Biblically Responsible Investing, usually shortened to BRI, is the idea that the money you save for retirement should not be quietly funding the exact things you preach against on Sunday. Simple on paper. Slightly wilder once you look at an index fund and realize you own a slice of about forty companies you would never personally write a check to.

So what does BRI actually look like in 2026? Not what it looked like in 2005, and not what the headlines say either. Let me walk you through it like a friend explaining over coffee.

The one sentence definition

BRI is values-based investing where the values come from the Bible. That is it. You screen out companies whose core business violates clear biblical principles, you tilt toward companies doing work that looks like stewardship and human flourishing, and you try to earn a competitive return while you are at it.

The verse that gets quoted most is Luke 16:13, "No servant can serve two masters." Jesus is talking about money and God, and BRI folks take that pretty literally. If you are going to serve God, the argument goes, do not let your portfolio serve something else behind your back.

Where the movement came from

The first real BRI fund in the United States was the Timothy Plan, launched in 1994 by Art Ally. He named it after 1 Timothy 6:10, the "love of money is the root of all kinds of evil" verse. Before Timothy Plan, Catholic investors had been doing socially responsible screens for decades, and Mennonites had their own approach, but the Protestant evangelical world mostly was not organized around it.

Then came Eventide in 2008, GuideStone had been around since 1918 serving Southern Baptist pastors and started their mutual funds, and Inspire launched its ETF lineup in 2017 with BIBL as the flagship. By 2026, BRI is a roughly thirty billion dollar slice of the asset management world. Small compared to ESG, but growing.

The screens in 2026

Most BRI funds use some version of what people call the six core exclusions. Not everyone uses the exact same list, and that matters, but here is the rough consensus.

Alcohol production. Not restaurants that serve beer, not grocery stores that sell wine. The makers themselves. That catches Anheuser-Busch InBev (BUD), Constellation Brands (STZ), Diageo (DEO), Molson Coors (TAP).

Tobacco. Philip Morris (PM), Altria (MO), British American Tobacco (BTI). Some funds also screen cannabis producers now.

Gambling. Las Vegas Sands (LVS), MGM Resorts (MGM), Wynn Resorts (WYNN), Boyd Gaming (BYD), DraftKings (DKNG), and most of the casino REITs.

Pornography. This is harder than it sounds because nobody publicly trades as "Porn Inc." It catches some hotel chains, some telecom companies that distribute adult channels, and a handful of tech firms depending on how strict the screen is.

Abortion. Companies that manufacture abortion drugs or provide the procedure, plus in many screens, pharmacy chains that dispense Plan B and Ella. This is where CVS (CVS) and Walgreens (WBA) get flagged.

LGBTQ advocacy. The most controversial category by far. Some funds screen only for companies that fund transition procedures for minors or for pride marketing aimed at children. Others are broader. We will get into this one in its own post because it deserves the space.

Proverbs 13:11 ("wealth gained hastily will dwindle") gets used to back up the gambling screen. It is a pretty clean fit.

What BRI is not

BRI is not ESG with a cross on it. ESG (environmental, social, governance) uses a totally different rubric, and the two movements disagree on some meaningful stuff. A company can be an ESG darling and a BRI reject at the same time, and vice versa. Disney is the textbook example. High ESG scores on environment and workforce diversity, low BRI scores because of content decisions. We will unpack that in another post.

BRI is also not a vow of poverty. Nobody is asking you to bury your savings in a coffee can. The funds compete on returns, they publish their performance, and some of them have kept up with the broader market over ten year windows. The pitch is not "accept worse returns because Jesus." The pitch is "you do not have to choose, and even if you did, conviction matters."

The real funds doing this

Five fund families do the heavy lifting in Protestant BRI right now.

Eventide. Based in Boston. Their flagship is the Eventide Gilead Fund (ETGLX), launched 2008, about ten billion under management by early 2026. Eventide uses a "Business 360" framework that goes beyond screens into active evaluation of how companies treat customers, employees, communities, and the environment. Their team leans on Jeremiah 29:7 a lot, "seek the welfare of the city."

Inspire. Runs a family of ETFs including BIBL (the Inspire 100), RISN (Inspire International), WWJD (large cap pro-life), IBUY, ISMD, and more. Founder Robert Netzly is the loudest public voice in BRI and publishes an "Inspire Impact Score" for thousands of companies.

Timothy Plan. The OG. They run mutual funds and a few ETFs (TPLC, TPLE, TPIF, TPSC). Known for one of the strictest screens in the industry.

GuideStone. Southern Baptist affiliated. Pastors and SBC employees use these for retirement, but they are open to retail investors too. Their screens are moderate. Think centrist BRI.

Praxis and LifeStage. Smaller, more Mennonite flavored, a little different philosophy but operating in the same lane.

What happens to returns

The honest answer is, it depends on the year. Over long stretches, a well-run BRI fund tends to look a lot like the S&P 500 with a slight tilt. In years when tobacco and alcohol stocks rip, BRI funds underperform. In years when tech and healthcare drive the market, BRI funds often keep right up. The Eventide Gilead Fund, for example, beat the S&P 500 over the 2015 to 2022 period but trailed during the 2023 tobacco rally.

The secret is that about 94 percent of the S&P 500 passes most BRI screens. The six excluded categories together make up a small slice of the index. So you are not giving up as much diversification as you might think.

The stewardship piece

Here is the part I think gets undersold. BRI is not just "do not invest in sin stocks." The better funds also try to invest positively in companies doing genuinely good work. Eventide talks about this as the "invest in" half of the equation. Hospitals. Clean water. Affordable housing. Companies that treat workers well, price their products fairly, and do not load up on debt.

Proverbs 31 describes a woman who "considers a field and buys it," who trades profitably, who extends her hand to the poor. That is not passivity. That is discernment applied to capital. BRI at its best is trying to recover that posture.

How you actually do BRI in 2026

Four main paths for a regular investor.

Buy BRI funds directly. BIBL, ETGLX, and the Timothy Plan lineup are all available through any major broker. Expense ratios run a bit higher than index funds. BIBL is at 0.35 percent as of early 2026, ETGLX is at 1.12 percent for the retail share class.

Use a BRI screener to build your own portfolio. Sites like FaithScreener, Inspire Insight, and Praxis Mutual publish screens you can use to filter a broker account. If you like picking stocks, this gives you control.

Work with a BRI advisor. Christian Financial Advisors, Ronald Blue Trust, and a bunch of smaller regional shops specialize in faith-aligned portfolios. If you have a meaningful amount saved and want someone else running it, this path exists.

Hybrid. A lot of people mix BRI funds for the core of their portfolio with a couple of individually picked stocks in specific companies they feel good about.

A few things to watch out for

Screens differ. A company might be in BIBL and excluded from the Timothy Plan on the same day. Read the methodology before you assume one fund is stricter than another.

Expense ratios matter. A 0.9 percent expense ratio sounds tiny but compounded over forty years it is a meaningful chunk. Compare total cost, not just the pitch.

Performance chasing is still a bad idea. A BRI fund that had a great 2024 might have a mediocre 2026. Pick based on conviction and methodology, not last year's return.

Concentration risk is real. Some BRI funds end up overweight in healthcare or tech because those sectors pass the screens best. If you already own a tech-heavy portfolio, a BRI fund might double you up.

The bigger point

2 Corinthians 6:14 says "do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers." Traditionally that verse is applied to marriage. BRI advocates extend it to business partnerships, and buying stock in a company is arguably a small business partnership. You own a piece. You share in the profits. You are yoked, at least a little.

You can disagree with how far to push that logic, and Christians of good faith land in different places. But the question BRI forces you to ask is a good one: does my money go where my mouth goes? In 2026, more people are answering yes, and the tools to do it are better than they have ever been.

That is the lay of the land. The posts in this series will go deeper on specific funds, specific companies, and the judgment calls that make this interesting. Welcome to BRI.

What Biblically Responsible Investing Actually Means in 2026