September 3 2001

ARTICLE TOOLS

Find similar articles E-mail this page

Some 250 years after Martin Luther suggested that we are not only justified by faith but that it should permeate all areas of our lives, including enterprise, a young man in Mount Holly, New Jersey, opened a humble tailor shop.

Unlike other businessmen, John Woolman refused to purchase any cotton or dye supplies handled by slaves. His commitment to Christian love—with excellence, mind you—attracted customers in droves, despite occasions when he could only offer them beige sackcloth.

In 1759 Woolman convinced the Philadelphia Quakers to pass the first resolution in the American Colonies not to own, deal, or sell slaves. Why use God's blessings, he reasoned, to buy people captive to chains for personal profit?

Another two and a half centuries passed: summer 1997. My internship as a consultant in Santa Clara, California, had ended, and I picked up my last paycheck. How did I begin to employ the talents my Master entrusted to me? Well, I invested a portion of them just like everybody else—in a top-performing mutual fund mentioned in Money magazine. Highest return? Sign me up!

I cheerfully chanted the popular market mantra—one criterion, one conclusion—only recently pausing to ask: "What is a stock, anyway?"

Besides a fancy certificate or electronic symbol on ticker tape, a stock represents ownership shares in a corporation. You might be the sole proprietor of ...