There is today, as there has always been, a terrific need for good financial advice that stands the test of time. Every day we are bombarded with conflicting and confusing messaging about money from the advertisements on television and social media. Within the financial world there exists over 300 designations and titles. Even the church, which should be a source of comfort and clarity, oftentimes adds to the misleading message with confusing language – offering prescriptive advice rather than teaching principles that transcend our current situation. But there is hope! The world attempts to motivate out of shame, guilt, fear, greed, insecurity, and confusion, but the gospel of Jesus Christ is one of promise, hope, encouragement, and redemption.
“But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” – James 3:17
It is from this foundation where a Certified Kingdom Advisor® will approach biblical financial planning.
Since founding Kingdom Advisors in 2012 through the Ron Blue Institute at Indiana Wesleyan University, Ron Blue has had the calling to help Christians plan and manage their finances in order to free up financial resources for Kingdom purposes. Along with this calling is the vision that the Church would be perceived as the source of all financial wisdom, at all times, under every circumstance. Many of our clients are exploring this same need and vision within their own families and financial plans.
As mentioned above, within the world of financial advising there exists hundreds of designations, dozens of methods of investing and planning, countless rules to follow or break…the list goes on and on! A Christian financial professional is not better than all the rest – they are different. They build their advice off a foundation of biblical wisdom. What a firm and broad foundation it is too – there are 2,300 verses about money in the Bible!
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” – Matthew 7:24-27
A Christian financial advisor approaches her role as a leader, advisor, and counselor from a biblical worldview. As believers, we understand that we are only here on this earth temporarily, and we are heading for an eternity with Jesus! Because of this blessed assurance, we can and should hold our riches (given ultimately by God Himself) with an open palm, ready to use them for the advancing of God’s Kingdom, and we can encourage our clients to do the same. Through this lens, we arrive at the core message of Biblical Financial Advice outlined in the Kingdom Advisor coursework.
- God owns it all
- There are 5 fundamental money management principles
- There are 5 uses of money (God’s word speaks to each)
- There is an easily understood conceptual framework for money management which simplifies communication and decision-making.
A Certified Kingdom Advisor lives life with a biblical worldview, is professionally competent, is called to their practice, is passionate, is confident in delivering biblical counsel and wisdom, is skilled at offering life counsel, and promotes client charitable giving.
Throughout these blog posts, we will highlight the myriad ways our clients can incorporate timeless biblical truths into their financial plan and in turn, their lives and legacy.