When we sat down to plan this special issue on faith and money, the tune buzzing in the back of our heads was from that catchy Sunday school song, "This Little Light of Mine"-specifically the line, "Hide it under a bushel? No! I'm gonna let it shine." When you substitute "money" for "light," you have the theme of this issue: We shouldn't hide our money, but let it shine-not for ourselves, but for others.
So how do we do that? Issues that involve money raise a lot of questions-and no small amount of anxiety. How do we organize our finances so that they're in line with our biblical values? Should we invest in stocks? How do we make sure our money works for good? Are there ways we can lessen the impact of bad corporate behavior? And what are the particular challenges around money in difficult economic times?
In this issue, Marva Dawn looks at why money has so much control over us, and Peg Rosenkrands and Rebecca Adamson show how even a tiny bit of money invested in the right place can yield tremendous benefits for local and Indigenous communities. Susan Taylor helps us teach our kids about money, and Matthew Colwell-a board member of Bartimaeus Cooperative Ministries, a community that's done significant work on economic discipleship-demonstrates how we can structure our households so that our economic and spiritual values are better integrated. Chances are your questions are covered here-they're the same questions we ask ourselves.
-The Editors
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