Spirituality of Investment

During this festive season, when the world is celebrating the birth of a savior and redeemer, Jesus Christ, it will be befitting that we retrace and dedicate his ethos with regard to investment and philanthropy. In articulating the aforementioned the overarching question shall be, is there any relationship between investing and spirituality? The following is extracted verbatim from the unpublished work of Robert Mudzvova entitled, Investment World Demystified©.

The birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem

At face value, one would be forgiven to think that spirituality and investment are completely incompatible. The rich are seen as the curse for the poor. Many rich people mistakenly think that the poor are responsible for their impoverishment. The struggle between the poor and the rich started with the advent of capital. There are certain examples I have given in this book which amplify the “heartless” of the rich and the vulnerabilities of the poorest of the poor.

The struggle between the poor and the rich was therefore the subject and scope of the great essay by the godfather of philanthropy, Andrew Carnegie called the Gospel of the Wealth, of which the following was his submission:

“This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of Wealth: First, to set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon him; and after doing so to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer, and strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community--the man of wealth thus becoming the mere agent and trustee for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves.”

To Carnegie and indeed all the Carnegiests the world over, the rich will, “…but a trustee for the poor; entrusted for a season with a great part of the increased wealth of the community, but administering it for the community far better than it could or would have done for itself.”

However, the theme of this chapter is to draw parallels between spirituality and investing. Were the greatest philanthropists’ motives out of the good of mankind or the fear of hell or both?

The work of Carnegie is drawn from Biblical texts and there are several percepts to support this, “….Angels (in heaven) derive their happiness, not from laboring for self, but for each other”. And the basis for his philanthropy could have been motivated by Jesus Christ himself, when Carnegie asserted that laboring for the good of our fellow human beings was, “the essence of his (Christ) life and teaching.”

Andrew Carnegie, the godfather of philanthropy 

Carnegie laid the foundation of reconciling between the rich and poor by explicitly highlighting the guidelines for “repatriation” of the wealth accumulated by the rich to the poor. The basis for his thoughts and of course, his deeds, was that the rich should, where it is practical to do so, supervise and monitor the distribution of their wealth to the poor, using the wisdom and experience they exhibited when they were accumulating their wealth.

The profound ideas of Andrew Carnegie were indeed applied religiously by John D. Rockefeller Snr. of Standard Oil fame together with his son, John D. Rockefeller Jr. and ably assisted by Fredrick T. Gates. Rockefeller foundation was arguably the first philanthropist organization to be involved in a world-wide organized philanthropy. The main objective of the foundation was and is, “To promote the well being of mankind world-wide.” To the Rockefellers and all those that have benefited from their good cause, the essence of spirituality is abundantly evident.

These were rich servants of God, who had good intentions about the generality of mankind, particularly the poor and the vulnerable, for their wealth came from business acumen and power of investing and not from thievery or acts of evil.

Perhaps the greatest fear of hell was shown by Warren E. Buffet, in Berkshire Hathaway’s 2002 Annual report, where he said, “...Like hell, it easy is to enter and almost impossible to exit.” But it is true to assert that, he who fears hell is in essence obeying the teachings and deeds of Christ. Buffet in the same annual report, on giving his thoughts on corporate governance and corporate disasters which came due to lack of it, he went deeper into the scriptures when he referred to Jesus Christ’s teachings, who in Luke 16:2, said “Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest longer be steward”

So it can be seen that from Carnegie, through to Rockefeller to Buffet and indeed to Bill and Melinda Gates, the notion of investing is evidently linked to spirituality. It is therefore not an irony that Andrew Carnegie the godfather of philanthropy was the second richest man in the world during the peak of his investing career only second to John D. Rockefeller Snr, the one who popularize the idea of wide scale philanthropy. This was in the late 19^th century and early 20^th century.

A youthful John D. Rockefeller Sr. of The Rockefeller Foundation 

 Today, Warren E. Buffet the greatest investor in living memory and indeed the greatest philanthropist of all time has committed to handover the greater part of his wealth to the Bill and Melinda Gates’ foundation, arguably making it one of the biggest foundations in the world. At the time of committing his wealth to the Gates, Warren was the second richest man, only second to Bill. These great investors had deep rooted beliefs in the teachings and deeds of Jesus Christ and that they were also rich spiritually.

In the Zimbabwe context, there are many philanthropists who have done a sterling job of assisting the poor. Jairos Jiri, for example, opened his house to the physically challenged and today his name is synonymous with empowerment of the physically challenged. We continue to encourage those who are taking care of the orphaned, the widowed, the elderly, the sick, the physically challenged and the poor that they continue on this path, for it is proper and fruitful. God will bless them abundantly. Jesus Christ encouraged us to help the poor and mentioned several times that poor have a right to the Kingdom of God.

Jairos Jiri, Zimbabwean philanthropist who empowered  many physically challenged people 

Giving generously to the vulnerable is as rewarding as successfully reaching the apex of Mount Everest. The fulfillment got is worth it. It is a legacy for real investors to leave for future generations and this shall not deplete their wealth, but shall usher new opportunities for so many investors to flourish and indeed improve the living conditions of mankind.

We thank most sincerely the visitors and readers of this blog. Together we are community wishing and hoping for the betterment of the suffering humankind. Going forward and God willing, these wishes and hopes shall be concretized into tangibles to endure any form of turbulence and machination from the wicked.

Have a Merry Christmas and a blessed and prosperous 2013

God Bless.

I thank you!