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 such situations? 

Discernment carries the though of being able to grasp what is obscure. This ability is needed to evaluate claims  about investments. Christians trust one another, 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 or 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 to 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 of 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 but went bankrupt and lost the borrowed funds.

Next time: When Business Ventures Fail

From the Watchtower magazine, 1997