In the movie A Few Good Men, Jack Nicholson played the commander of the military base at Guantanamo Bay, popularly known as Gitmo. When interrogated regarding the death of a marine under his command, he condescendingly responded to the prosecuting attorney (a young junior officer) with the phrase “you can’t handle the truth.” By this he meant that you don’t know what is going on at Gitmo and don’t really want to know. Nicholson’s character intimated that the junior officer lived a sheltered life and those in Gitmo lived in reality.
Regarding wealth, we could a pose a similar question. Can we handle the truth about money, that is, tangible wealth?
For most people, money seems to be the driving agenda of life. Money defines why we work, where we work, and what we do at work. It regulates how we live, where we live, and why we live. We view money, arguably, as one of the most important matters of life.
But can we handle the truth about money? Are we mature enough to face biblical realities about money, such as:
- money is temporal, meaning that money has no value beyond this existence,1
- money does not provide eternal security,2
- money does not define ultimate success,3 and
- money cannot change the fact that we will all die.4
This begs the question, is there wealth that has eternal value (transcends this existence), provides eternal security, defines ultimate success, and is not defeated by death? Indeed there is; I call it true wealth.
Scripture provides numerous examples of true wealth. For example, the text above states that tangible wealth cannot solve the problem of death but there is wealth that can—the crown of life that I understand to be a reference to eternal life. Furthermore, consider the following seven examples of true wealth that the Bible states are more valuable than temporal wealth:
- wisdom,5
- righteousness,6
- reputation,7
- respect,8
- disciples,9
- hope in God,10 and
- godliness with contentment.11
Given that Scripture provides examples of true wealth that is more valuable than money, what should we do with money? We could do what most people do—eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die. Or we could use money to prepare for eternity, in other words, trade up. We could use money to help acquire true wealth, that is, alignment with the will and ways of God.
Trading up does not mean that we can use money to buy eternal life nor does it mean that we can perform enough good works to gain acceptance with God. Eternal life can only occur when we accept the free gift of salvation through grace in Christ and then mature in the reality of knowing Christ as Lord and Savior. Trading up means using financial resources to grow and mature as servants of Christ. Servants of Christ must learn to live aligned with the will and ways of God and this requires training.
Here is your business tip. Management must recognize that the primary objective of business is not to produce temporal wealth. Business exists first and foremost as a vehicle to produce true wealth. Temporal wealth, such as money, is simply a tool that management should use to trade up to acquire true wealth. True wealth is manifested in workers' lives in traits such as wisdom, righteous living, excellent reputation, respect, and godliness with contentment. To build an organization focused on acquiring true wealth requires management who is willing to invest temporal wealth in training to develop true wealth in stakeholders who will then produce excellent value for those the organization serves.
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1. 1 Timothy 6:7.
2.
Revelation 3:14.
3.
John 17:4.
4. James 1:10–11.
5.
Proverbs 8:9–10.
6.
Proverbs 11:4.
7.
Proverbs 22:1.
8.
Proverbs 11:16.
9.
Philippians 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:19.
10.
1 Timothy 6:17–18.
11. 1 Timothy 6:2–6. 
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