heaven and being “rich toward God”
Christians often hesitate to talk about money in spiritual contexts, but in the gospels Jesus talks more about money than about “religious” topics like prayer and heaven. Money Matters advocates following Jesus’s lead in engaging with matters of economy and finance in a faith-driven way, in both our individual and our corporate lives. The authors draw on their contrasting life experiences to offer a well-rounded look at money in the twenty-first century. Paul Stevens, who grew up well-off in Canada and worked as a carpenter, a banker, and later a pastor and professor of theology, finds a complementary voice in Clive Lim, who grew up without money in Singapore, and now works there as an entrepreneur and head of a family investment firm. With frequent scriptural references, Stevens and Lim offer insight into navigating the economic systems of today, aiming to help individuals, churches, and societies become faithful stewards who store up “treasures in heaven” by investing in the kingdom of God.
Money Matters is a comprehensive yet accessible guide to integrating one’s faith with one’s approach to money. Just as the Bible variously treats money as a blessing, a sacrament, and a problem, so do Stevens and Lim approach this matter judiciously—avoiding the prosperity gospel on one side and the demonization of material wealth on the other. Capitalism is treated as what it is: a system that has created widespread opportunity and relieved poverty for millions while also exacerbating the gap between the haves and the have-nots. The authors’ wisdom is at turns theological, historical, and practical—and always focused on what it means to live with faithful integrity in our contemporary global economy.
— Kenneth J. Barnes
author of Redeeming Capitalism
“Paul Stevens and Clive Lim seek to engage readers in personal contemplation that enables them to view money ‘in its proper place and to behave with consistency in relation to the handling of money.’ They have achieved their purpose quite nicely. Every serious Christian should have a personal view of money, especially in the handling of it. Blending their differing experience and expertise (in terms of age, training, aptitude, upbringing, ethnicity, etc.), the authors are comfortable with each other, complementing each other as they canvass related issues and viewpoints from historical, contemporary, social, and theological angles. The topics are well-chosen and relevant. And the book is very readable; one can finish it either in a three-four-hour sitting or over several days, taking the time to study the issues raised more contemplatively, taking in the endnotes. Hence, there is something in this book for everyone!”
— Ho Peng Kee
former senior minister of state in Singapore
“Money Matters is the most relevant and expansive discussion on money. Period. It is personal and deep, as Stevens and Lim share stories of decades of business experience with deep theological reflection. They show how our relationship with money permeates our identity, determines how we run our businesses and organizations, and reflects what we truly value. For a topic that is often confusing and overlooked, Money Matters offers clarity, hope, and a challenge to live our lives intentionally for the Kingdom in a way that is life changing and impactful. Who could imagine a book about money could be so inspiring?”
— Dave Hataj
author of Good Work: How Blue Collar Business Can Change Lives, Communities, and the World
“Positing that the ancient beginnings of money were in the temple rather than with the trader, and proposing the sacred use and not just the secular use of money, the authors have crafted a colorful mosaic of personal, historical, philosophical, and theological perspectives regarding this important dimension of life. In communities of faith that seek to live a world-formative rather than a world-denying Christianity, this book dealing with an important but often neglected topic should be discussed in every church small group.”
— Charles Ringma
author of Hear the Ancient Wisdom
“Through the heart is the deepest, truest way that we learn about things that matter most—and that is the great gift of this new book by Clive Lim and Paul Stevens, who together draw on the years of their lives to allow us to think more carefully and critically, and therefore more Christianly, about the meaning of money. From its first pages we are graced with their wisdom and experience born of rare biblical and theological insight integrally connected to cultural and historical perspectives, all twined together with decades of life in the world of work. In Money Matters, these master teachers address the most challenging questions and the most difficult issues, ones that serious people the world over wrestle with about money, and why it matters so much.”
— Steven Garber
author of The Seamless Life: A Tapestry of Love and Learning, Worship and Work
“Thinking Christianly about money is one of the more important, but also one of the more difficult challenges facing the followers of Christ today, in the East as well as in the West. By grounding their consideration of money in their own very different personal narratives—East and West—Lim and Stevens treat their readers with w
R. Paul Stevens is professor emeritus of marketplace theology and leadership at Regent College, Vancouver, and chairman of the Institute for Marketplace Transformation, an agency that assists people with the integration of faith and work.
Clive Lim is CEO of Leap International, an investment firm in Singapore. He is also adjunct marketplace theology lecturer at Biblical Graduate School of Theology and Trinity Theological College, both in Singapore, as well as visiting associate professor of marketplace theology at Regent College.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Growing Up without Money—Clive’s Story
2. Growing Up with Money—Paul’s Story
3. Holy Money—a Brief History and Why It Is So Complicated to Handle
4. Giving to God and Caesar—the Complicated End of Dualism
5. Grappling Shrewdly with Capitalism
6. How to Buy Forever Friendships
7. Why Money “Talks”—the Social Value of Money
8. Whose Money Is It Anyway?
9. The Health and Wealth Gospel
10. Investing in Heaven
Questions for Reflection and Discussion