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He didn't become president, but Al Gore is still trying to save the earth. His film, An Inconvenient Truth, and his recent appearance before Congress have placed him back in the spotlight. Worried that global warming will soon wreak environmental havoc and destroy the nation's economy, Gore is on a mission.

There's no need to agree with his politics or his science to admire the fact that he's won millions of people to his cause. And he's even persuaded some of his longtime opponents in the global warming debate: big oil and car companies.

The former vice president has been so successful in his crusade partly because he's put his money where his mouth is. "Gore has become a neo-green entrepreneur," reported Wired magazine last year, "taking his messianic faith in the power of technology to stop global warming and applying it to an eco-friendly investment firm." This firm invests in "businesses that are positioned to capitalize on the carbon-constrained economy Gore and his partners see coming in the near future."

If Gore is right about the earth's future climate, he's poised to earn money by investing in the businesses most likely to profit by correcting the environment. But Gore's investments do more than provide him an opportunity to cash in on a heat wave. Putting his money behind companies that share his values and outlook makes him feel like a responsible investor. "I find a lot of joy in the fact that these parts of my life post-politics have connected into what feels like a coherent whole," Gore says. But, more important, Gore's money gives those companies the resources to successfully operate, promote themselves, and do research to back their work in a warming globe.

Perhaps Christians should learn from Gore's strategies. Fighting moral decay through Christian organizations is vital Christian work. Preaching the gospel is a necessity. Operating in the political sphere is also important. And giving to churches, ministries, and Christian lobby groups is a way of putting our money where our values are.

Yet many times the money locked up in our 401(k)s, mutual funds, and IRAs far outnumbers what we might give to ministries. And too often our invested money supports organizations that oppose our values.

Investigating those investments can reveal value violations, as Mary Nabor found. "Upon closer inspection of my own mutual fund, I discovered that my Lord's money was partially invested in General Motors, which sells more hard-core sex videos (through its Hughes Electronics subsidiary, which owns DIRECTV) than Hustler Magazine Inc. each year."

Nabor wasn't alone. "After Beverly LaHaye hosted [Scott] Fehrenbacher on her radio show and first learned of ethical investing, she immediately called her financial adviser. She learned that '20-28 cents of every dollar invested in Concerned Women of America retirement funds were in things we fight against.' LaHaye did not hesitate to change funds."

As Raymond Albrektson writes, "God has given us assets for which we will ultimately face an accounting. We should invest those assets wisely, yet the owner of those assets remains God, not us." When we think of God as the owner of our assets, we'll change how we view our portfolios.

Christians have long been corporate activists. In 1996, CT reported, "Through the use of product boycotts, shareholder campaigns, and public shaming, Christian activists aim to motivate corporate executives to be more family-friendly, scrupulous, and responsible."

Four years later, CT reported on Christian shareholders who opposed AT&T's growing involvement in the porn business. "A group of eight religious institutional investors, led by Mennonite Mutual Aid, have filed a proxy resolution with AT&T asking the company 'to provide a report on a variety of factors related to AT&T's growing involvement in the pornography industry.'"

But corporate activism isn't the only way to influence Wall Street. Another way to (ethically) put money to work is to make sure investments aren't in businesses that profit from immorality. Several companies, begun in the 1990s, help investors make sure their money supports only companies that share their values. "Scripture says a lot about responsibility, stewardship, and the money God has entrusted to us," says Arthur Ally, president of the Timothy Plan, based in Winter Park, Florida.

"Evangelical churches, nonprofit organizations, and foundations should adopt official ethical guidelines for their retirement, endowment, and other investments," says Nabor, "or risk undermining the integrity of their entire ministry by supporting the cultural problems they seek to remedy."

One fund manager, who says he practices "biblically responsible investing," complained to me recently that it's extremely difficult to persuade Christian organizations to put their money into biblically responsible investment vehicles. He says nearly all the largest denominations and parachurch ministries continue to invest in companies that oppose their Christian missions.

It could do wonders for the kingdom if individual Christians and church institutions were to restrict the billions of dollars they invest to companies that supported their values. My fund manager friend tells me it would likely do more to arrest moral decay than any amount of political involvement. And why not give it a try? It's working for Al Gore.