LET DISCERNMENT SAFEGUARD YOU -What About Investments?

What About Investments?

Both discernment and caution are needed when considering an investment in a business venture.  Suppose someone wants to borrow money and makes promises like these:  "I guarantee that you will make money."  "You can't lose.  This is a sure thing."  Beware  when anyone gives such assurances. Either he is not being realistic or he is dishonest, for investing is rarely a sure thing.  In fact, some smooth-talking, unscrupulous individuals have defrauded members of the congregation.  This calls to mind the "ungodly men" who slipped into the first-century congregation and 'turned the undeserved  kindness of God into an excuse for loose conduct.'  They were like jagged underwater rocks that could rip and kill swimmers.  (Jude 4,12)  True, the motives of defrauders are different, but they too prey upon members of the congregation.

Even well-meaning Christians have shared information about seemingly profitable ventures, only to find that they and those following their example lost the money they invested.  As a result, a number of Christians have lost privileges in the congregation.  When -get-rich-quick ventures prove to be fraudulent schemes, the only one to profit is the defrauder, who often promptly disappears .  How can discernment help one to avoid situations?

Discernment carries the thought of being able to grasp what is obscure.  This ability is needed to evaluate claims about investments.  Christians trust one another,m and some may reason that their spiritual brothers and sisters would not get involved in ventures that would endanger the resources of fellow believers.  But the fact that a businessman is a Christian does not guarantee that he excels in business matters that his enterprise will succeed. 

Some Christians seek business loans from fellow believers because reputable lending agencies would never advance money for their risky enterprises.  Many have been fooled into believing that simply by  investing their money, they could make a quick fortune without doing much work or perhaps no work at all.  Some are attracted to an investment because of the glamour associated with it, only to lose their life savings!  One Christian invested a large sum of money, expecting to get a 25-percent rate or return in just two weeks.  He lost all that money when bankruptcy was declared.  In another venture, a real-estate developer borrowed large sums of money from others in the congregation. He promised unreasonably high returns bu went bankrupt and lost the borrowed funds.

Next time: LET DISCERNMENT SAFEGUARD YOU - When Business Ventures Fail

The Watchtower, 1997