Faith-Based Investing: Do You Know What You Actually Own?
If you've ever paused before buying stock in a company because of what it does (or doesn't do) you've already wrestled with the concept of the faith-based investing mentality, even if you never called it that.
However, that pause is easy to miss today. Most investors no longer select individual stocks. We buy mutual funds and ETFs, one ticker that quietly bundles together stakes in hundreds, sometimes thousands, of companies at once.
That convenience is exactly what makes the pause disappear. You'd probably never sit down and deliberately choose to invest in a company whose products conflict with what you believe. But if that company is simply one of 500 holdings tucked inside your S&P 500 fund, you are participating in that company anyway. And you never actively made that choice yourself when you bought the fund.
So the real question at this point isn't "would I invest in that?" It's "do I even know what I'm invested in?"
Consumer or Owner?
Part of why that question gets overlooked is that we're used to thinking like consumers, not owners, and those are two very different relationships.
As a consumer, you're responsible for how you use a product or service. You can buy gas from a station, eat at a restaurant, or use a piece of software without becoming morally entangled in everything else that company does. Scripture calls us to wisdom in what we consume, not omniscience about every business we ever interact with.
Owning a share of stock is a different relationship entirely. You're not a customer anymore, you're a part-owner. As a shareholder, you participate economically in the company’s success and may benefit from activities you would not personally choose to support.
That's the line worth drawing. Being a responsible consumer means asking, "how am I using this?" Being a responsible owner means asking a different question: "am I okay profiting from this?"
Does God Care How I Profit?
The short answer is yes. It probably deserves its own article someday. But at a high level, Scripture speaks to this in three consistent threads.
Dishonest profit is explicitly condemned
"A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight" (Proverbs 11:1).
Proverbs 20:17 warns that bread gained by deceit turns to gravel in the mouth, and 21:6 calls treasure gained by a lying tongue "a fleeting vapor and a snare of death." God gave Israel detailed instructions about honest weights and measures (Deuteronomy 25:13-16), and Amos condemned merchants who rigged the scales while they "trample[d] on the needy" (Amos 8:4-6). However the profit is made, God is watching the method, not just the margin.
Honest, Productive Gain Receives Equal Emphasis
"The hand of the diligent makes rich" (Proverbs 10:4-5), and "whoever gathers little by little will increase" (Proverbs 13:11).
Paul tells the Ephesians to do "honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need" (Ephesians 4:28), and to "work heartily, as for the Lord" (Colossians 3:23-24). Profit itself was never the problem. How it's produced always has been.
And integrity outranks accumulation, every time
"Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth… will only come to poverty" (Proverbs 22:16). "Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways" (Proverbs 28:6).
Jeremiah's warning still lands, too: riches gained unjustly are like a bird hatching eggs it never laid — sooner or later, they fly away (Jeremiah 17:11).
So, does God care how I profit? Every time I sit with these passages, the answer gets harder to avoid.
Stewarding What Belongs to God
I've written before about ownership. Everything we have already ultimately belongs to God, not just spiritually but materially. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof" (Psalm 24:1). If that's true of our money, it's true of our portfolios too, down to the individual holdings sitting inside them.
Paul puts it plainly: "It is required of stewards that they be found faithful" (1 Corinthians 4:2). Faithful stewardship isn't just about how much we give or how wisely we save. It's also about what we're quietly profiting from along the way, one investment at a time.
What Is Faith-Based Investing?
Faith-based investing means choosing investments that reflect your values, not just your risk tolerance and time horizon. For Christians specifically, you'll often see this called biblically responsible investing, or BRI (the more technical term you'll find on a fund's fact sheet or prospectus).
The two terms are often used interchangeably, though “faith-based investing” is the broader umbrella across religious traditions, while BRI points specifically to the Christian focused approach. I tend to use "faith-based investing" in conversation because it's the more familiar entry point, and "BRI" when I'm describing the specific mechanics of how a fund is built.
Either way, it's the same question Christians have wrestled with for a long time: does how I invest reflect what I actually believe about stewardship?
What About Performance?
This is usually the first pushback I get, and it's a fair one: won't this cost me something?
Any time you narrow the investable universe by excluding certain companies or industries, you change the shape of the portfolio. That's true whether the screen is about faith, energy policy, sector concentration or anything else.
But I'd point back to the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30). While the Parable of the Talents is not a portfolio-management lesson, it does emphasize faithful stewardship of what has been entrusted to us. The master didn't commend his servants for producing the single highest return available in the market. He commended them as "good and faithful". They were servants who managed what was entrusted to them with care and intention.
A well-constructed faith-based fund can still apply real portfolio management: sector balance, valuation discipline, risk controls. The screening happens before the portfolio is built, not instead of building one carefully.
Performance will still vary fund to fund and year to year, the same as any strategy. The faith screen isn't automatically a return headwind. But it's also not a guarantee of outperformance either. This is also true for any investment style you pick. Faithfulness was never promised to look identical to maximum return. And faithfulness isn’t always rewarded 100% (monetarily or not) on this side of eternity.
Think about generosity for a second. Giving is never the move that maximizes your personal balance sheet. Every dollar given away is a dollar that stops compounding in your account.
Scripture never frames giving as a growth strategy for the balance sheet. We give because we're called to it (2 Corinthians 9:7), not because a spreadsheet or tax strategy recommends it. Investing your values into your portfolio can work the same way: a decision made because of what you believe, not because it's guaranteed to outperform.
More Than One Approach
One thing that surprises people is that faith-based investing isn't a single methodology. Scripture gives us principles and different fund managers have applied those principles differently.
Some funds lean on traditional exclusionary screening. That’s ruling out companies tied to things like abortion, pornography, or alcohol, then investing in what remains according to the strategy. Historically, this is where the BRI movement first took root.
Others combine screening with active stewardship. This is voting proxies, engaging company management directly, and using their position as shareholders to press for change that aligns with biblical values rather than simply walking away.
And some go further still, into positive selection. This way is actively seeking out companies that reflect servant leadership, employee dignity, and ethical practice, treating that alignment as a mark of a well-run company, not merely a box to check.
None of these approaches is more faithful than another. They reflect different convictions about how best to put faith into practice through capital.
Why I Changed My Mind
I don't think there's one biblically-mandated way to invest as a Christian, any more than there's one biblically-mandated budget. Scripture calls us to faithfulness, not a financial formula.
But I do think the question deserves to be asked honestly rather than avoided, because most of us never asked it in the first place. We picked a fund for its returns, its fees, its strategy at large, and typically never once looked underneath the hood at what we were actually profiting from as business owners. In light of everything discussed so far, I have a different view now than I did before.
These portfolios are often one of the largest assets we will manage on behalf of God. Albeit on this side of eternity, there will always be imperfections. But my hope is that God sees my diligence and desire to steward what He has given me in accordance with the word he has given me. I’ll continue to run the race and have a desire to hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
FAQ: Faith-Based Investing
What is faith-based investing?Faith-based investing means selecting investments based on how well they align with your religious or moral convictions, not just financial factors like risk and return. For Christians, this is often called biblically responsible investing, or BRI.
Is faith-based investing the same as BRI?Mostly, yes. "Faith-based investing" is the broader term used across religious traditions, while "BRI" (biblically responsible investing) refers specifically to the Christian-focused approach. The terms are often used interchangeably in conversation.
Does faith-based investing mean lower returns?Not necessarily. Excluding certain companies or industries changes the shape of a portfolio, the same as any other screening criteria would. Performance varies fund to fund and year to year. A faith screen isn't automatically a return headwind, but it's also not a guarantee of outperformance.
What companies do faith-based funds typically exclude?Traditional exclusionary screening commonly rules out companies tied to industries like abortion, pornography, alcohol, gambling, and tobacco, though specific exclusions vary by fund.
Are there different types of faith-based investing strategies?Yes, three common approaches are: exclusionary screening (avoiding certain companies), active stewardship (voting proxies and engaging company management), and positive selection (actively seeking out companies known for ethical practices and servant leadership).
Why does it matter what's inside my mutual fund or ETF?Owning shares makes you a part-owner of every company in the fund, not just a customer. As a shareholder, you participate economically in a company's activities, even ones you might not personally choose to support if you were looking at that company on its own.
Where does the Bible talk about how money is made, not just how it's spent?Scripture speaks to this often, for example, Proverbs 11:1 on honest weights and measures, Ephesians 4:28 on the value of honest work, and Jeremiah 17:11 on riches gained unjustly. The consistent theme is that God cares about the method, not just the margin.
Chisholm Wealth Management is a financial planning firm located in Burleson, Texas serving individuals and families throughout Texas and across the country.
