by Luciano Cid and Shane Enete

From Utility to Worship: Reimagining Financial Matters

Most people view money as a tool for comfort rather than a force with the ability to shape the soul. Consequently, money is often understood as a mere means to an end, devoid of broader significance. However, financial matters should never be treated as anodyne tools simply requiring proper instruction. Instead, finances should be understood as dynamic psycho-emotional, socio-emotional, and spiritual forces with the power to influence the deepest parts of one’s life—either drawing us closer to or away from God.

From Ignorance to Stewardship: One Professor’s Journey Toward Financial Wisdom

My name is Luciano Cid and, besides being one of the two authors of this article, I also serve as the director of elementary education and as an associate professor in the School of Education at Biola University. Before entering higher education, I spent more than a decade teaching in public schools across elementary, middle, and high school settings. Although I hold a BA (with a double major in philosophy and comparative religions), two master’s degrees (in teaching and educational neuroscience), a doctorate (in educational leadership with an emphasis in educational psychology), and a California Teaching Credential, never once during all that preparation did I receive training in how to teach financial literacy. Consequently, during my tenure in education, I never taught a single lesson focusing on the subject. That’s likely because the state of California—where I received most of that training—did not expect, until very recently, K-12 students to become proficient in financial literacy. It follows, then, that as a student within the California educational system, I also never received any instruction on the matter.

[D]uring my tenure in education, I never taught a single lesson focusing on [financial literacy].

Instead, like most people, I developed my understanding of money by absorbing the cultural perspectives, as well as the experiences, of the adults with whom I interacted. As the son of a rancher in Argentina (where I grew up until I was thirteen), money always seemed to be a problem since most of the time there was not enough of it. This would suddenly shift due to a good harvest or the sale of livestock, providing us with substantial amounts of it. Such financial volatility, in combination with the instability of my country’s economy—Argentina has had inflation periods of up to 3,000 percent (Perelman 50)—left me thoroughly confused regarding the value and usage of money. Most importantly, such fluctuations connected finances with stress, building in my psyche some erroneous perspectives. I was not aware of the need to save money, how to spend it, how to invest it, nor that God even had a perspective upon the matter—a perspective that, when followed, would allow me to honor and worship him. Still, this is not an unusual situation. In 2008, Wright found that “seniors at . . . university who are preparing to graduate do not have an appropriate level of knowledge and understanding of money management concepts” (72).

The Psychology of It All: Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and the Shaping of Our Financial Self 

All humans are born with an inherent capacity to absorb information from their surroundings and, as a result, be shaped by it during their development. An example of this phenomenon is language acquisition. From birth, the human brain demonstrates an innate predisposition—a biological endowment—enabling infants, without ever receiving any form of instruction, to discern what the most frequently occurring sounds within their environment are, recognize their saliency, and generate novel neural pathways (networks) that can facilitate future communication. This reciprocal interaction between the individual and the surrounding environment is effectively conceptualized by Urie Bronfenbrenner’s 1979 “ecological systems theory,” which he ultimately expanded to include biological determinants (or engines of development) in what came to be known, in 2005, as the “bioecological systems theory.” Simply put, the models provide a comprehensive framework for understanding how an individual’s brain, mind, and—though Bronfenbrenner himself did not employ this word—soul are continuously shaped by one’s bioecological factors.  

Within the models, Bronfenbrenner introduces six major factors, arranged as concentric circles, with the capacity to shape human development (see figure 1). In the center are a person’s biological traits—such as age, gender, and health—which influence how individuals interact with their environment. Surrounding that immediate interaction is the microsystem, made up of one’s closest relationships and most intimate settings (e.g., family, school, church, peers). The mesosystem reflects how the microsystem’s elements interact with one another, such as the relationship between home and school.

Figure 1: Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory of Development, downloaded from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bronfenbrenner%27s_Ecological_Theory_of_Development_(English).jpg

Beyond these lies the exosystem, which includes indirect influences like mass media, neighbors, and social services. After that is the macrosystem, which embodies the broader cultural beliefs and values. The chronosystem, which is not included in the diagram provided, represents the impact of time. It includes life transitions and historical events. The combination of all these have the power to influence every part of our development (i.e., the self or the soul).

Learning, the Environment, and the Formation of Godly Character

God warns us, quite often in fact … to be diligently aware of the environmental and ecological forces to which we are exposed.

It would appear, therefore, that one of humanity’s primary functions is the ability to learn—that is, to interact with, absorb, and be influenced by one’s surroundings. This is probably why God warns us, quite often in fact (e.g., Prov. 6:16–19; Isa. 1:16–17​; Ps. 1:1–2; Rom. 6:12–13; Gal. 5:19–21; 1 Thess. 5:22; James 4:7–8; 1 John 2:15–17), to be diligently aware of the environmental and ecological forces to which we are exposed (2 Tim 2:22), urging us to disassociate from any spiritually unfruitful thoughts, actions, or people. A passage illustrating such divine admonitions is Ephesians 5:3–7. In it, God displays the way he perceives of and, consequently, the way Christians should understand such developmental influences:

But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. Therefore, do not be partners with them. (Emphasis mine)

Interestingly, one of the topics found within such warnings is that of greed. Merriam Webster defines the term as “a selfish and excessive desire for more of something (such as money) than is needed.” The Greek word translated as “greed” within the scriptures is pleonexia, which combines two concepts πλείων (“more”) + ἔχω (“to have”). This combination is employed to describe a person who wants to have more, or displays an excessive desire to acquire. A similar description is also found in Colossians 3:5, where Paul states, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desiresand greed, which is idolatry” (emphasis mine); and, again, in 1 Timothy 6:10–11, where the concern shifts away from greed and more explicitly into the topic of money, Paul writes to Timothy: “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.” 

And yet, a tension arises in Scripture because, for all the warnings around the dangers of wealth and possessions, there are also affirmations around their faithful stewardship as a means of testing and growing our devotion to God (see LaPierre). For example, God uses Joseph’s prudent saving to preserve his chosen people (Genesis 41), the teacher praises the ant for storing resources (Prov. 6:6), Paul states that those who fail to provide for their families are “worse than unbelievers” (1 Tim. 5:8), and—even more surprisingly—Jesus commends a dishonest manager for his shrewd financial behavior (Luke 16:1–13). 

Given the apparent tension between money and spiritual formation, it is not surprising that many faithful Christians may find themselves with more questions than answers. The most essential and critical question is this: How should devoted Christians understand money and financial literacy? Should they simply see such concepts as spiritually neutral without any influence upon their souls? Perhaps they should sever and compartmentalize the financial part of their lives from the religious one, as many have inaccurately argued using Mathew 22:18–22. Or, possibly, given its potential connection with superficiality and worldliness (Matt. 19:21), they should avoid the topic altogether by affirming it as an idol (Matt. 6:24). All of these propositions, however, appear to shove us into adopting a biblically limited perspective of finances.

This is an abridged version of this article. To read more, subscribe to Christian Educators Journal.

---

Works Cited

“AB 2927: Pupil Instruction: High School Graduation Requirements: Personal Finance.” Digital Democracy Calmatters, Calmatters California Explained, 29 June 2024, https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240ab2927?slug=CA_202320240AB2927.

Abbeyelder. Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Theory of Development. Wikimedia, 2022, commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bronfenbrenner%27s_Ecological_Theory_of_Development_(English).jpg.

Bandura, Albert. Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control. W. H. Freeman, 1997.

Blomberg, Craig. Neither Poverty Nor Riches: A Biblical Theology of Possessions. InterVarsity, 1999.

Bronfenbrenner, Urie. The Ecology of Human Development: Experiments by Nature and Design. Harvard University Press, 1979.

Bronfenbrenner, Urie. Making Human Beings Human: Bioecological Perspectives on Human Development. Sage, 2005.

“Greed.” Merriam-Webster. 2025, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/greed.

​​LaPierre, Scott. Your Finances God’s Way: A Biblical Guide to Making the Best Use of Your Money. Harvest House, 2022.

MacLean, William. “My Theology of Money.” Word & World, vol. 42, no. 1, 2022, pp. 13–20.

Perelman, Mariano. “Living with Inflation in Argentina.” Current History vol. 123, no. 850 (2024): 50-55.

Petersen, Randy. “Modern Voices: The Christian and Money.” Christian History 6 (1987): 28-33.

Wright, Tricia. “Comparing the Financial Literacy of Public School, Christian School, and Homeschooled Students.” Journal of Research on Christian Education, vol. 25, no. 1, 2016, pp. 56–75.

---

Luciano Cid, EdD, is an educator, scholar, and leader dedicated to integrating faith, psychology, and pedagogy. After more than a decade teaching in K–12 schools, he now directs and teaches in the Elementary Education Program at Biola University, preparing future teachers to apply biblical wisdom to educational practice.
Shane Enete, PhD, CFA, is an associate professor of finance at Biola University’s Crowell School of Business. With over fifteen years of investment research experience, he founded Biola’s CFP board-certified program and equips students of all ages to honor Christ with their financial lives.