I recently read an article about the countless billions of dollars that have been saved and stored up outside the mainstream financial system. The author explained that many people have lost their confidence in banks and other institutions and have responded by finding alternative ways to protect their wealth. Some have kept it in the form of cash and hidden great stacks of bills in the walls of their homes or in the backs of their closets. Others have converted it to precious metals and locked it in home safes or buried it in the ground. Others have found still more ways to keep it and protect it. I blame no one for being suspicious of the financial system and for pursuing alternatives. The purpose of the article was not to criticize these people, but to point out that such wealth is often not doing a great deal of good—it is not being traded, it is not being invested, it is not gaining interest, and if it’s in the form of cash, it’s not even keeping up with inflation. But again, that’s for each individual to decide. I have little interest in what people do with their wealth, for each of us must do what we believe right with the means God has given us. But I do have a much greater interest in a related matter—what people do with their gifts. It is clear from Scripture that God bestows upon each of us various gifts. Among them are the spiritual gifts he gives to … Continue reading On Hoarding Wealth and Fostering Gifts