From Ownership to Stewardship: A Faith-Driven Approach to Wealth and Leadership

In a world often driven by the pursuit of personal gain, Tim McLaughlin, CFP®, CKA®, co-founder of Harvest Point® Wealth Management, offers a refreshing and transformative perspective: stewardship over ownership. His journey, rooted in an entrepreneurial upbringing and solidified by personal trials, exemplifies how faith can profoundly shape leadership, business decisions, and the very definition of success.

Tim’s firm, Harvest Point Wealth Management, is more than just a financial planning company; it’s a faith-based organization dedicated to helping clients align their money with their mission. “We exist at the intersection of faith and finance,” Tim explains, highlighting the biblical emphasis on money and possessions. He points out that Jesus spoke more about money than any other single topic, with nearly 2,400 verses in the Bible addressing it. This deep scriptural foundation informs Harvest Point’s approach, inviting clients to view their wealth not as their own, but as resources entrusted to them by God.

Stooping Lower to Serve: The Essence of Servant Leadership

Tim's leadership philosophy is beautifully encapsulated by an old story from F.B. Meyer: “I used to think that the taller I grew in Christian character, the easier I could obtain those gifts. But what I’ve learned instead is that it’s not a matter of growing taller, but stooping lower to serve others.” This principle of servant leadership became deeply personal for Tim during a challenging period in his mid-20s, an unwanted divorce that brought him to “the end of myself and to my knees in surrender to Christ.” It was in this crucible that he learned a profound truth: “God’s painful providence produces purpose.” This experience instilled in him a deep empathy for others in need, shaping his desire to help clients navigate the often-emotional landscape of money.

At Harvest Point, this means asking permission to hold clients accountable, walking alongside them, encouraging and challenging them, and asking “hard, heart-level questions” to ensure they are wisely stewarding what God has entrusted to them. It’s about being a trusted partner, not just to and through retirement, but through life’s financial and spiritual journey.

Kingdom Wins: Chronicling God's Movement in Business

Tim’s faith isn't just a backdrop to his business; it's an active, daily guide. He lives by Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.” This verse serves as a constant reminder to resist the temptation to trust in worldly things or succumb to fear and doubt.

One of the most inspiring practices Tim has implemented is chronicling “Kingdom Wins” – occurrences that make Heaven rejoice. Each morning, he dedicates time to prayer and logging these moments. These aren't just business successes, but instances where God is moving in the lives of his clients and team. He shares examples: a client in her late 50s getting baptized, another in her early 70s reading the Bible for the first time, and a family choosing to significantly reduce holiday gifts to increase their giving to ministries. These “Kingdom Wins” serve as powerful reminders of God’s faithfulness and the true impact of their work, fostering gratitude and a deeper sense of purpose within the firm.

Redeploying for Purpose: A Countercultural View of Retirement

Tim challenges the prevailing cultural narrative of retirement as a life of ease and comfort. For him and his firm, it’s a “countercultural mission to redeem the decades-long lie” that retirement is solely about rest. While acknowledging the importance of rest, he emphasizes that “you were made on purpose, for a purpose.” The concept of “retirement” is foreign to biblical teachings; instead, he advocates for a “redeployment phase” where individuals continue to live out their purpose in a new, meaningful way.

“The time is short, the urgency is high, and there’s a lot at stake – there are eternal destinies, quite frankly, that hang in the balance!” Tim asserts. He wants clients to spend themselves purposefully in this next phase, finding joy and fulfillment in work that might look different, even if it’s unpaid. This aligns with the firm’s core calling: “It is clients who are glad in God, not in their money.”

The Stewardship Mindset: Advice for the Next Generation

When asked what advice he would give his 21-year-old self or aspiring entrepreneurs, Tim’s answer is clear: “Remember the difference between ownership and stewardship.” While a younger Tim might have focused on profitability and worldly success, he now understands that “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it,” including bank accounts, businesses, families, skills, time, relationships, and influence. Embracing a stewardship mindset means recognizing that these are God’s possessions, and our calling is to steward them well.

Overcoming the Temporal: Fixing Our Eyes on Eternity

The most significant challenge Tim faces in this countercultural journey is the constant temptation to focus on the temporal things. It can be so easy to get embroiled, bogged down, and even discouraged by the cares of this world. He stresses the importance of Sabbath rest and corporate worship to reorient our eyes “on things above, namely on God.” 

Drawing inspiration from Hobby Lobby CEO David Green, who stated, “There are only two things on earth that are eternal, the Word of God and souls,” Tim’s mission is to help souls understand and apply the wisdom of God’s Word to their financial stewardship. He believes that generosity and giving are not just earthly acts, but ways to “send it on ahead,” storing up “riches in Heaven where rust and vermin cannot ruin them.” As Randy Alcorn wisely puts it, “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead!”

Tim McLaughlin’s life and work are a powerful testament to the transformative power of a faith-driven approach to wealth and leadership. By embracing stewardship, serving others, chronicling God’s movement, and living with an eternal perspective, he inspires clients and colleagues alike to pursue a purpose far greater than themselves, ultimately finding true fulfillment in being “glad in God, not in their money.”