Bring Personally Meaningful Beauty into the World | A Christian’s Guide to Joyful Wealth Management

A different kind of good

The next phrase offers another path to enjoyment. It’s “to be rich in good works.” In English, both this and the previous phrase use the word “good.” But these are different words in Greek. The first good is agathos. The second good is kalos. Agathos means,

“intrinsically good, good in nature, good whether it be seen to be so or not.”⁹²

Kalos means,

“beautiful, as an outward sign of the inward good, noble, honorable character; good, worthy, honorable, noble, and seen to be so.”⁹³

Kalos good is a different kind of good. It’s beautiful. It’s visible. It’s inspirational. And notice something else – it’s personal. Kalos good must reflect our own inner character.

A personal kind of good

Your beautiful-good [kalos] works will likely be different from mine. Why? Because a kalos good work must be personal. It must reflect a person’s own inner character. In fact, this Greek phrase for “good works” double emphasizes making a personally meaningful impact:

Kalos (“good”) is an outward sign of the inward good character.
Ergon (“works”) is a deed or action that carries out or completes an inner desire.

Creating this kind of personally meaningful impact takes real thought. It means identifying impact that aligns with your values and life story. What about you?

What causes or ministries align with your values?
Which ones have shaped your story?
What kind of impact would express your inner character and desires?
What beautiful, noble, and inspiring good works could you fund?

These are the kinds of good works we are called to accomplish with our wealth sharing.

Become a collector of beautiful-good works

Some people with wealth use it to collect art. Private art collections can display wealth and good taste. The discerning, wealthy collector can become rich in beautiful art works. Their collection reflects their personality, preferences, and identity.

Scripture encourages this same instinct in a different way. We can become collectors – not of beautiful paintings, but of beautiful impact. We can use wealth to buy a rich collection of beautiful-good [kalos] works.

We can become discerning patrons of impact. We can commission good works. We can use wealth to bring beauty into the world. Our beautiful collection of impact reflects our personality, preferences, and identity.

Looking at purchased art might bring a little enjoyment. But creating lasting, meaningful impact brings far more. It’s a better way to enjoy wealth.

Doing good as a means to enjoyment

This passage directs doing good works. But here is the shocking part: these good works aren’t the goal. They are methods for accomplishing the goal. The goal is “for enjoyment.”

A professor of New Testament Greek explains 1 Timothy 6:17-19 this way,

“What is striking is that the purpose for the gift of wealth is not the proper use of it, which is attended by enjoyment; rather, the purpose is enjoyment, which is explicated by the three infinitives that follow.”⁹⁴

Accomplishing these personally meaningful good works expands our ability to enjoy wealth. In 1946, Professor Richard Lenski explained the passage this way:

“‘to be working good,’ what is beneficial to others. Riches furnish a rich man especial means for tasting this enjoyment. He can be in only one suit of clothes, sit only in one chair, eat only one meal at mealtime; but with his wealth he can reach out in a thousand directions and work good.”⁹⁵

When we use wealth “to do good” we can achieve greater enjoyment. We can have a better life experience. Solomon explains,

“I have concluded that the only worthwhile thing for them is to take pleasure in doing good in life;” (Ecclesiastes 3:12 ISV)⁹⁶

This phrase is also translated as

“to be joyful and do good as long as we live.” (Ecclesiastes 3:12b ESV)

The next verse then explains that we can also

“see good in all our labor” (Ecclesiastes 3:13).

This is a doubly joyful life. We can build wealth by labor that brings good into the world. Then, we can enjoy the wealth by using it to bring even more good into the world. We can “do good as long as we live.” The resulting life experience is “to be joyful,” “to be happy,” or “to rejoice” (Ecclesiastes 3:12).⁹⁷

The better life experience

The joyful path is “to take pleasure in doing good in life.” It’s enjoyment from pursuing the goal of “to be rich in good works.” This is a stark contrast to the alternative approach to wealth.

When our goal is “to be rich,” our labor is often unpleasant. It’s just necessary suffering to achieve the goal. But even if we accumulate some wealth, we never quite get to being “rich.” We just redefine what it means to be rich.

In the meantime, we can’t enjoy the wealth. That would contradict the accumulation goal. So, we anxiously protect it. We bury it in the ground. And then we die with it. Unless things go wrong. Then, we suffer its loss even sooner from theft or misfortune. That is not the path to wealth enjoyment. It’s not the path to an enjoyable life.

There is a better way. Doing good as a means of wealth enjoyment is a better way. Becoming rich in good works as a means of wealth enjoyment is a better way. It’s a better life experience. It’s the path to a life that is “truly life,” “real life,” and “life indeed” (1 Timothy 6:19).

For more on this topic, see Chapter 11 in

Joyful Wealth Management: A Bible Study Discussion Guide 98

Wealth Enjoyment Strategy 3:

Notes and references

Souter, A. (1917). A pocket lexicon to the Greek New Testament. Oxford University Press. p. 2. (parentheses removed)
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Souter, A. (1917). A pocket lexicon to the Greek New Testament. Oxford University Press. p. 123. See, e.g., Luke 21:5, “And while some were talking about the temple, that it was decorated with beautiful [kalois] stones and vowed gifts.”
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Malherbe, A. J. (2011). Godliness, self-sufficiency, greed, and the enjoyment of wealth 1 Timothy 6:3-19 Part II. Novum Testamentum, 53(1), 73-96. p. 91-92.
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Lenski, R. C. H. (1946). Interpretation of St. Paul’s Epistles to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Augsburg Fortress. p. 730.
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Here, the Septuagint uses “agathon [good],” and Paul uses the compound “agathoergein [to do good].” The Septuagint writes of the goal as “tou poiein agathon en zōē autou [to do good in his life].” Paul writes of the goal as “agathoergein [to do good] … hina epilabōntai tēs ontōs zōēs [so that they may take hold of that which is indeed life].”
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“I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live;” (Ecclesiastes 3:12, ESV); “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.” (Ecclesiastes 3:12 NIV); “I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime;” (Ecclesiastes 3:12, NASB).
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Available for free at EncourageGenerosity.com. See also, The Biblical fundraiser in ancient words: The historical ministry of major gift fundraising, Chapter 10; and The Biblical fundraiser in modern practice: Helping Christians enjoy their wealth, Chapter 10.
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