What I've Been Reading: God and Money: How We Discovered True Riches at Harvard Business School

Admittedly the subtitle of this book by John Cortines and Gregory Baumer was what caught my attention: God and Money: How We Discovered True Riches at Harvard. Cortines and Baumer matriculated to Harvard Business School with the intention of earning as much money as possible, accumulating as many toys as possible, and retiring as early as possible. The authors were evangelical Christians who were committed to their local churches and even faithful in their giving. As they conducted this research, God transformed their thinking into a greater commitment toward generosity.

The book is divided into three sections. First, the authors deal with foundational matters like biblical teaching on giving as well as motivation. In part two, the authors expand on three different frameworks by which we can operate in the financial realm: spending, saving, and investing. In the final section, Cortines and Baumer provide some practical suggestions for application and moving toward greater generosity.

The authors define stewardship as the “active and responsible management of God’s creation for God’s purposes” (47). One of the key axioms throughout the book comes as a refutation of the typical question we ask ourselves about giving. Usually we ask, “How much should I give?” The authors argue that our mindset should rather be, “How much should I keep?” American Christians have so much wealth, comparatively speaking, that the danger we have is giving an amount that seems generous but actually costs us very little (52).

One of the interesting findings the authors present is the measurable danger that great wealth places upon us. One study, conducted by a psychologist at the University of California concluded that: “as a person’s level of wealth increases, their feelings of compassion and empathy go down, and their feelings of entitlement, of deservingness, and their ideology of self-interest increase” (50). This observation is nothing new, however. The Church Father Cyprian, in the third century warned about the spiritual danger of wealth: “Their property held them in chains. . . . They think of themselves as owners, whereas it is they rather who are owned: enslaved as they are to their own property, they are not the master of their money but its slaves” (60).

In challenging their readers to pursue generosity the authors describe their conviction upon learning about the commitment of atheist Peter Singer to give away 20 percent of his income. The authors who had committed to tithing and giving 10 percent of their income were challenged that an atheist professor who had no eternal outlook had a deeper commitment to generosity than they did as followers of Christ. In a subsequent chapter, the authors note the consistently low giving patterns of Americans—typically less than 3 percent. The book challenges Christians to move out of a scarcity mindset and to an abundance mindset. The scarcity mindset seeks to protect and preserve our possessions so that they don’t slip away from us. An abundance mindset recognizes that God has the ability to provide what we need and what we have does not belong to us anyway.

This book helped remind me of what a strong testimony generosity can be to an unbelieving world. The authors do not write as theoretical experts but as fellow disciples on this journey of generosity. The book gives great practical ideas on how to grow in generosity. The authors also provide some insights about accountability and how to make sure our giving makes the greatest possible impact. This is a great book to help you grow in this important spiritual discipline.