Faithfully Investing Mimics God-like Common Grace

August 9, 2023, By Luke Brad Bobo

Babylon’s Glory

Jeremiah instructs God’s redeemed people to “Seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile” (Jeremiah 29:7). That city was Babylon. Babylon was known for its unmatched beauty and glory.  For example, Babylon boasted of tiered hanging gardens, considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Although Babylon could boast of a beautiful culture, she could also boast of a sophisticated pantheon.  In the city was a huge ziggurat, linked with the temple of Marduk, the chief god. Besides Marduk, chapels were devoted to other deities.

Babylon’s Decadence

Marduk’s presence was not benign as the Babylonians emulated Marduk (Psalm 115:8). Unlike Israel’s creation narrative, where Yahweh peacefully and methodically orders everything by his word (Genesis 1), the Babylonian creation narrative was replete with violence and brutality, led by the exploits of Marduk.[1] The Babylonians consequently became known for their brutal treatment of creation.

Like their god, Marduk, the Babylonians treated the world as little more than raw materials and commodities that were to be exploited, used, and then discarded.[2] Indeed, “The empire’s history testifies to numerous eco­logical disasters that were propelled by gluttony and greed.”[3]

Faithful Investing in Your ‘City of Babylon’

It is this city that God tells his people to seek the peace (welfare) and prosperity—why? God tells his people to faithfully invest their labor, imagination, and money, so that all may flourish.

Unlike the Babylonians who were propelled by gluttony and greed, God calls his people to be propelled by obedience, and faithfully invest in this city. While investing certainly seeks a return on investment (ROI), faithful investors are most importantly guided by faith-based principles found in God’s word.  So, God’s people can invest for a ROI and God’s people can bring a foretaste of the new heavenly city into their neighborhoods through their faith-based investing. When God’s people faithfully invest in this way, they serve as conduits of God’s common grace: God’s grace to all people (Matthew 5:45). As we faithfully invest in our glorious and decadent cities, we emulate and obey our God.

As we engage our imaginations, the variety of faithful investments run the gamut. A faithful investment could be as small as providing a meal for a grieving family to as large as a monetary gift for the construction of an elderly care facility.

God’s people faithfully invest in their cities not only for a ROI, and for the common good of people made in God’s image, but because they are faithfully obeying God’s command.

[1] Lessing, R Reed (Robert Reed). 2010. “Yahweh versus Marduk: Creation Theology in Isaiah 40-55.” Concordia Journal 36 (3): 234–44. Https://search-ebscohost-com.search.covenantseminary.edu/login.aspx?Direct=true&authtype=ip&db=lsdar&AN=ATLA0001799682&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

Luke Bobo, Founding Partner/Co-Owner, Pursuing the Greater Good; visiting professor of contemporary culture, Covenant Seminary; author, Stories, Statistics, Solutions: Toward Understanding and Including People with Disabilities in Faith Communities; Race, Economics, and Apologetics; Worked Up: Navigating Calling After College; and Living Salty and Light-Filled Lives in the Workplace

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