Biblical Money and the Church's Mission in the Digital Age
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46445/nccet.v3i2.1148Keywords:
Biblical Money, Church's Mission, Digital AgeAbstract
This article examines the relationship between biblical money principles and the mission of the church in the digital age, focusing on Bitcoin as a form of "biblical money" that transcends the modern fiat money system. Based on Luke 16:9 and teachings such as Leviticus 19:36 and Proverbs 11:1, the author asserts that fair money should reflect honesty, avoid value-stealing inflation, and reduce dependence on debt. Bitcoin is judged to meet the principles of scarcity, fragmentability, portability, and resistance to censorship, making it most in line with biblical values of economic justice. In the Indonesian context, although still limited in regulation, Bitcoin has the potential to be used for the storage of value, funding cross-cultural missions, and empowering churches through decentralized financial technology. This article invites the church to rethink missiological finance by applying biblical money ethics in the midst of global economic challenges.
References
Agustina, M., Majid, M. S. A., Musnadi, S., Faisal, F., Hafasnuddin, H., & Yahya, Y. (2022). Does Banking Performance Matter for Indonesian Economic Growth? 2022 International Conference on Decision Aid Sciences and Applications (DASA), 1207–1211. https://doi.org/10.1109/DASA54658.2022.9765279
Ammous, S. (2021a). The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking. Wiley.
Ammous, S. (2021b). The Fiat Standard: The Debt Slavery Alternative to Human Civilization. Scribe Media.
Badan Pengawas Perdagangan Berjangka Komoditi. (2025). Peraturan Badan Pengawas Perdagangan Berjangka Komoditi Nomor 1 Tahun 2025 tentang Perubahan Ketiga atas Peraturan Badan Pengawas Perdagangan Berjangka Komoditi Nomor 11 Tahun 2022 tentang Penetapan Daftar Aset Kripto yang Diperdagangkan di Pasar Fisik As. https://bappebti.go.id/resources/docs/peraturan/sk_kep_kepala_bappebti/sk_kep_kepala_bappebti_2025_01_09_fnbg2qm7_id.pdf%0A
Bank Indonesia. (2025). Foreign exchange rates. Bank Indonesia. https://www.bi.go.id/en/statistik/informasi- kurs/transaksi-bi/default.aspx
Baudach, D., & Hubrig, M. M. (2024). Bitcoin untuk Indonesia [Bitcoin for Indonesia].
Bitcoin. (2025). Bagaimana cara kerja Bitcoin?
Bitcoin, M. F. (2024). My First Bitcoin diploma [Student workbook, Indonesian version]. My First Bitcoin.
Bitcoin, T. B. and. (2025). The Bible and Bitcoin. The Bible and Bitcoin.
Bitcoin, T. G. for. (n.d.). Home.
Blockchain Web3 Insights. (2025). Can you send Bitcoin without the internet? Here’s what actually works. https://www.blockchainweb3insights.com/post/can-you-send-bitcoin-without-the-internet-here-s-what-actually-works%0A
CEIC Data. (2025). Indonesia exchange rate against USD, 1967-2025. https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/indonesia/exchange-rate-against-usd
Christanti, R., Wibowo, W. S., & Wijaya, Y. (2023). Perceptions of Church Financial Transparency: Ethical-Theological Analysis and Financial Accountability. Evangelikal: Jurnal Teologi Injili Dan Pembinaan Warga Jemaat, 7(1), 35–49. https://doi.org/10.46445/ejti.v7i1.616
Fenwick, M., & Vermeulen, E. (2019). Decentralisation is Coming: The Future of Blockchain. The Journal of the British Blockchain Association, 2(2), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.31585/jbba-2-2-(8)2019
Gladstein, A. (2022). Check your financial privilege: Inside the global bitcoin revolution. Bitcoin Magazine Books.
King, D. P., Sampson, M., & Fulton, B. R. (2025). Exploring Theologies of Money: Religious Leaders’ Use of Stewardship, Its Strengths, and Limitations. Religions, 16(7), 866. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16070866
Labs, B. (2024). White paper. Brilliance Labs.
Objantoro, E., Susanto, Diana, R., Katarina, & Darmawan, I. P. A. (2022). Church Offerings during Covid-19 Pandemic: A Case Study in GKII Tandang. Pharos Journal of Theology, 103, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.46222/pharosjot.10348
OpenAI. (2025). ChatGPT [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/
Rezkitha, D. (2023). The Journey of Bitcoin Adoption in Indonesia. Medium. https://dearezkitha.medium.com/the-journey-of-bitcoin-adoption-in-indonesia-167ea6997cb2
Sammons, E. (2025). Moral money: The Case for Bitcoin. Sophia Institute Press.
SatsVsFiat. (n.d.). All materials available to everyone. SatsVsFiat.
Sharma, P., & Yadgari, M. R. (2023). The Impact of Macroeconomic Variables on the Contingent Built-in Inflation: Evidence from Indonesia. Business Economic, Communication, and Social Sciences Journal (BECOSS), 5(3), 189–197. https://doi.org/10.21512/becossjournal.v5i3.10113
Trading Economics. (2025). Indonesian rupiah—Quote, chart, historical data, news. https://tradingeconomics.com/indonesia/currency
Ventures., F. (2025). Bitcoin is bridging barriers in global missions. Frontier Ventures.
YouTube. (2025). How To Orange Pill Your Church. YouTube.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Conference Proceedings Volume
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Stuart V. Guild
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
