The “short squeeze” of GameStop has already faded from the headlines, but the war between the hedge fund managers who “short sold” its stock and the retail (private) investors who took revenge by artificially boosting its value holds important lessons for us in these latter days. Recently, the Kingdom of God has been under assault on every front in particularly ruthless ways. Our ancient adversary sees his chance to “drive down” to zero the perceived value of Kingdom investment in the hope of causing people to sell out in panic, thus making the “stock” drop even further. He also hopes to create paralyzing fear that keeps even true believers from holding onto their “shares” in the Kingdom, let alone taking bold new risks for the King.
Two similar parables told by Jesus compare the resources that God has given us to capital that can be used in the “stock market of life” for the advance of the Kingdom. Both describe how a powerful man divided his estate among his servants before leaving for a journey: “For the kingdom of heaven is like a man traveling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey” (Matthew 25: 14-15). Upon his return, he called his servants to account for what they achieved with those resources.
In the parallel parable, the reason for his journey is made clear: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, “Do business till I come.’ But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, “We will not have this man to reign over us’” (Luke 19:12-14). This man was none other than Jesus who ascended to heaven to receive the Kingdom and to return to reign. His servants are called to continue doing business with his resources in the meantime, despite being surrounded by a hostile population that rejects his authority.
There is always an element of risk in investing in any kind of stock market – including the “stock market of life” that contains much more than mere finances. This stock market touches every aspect of our life decisions, and courage is required in order to continue investing even when evil forces attempt to destroy the profitability of the shares we hold. Satan is like a hedge fund manager, trying to “short squeeze” every believer who has invested in the Kingdom like a retail investor. His goal is to destroy our resolve and to erode even our hope of a fair fight in a free market. He also wants us to lose sight of the fact that Jesus will return in triumph, punishing his enemies and rewarding his faithful servants.
Now is the time to respond with all-out “economic warfare” for our King! It may seem that Satan is succeeding in driving down the value of our shares, but we can act by investing all the more – thereby driving the price back up and making the predatory hedge fund run by our enemy pay dearly. Unlike the GameStop story, in which the hedge fund managers of Wall Street eventually will subdue the retail investors, every true step of faith we take now will yield eternal value for the Kingdom. Satan’s empire may seem invincible now, but one day his stocks will crash.
How do we wage economic warfare of this type? Each person needs to understand what God has placed under his oversight, and then decide how best to use those resources – while refusing to surrender to fear or selfishness. Maybe we need to free up more of our time to minister to the needy, to build relationships and to share with the lost. Maybe we need to pour ourselves into intercessory prayer. Maybe we need to open our bank accounts for the Kingdom as though this is an emergency (and it is!).
Even those who feel like they have nothing to give will be singled out for praise by Jesus himself if they take these steps in faith: And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had” (Luke 21:1-4).
God will lead us if we come with a heart ready to invest everything we are and everything we have. A ruthless enemy may be willing to use any form of economic / spiritual warfare against us, but these challenges should actually be seen as investment opportunities. Our decisions will prove whether we believe that Jesus is truly coming back from that “long journey” – and this life is a series of opportunities to express that faith in God in a practical way.
The movie Persona Non Grata tells the story of Sugihara Chiune – the Japanese diplomat who used his position to issue six thousand visas to Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazi advance, despite the position of his superiors. In one scene, his assistant says to him: “The world is a wheel that goes around. Hitler may be on top right now, but one day the wheel will turn and he will be at the bottom.” Chiune responds: “When the wheel does turn, let us make sure that we have no regrets.”
It is our turn to combatively invest in the stock market of life on behalf of the King. May we grab hold of every opportunity, and may our faith help others catch a glimpse of the value and of the ultimate victory of our King and his Kingdom. When we are called to account, may we have no regrets and may we hear: “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21; Luke 19:16). May the fear of what is coming upon the world only give us more motivation to risk it all for the one who gave it all for us.
The illustration is taken from the Money & Markets website.
