Blog
“Setting Our Hope Fully”
Categories: Bulletin Articles
Lots of people binge-watch TV shows. Recently, I’ve been binge-reading personal-finance blogs. One of their favorite topics is asset allocation, in other words, where you should put the money you’re saving for retirement.
Of all the possible investments, the one with the highest returns historically is the stock market. However, most financial gurus will tell you not to put all your money in stocks or stock mutual funds. It’s too risky. What do you do if you’re invested in 100 percent equities, and the market tanks the day after you retire? Your portfolio may never recover.
Instead, the gurus recommend putting part of your money in stocks, another part in bonds, maybe another part in cash or T-bills. The overall returns probably won’t be as good, but those safer investments will protect you from disaster.
This divided strategy makes a lot of sense financially, but a lot of Christians try to apply it where it’s not appropriate. We have examples of men and women of faith who were 100 percent invested in God: Joseph, Moses, Daniel, Paul, and many others. They gave up substantial earthly rewards and faced severe trials for righteousness’ sake, and they were all rewarded.
However, too many brethren look at these examples and say to themselves, “Oooh—too risky!” They try to hedge their investment in God. God promises them inexpressible joy in Christ, but they’re worried that they won’t be happy without their alcohol habit or porn habit, so they cling to it. God promises them eternal fellowship in heaven, but they’re worried about losing friends here if they’re too vocal about their faith, so they remain silent. Rather than being 100 percent invested in God, they’re 75/25, or maybe 50/50.
This diversified spiritual portfolio may seem wise to earthly reasoning, but it’s an invitation to spiritual disaster. As Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:13, we are supposed to set our hope fully on the grace that is to be revealed. Fully. That’s 100 percent. Not 90 percent on grace, 10 percent on pleasure. Not 75 percent on grace, 25 percent on friends. Nope. Fully. Otherwise, we will fail to achieve what is most important.
Our journey to heaven isn’t like a retirement account: passive, under the influence of forces beyond our control. Instead, the Scripture compares it to a race, in which a partial investment can only lead to disaster. NASCAR drivers don’t race to economize on gas. They race to win. Athletes don’t jog through the 100-meter dash so they can have a comfortable walk to the car afterward. They run to win.
We need to run to win too, and we need to recognize those “diversification opportunities” not as ways to avoid risk but as encumbrances that will keep us from winning. Many of the problems that we worry about never actually come up, but even if they do, so what? 5000 years from now, nobody in heaven will be saying, “Man, I really wish I hadn’t given up my drinking habit!”
In that day, there will be regrets in plenty, but to find them, you’ll have to look someplace else.
