Local investment adviser Steve Sappington said the Bible contains nearly 2,500 verses related to money, showing that God knows we need help with our finances.

He has written a book titled “Today’s Word on Money” in which he turns to Scripture to tackle questions relating to investing, saving and giving. He said he has worked on this project about two years, and the 250-page book recently became available online.

“I would describe it as a 40-day look at the spiritual components of today’s financial issues,” said Sappington, 59, who grew up on a wheat farm in southwestern Oklahoma and moved to Waco 23 years ago.

Waco investment adviser Steve Sappington, who counsels clients on investing in accordance with Biblical principles, has written a book about God's plan for our finances.
Rod Aydelotte / Waco Tribune-Herald

He said much of the book is broken into two-or-three-page sections that readers can easily digest and apply. Bonus chapters are meant to be read on holidays.

Sappington said he wrote his book in reaction to the “talking heads” on TV who spout investment advice that does not serve all viewers well. He said God is the ultimate authority on our finances.

“Most of the book of Proverbs was written by the richest man yet to live, Solomon, and he said hasty speculation brings poverty while steady plodding brings prosperity,” Sappington said.

But that does not mean God has anything against investing our resources, as long as we do it wisely.

Matthew 25:14-30 tells the story of a rich man going on a long journey. He called in his three servants and told them they would be caretakers of his property while he was gone. He gave five talents, or pieces of currency, to one servant, two to another and one to the third. Those receiving five and two talents doubled their money by investing it.

But the servant who received one talent buried it and gave it back to the rich man upon his return.

The master’s response: “You wicked and indolent slave.” He went on to say the servant should have invested the talent with the bankers, so he would have received two talents. He took the single talent and gave it to the servant with 10 talents.

On the subject of borrowing, Sappington said the Bible instructs us to owe no man anything but love.

“There is no strict prohibition against borrowing, but it depends on what we are borrowing for,” Sappington said. “Are we borrowing for a fancy lifestyle? Are we borrowing for an appreciating or depreciating asset?”

The Bible pulls no punches when it talks about giving to the poor and giving to God, Sappington said, adding that God promises blessings to those who follow his instructions to give.

Malachi 3:9-10 says: “You are under a curse — your whole nation — because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.”

The Bible, Sappington said, can help those searching for the proper financial path.

“When we leave God out of the picture, we can go to far left, into communism, and people have no incentive to better themselves,” he said. “If we go too far right, greed eventually takes over and we find ourselves not helping those who can’t help themselves. Balance can be found in the Bible.”

Sappington said he works with clients who want to invest in accordance with socially responsible principles. He takes that further, he said, by encouraging investing with biblical pinciples in mind.

He said that investors can take two approaches in this regard. They can refuse to buy a stock in companies whose policies they reject, or they can invest in them with an eye toward changing them.

mcopeland@wacotrib.com

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