I am currently reading Kingdom Economics by Brett Johnson, and it is challenging many assumptions I carried with me throughout my years in the finance industry and as a student of economics. The book is slowly reframing my thinking, or at the very least, prompting me to question ideas I once considered settled. As I read, I find myself asking how these insights should shape not only my understanding of money, but also how I now approach ministry, leadership, and discipleship in the marketplace.

At the heart of these questions is a deeper realization. Everything is ultimately about the King and His Kingdom. Finance, like every other area of life, was never meant to be neutral territory. It was meant to operate under the reign of God.

The Kingdom as the Starting Point

One of my favorite theologian, N.T. Wright repeatedly reminds us that the gospel is not merely about how individuals get saved, but about the announcement that Jesus is Lord. The resurrection of Jesus declares that a new King has been enthroned and that His Kingdom has already begun, even as it awaits its full completion.

If that is true, then finance cannot be treated as a separate or value-free domain. Money, markets, risk, and return all exist within the created order that Jesus now rules. To say “Jesus is Lord” is to say that no part of life, including economics, lies outside His authority.

Faith and Finance Reconsidered

The phrase “faith-based financing” often sounds uncomfortable to those trained in conventional finance. Finance is assumed to be objective and rational, while faith is seen as private and subjective. Yet finance has always depended on belief. Every investment assumes a future that cannot be guaranteed and every market depends on trust, confidence, and shared expectations.

In that sense, finance has always been shaped by faith. The question is not whether belief is involved, but which story is shaping that belief. Is it the story of autonomous markets and self-interest, or the story of the King who reigns with justice, mercy, and faithfulness?

Risk, Return, and Trust under the Reign of the King

Modern finance teaches us to manage risk through diversification, hedging, and optimization. These tools have value, but they can also foster the illusion that we are in control. Author Brett Johnson pushes us to see that biblical faith does not remove uncertainty, but it relocates trust.

From a kingdom perspective, the greatest risk is not financial loss. The greatest risk is organizing economic life in ways that contradict the character of the King. Scripture never promises economic safety, it calls people to faithfulness under God’s reign.

Risk, when viewed through the lens of the Kingdom, becomes less about maximizing return and more about aligning our decisions with God’s purposes. Return is no longer measured solely by profit and cash flow, but by whether our financial practices reflect justice, generosity, and love of neighbor.

Recovering a Forgotten Economic Imagination

For much of history, economics was inseparable from moral and spiritual life. The Bible’s economic instructions were not abstract ideals, but concrete expressions of life under God’s kingship. Practices such as Sabbath rest, Jubilee, debt release, and care for the poor were designed to shape a community that reflected God’s reign in everyday life.

God’s Kingdom is about the renewal of creation, not escape from it. If that is true, then economics matters because it shapes how people live, work, and flourish within God’s world. The loss of this kingdom-centered imagination has left modern finance efficient, but often disconnected from human dignity and communal responsibility.

Is Western Capitalism the Only Story?

Western capitalism is often treated as inevitable, but economic systems are not neutral or timeless. They are expressions of deeper values and beliefs. The emergence of Islamic banking illustrates this clearly. By rejecting interest and emphasizing shared risk and asset-backed financing, Islamic finance demonstrates that theology can and does shape economic practice.

This raises an important question. If Islamic theology can generate an alternative financial system, why have Christians largely surrendered economic imagination to secular narratives? If Jesus is King, then His Kingdom must offer a vision for how capital, risk, and reward are ordered.

Finance as Participation in the Kingdom

A faith-based, kingdom-centered approach to finance does not reject analysis or discipline. It recognizes that money is a tool, but it insists that tools are never neutral. Finance becomes a way of participating in God’s Kingdom when it is ordered toward stewardship, service, and love of neighbor.

This perspective invites deeper questions. Does this financial decision reflect trust in God or trust in control? Does it serve the flourishing of people or merely the accumulation of capital? Does it anticipate the future of God’s Kingdom or reinforce the broken patterns of the present age?

Implications for Ministry and Discipleship

As someone who has moved from decades in finance into full-time ministry, these questions now shape how I disciple business leaders and speak about money in the church. The goal is not to demonize markets or to romanticize poverty. The goal is to help people see that following Jesus means submitting every area of life, including finance, to the reign of the King.

Faith-based financing is not about adding religious language to financial decisions. It is about reorienting money, risk, and return around the reality that Jesus reigns. When finance is brought under the lordship of Christ, it becomes part of God’s redemptive work in the world.

Everything, including finance, finds its meaning when it is aligned with the King and His Kingdom. That is not a secondary theological issue. It is the heart of the gospel itself.