It’s a question we’ve been asking this Lent with the help of Operation Noah’s new course, Where Your Treasure Is – free to download and run at any time. Here, Campaign Officer David Britton shares his experience.
This Lent, Operation Noah has been running a new five-session course called Where Your Treasure Is with our supporters and staff team on Wednesdays, exploring how as Christians we think about – and use – money in relation to the climate crisis. However, the course isn’t just for Lent; we’re hoping Christians and churches will use it at other points in the year, including during the Season of Creation (September-October).
Money plays a hugely important role in our daily lives and is mentioned throughout the Bible as an important spiritual and practical issue. It’s also a topic of endless conversation in wider society. As I write, the headlines are about the escalating ‘tariff war’ between America and China. Indeed, news in the past couple of weeks has been dominated by talk of money: the economic impact of tariffs, market reactions and how nations and leaders should respond.
Money as an Idol
It serves as a powerful reminder of the role money has in our society – one that Dr Peter Selby argues is akin to the idols we find in the Old Testament. He writes in An Idol Unmasked, ‘what has happened to us as a society is a substantial alteration of the way money behaves and the way we behave with it. It has in effect come to be a divinity, taking control not just of our behaviour but also…of our values and inner landscape’.
Against this backdrop, Jesus implores us to resist the modern day idol of money and put our trust in God. ‘Do not store up treasures on earth…but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…you cannot serve both God and wealth…but seek first His Kingdom and his righteousness’ (Matthew 6:19-24, 33).
One of the big questions we asked each other as part of this series is, ‘How as Christians might we seek God’s kingdom in the context of the climate crisis and use our money to inspire hope?’
Practicing Gratitude
As those of us who embarked on this course discovered, a helpful place to start is with the practice of gratitude. Like all spiritual disciplines, gratitude is something that requires practice. It is so easy to get choked by the everyday concerns of life that we neglect to take stock of the ways in which God has already provided for us, and to give him thanks. The Ignatian tradition of Examen is one helpful way we might instil the practice of gratitude into our daily lives.
Ethical Banking
There are also practical things we can do to respond, especially when it comes to how we use our money. Our money has power and that power can be used for harm or for good. As a popular meme has aptly put it: ‘every time you spend money, you cast a vote for the kind of world you want’.
One of the sobering things we discussed as part of our course was how money that is invested in pensions or in our bank accounts is fuelling the climate crisis.
It has been well documented that the big five banks in the UK (Barclays, HSBC, Santander, NatWest and Lloyds) invest billions of our collective money towards financing the fossil fuel industry.
Likewise, UK pension schemes invest a staggering £88 billion annually in fossil fuel companies as well as £300 billion invested in companies with a high risk of deforestation.
Switching to a green bank, choosing an ethical pension fund and campaigning for change could be among some of the most meaningful ways of making a difference to the climate crisis.
Green Investment
The course also considers how we can use our money to make a positive difference. We can give to causes that help people suffering due to climate change. Church investments are also an opportunity to use our money to make a positive impact – for example, investing in projects or solutions that tackle the climate crisis. People shared inspiring ways they are already using money to address the climate crisis, such as buying shares in solar co-operatives.
For Christians, the Green Investment Declaration is our rallying call to the Church to see its financial assets as tools for mission and not just about seeking the best possible return. This year, can your church become a signatory to the Declaration? Check out our Green Investment Campaign page for more information and resources.
And if you’re interested in downloading our free Where Your Treasure Is course – which can be run at any point in the year with your church or small group – you can download it here.
