S5E1: Investing for the Kingdom with Aimee Minnich

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Summary

How can scripture guide investing? Can the investments we make have both a financial return, as well as an eternal one? Jeff Haanen and Joanna Meyer talk with Aimee Minnich, chief impact officer and general counsel for Impact Foundation, about generosity, Biblical gleaning, and investing for the kingdom of God.

Highlights

What is "impact investing"?

"Intentionally placing capital in enterprises to create a measurable social, environmental and financial return...It's looking for the best ways to put money in companies, and even as loans to nonprofits, to achieve certain outcomes."

On the difference between impact investing and faith-driven investing:

"Because we live in that sort of in-between space where the kingdom of God is now and yet not fully realized, the work that we do, the investments we make, and the companies we form can be a part of creating or ushering in more of the kingdom of God. As faith-driven investors, we're not just looking for good social outcomes; we're not just looking to make better environmental choices. We are trying to bring about...the kingdom of God as scripture tells us."

On the role of generosity:

"Economies grow when businesses grow, and there are some issues that aren't going to be solved by capitalism, because God, the author of all economies, gave us some tools to use. One of the tools that he gave us to use is generosity. He designed his kingdom to run on the fuel of our generosity."

On the biblical model of "gleaning":

"Boaz was telling his people who worked for him, 'Hey, don't harvest all the way to the edges of the field, because the foreigners and widows living among us don't have the right to work the land, but they need to eat.' And so rather than giving them food after it's been harvested, Boaz...said, 'They need to work the land, but let's leave them a little space around the edges. Let's leave some margin around the edges where people can come and work at themselves.'"

Resources

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