Bruce Wydick Shrewd Samaritan Professor San Francisco Developmental Economist Finish Line Podcast
Finish Line Podcast Episode 159

Bruce Wydick, Author of the Shrewd Samaritan, on the Art of Spiritual Discernment and Meaningful Impact

You want to steward God’s resources faithfully. But questions about generosity, calling, and impact are rarely simple.

In this conversation, you’ll hear from someone who has walked through these kinds of questions and learned along the way. Listen for the next step God may be inviting you to take.


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Meet your guide

Bruce Wydick is an economist, professor, and author of Shrewd Samaritan: Faith, Economics, and the Road to Loving Our Global Neighbor. As his faith deepened throughout his college career, Bruce developed an unexpected passion for economic development and the role of the Church. The more he researched, the more he realized a great need for Christian NGOs to be able to measure the impact they’re having on the people they’ve been called to help.  

Bruce helped start the Collaborative for Econometrics and Integrated Development Studies (CEIDS), which has grown into a network of more than 100 development economists, public health experts, and other related fields from all around the world. Together, they work to support the relief and development arms of Christ’s global Church by helping Christian NGOs develop tools and built-in programs so that they and their donors can know where, how, and why they’re truly being effective.  

Bruce brings a rare blend of heartfelt, Spirit-led generosity and a data-driven focus on high impact giving to help followers of Jesus love our neighbors with wisdom by investing resources in ways that truly change lives for the Kingdom. Bruce shares stories from his research and his own journey of faith, emphasizing that generosity isn’t just about good intentions but about stewarding God’s gifts so that they bear lasting fruit.

What you’ll gain

  • Blending faith and economic development 
  • The Story of Mayan Partners in Guatemala
  • The biblical picture of human flourishing
  • The challenge of impact measurement for Christian NGOs
  • Making informed, Spirit-led giving decisions
  • Stages of a heart-progression on world problems: The Six i’s—ignorance, indifference, idealism, investigation, introspection, impact
  • Developing an identity with those you’re called to serve
  • Understanding poverty traps as a giver
  • Measuring impact through randomized control trials and quasi-experimental designs
  • How givers can use AI to research the most impactful interventions
  • Examples of the most effective and ineffective interventions

Inspired? Take your next step

Try the Game of Life Simulator

Step into a four-minute interactive experience and see what unfolds as you decide how to manage your resources.

Start the Game
Game of Life Simulator Mobile Screenshot
Game of Life Simulator Mobile Screenshot

Inspired? Learn how to partner with ministries well.

A compelling ministry story can inspire you to respond. But wise partnership often begins with better questions.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Focus

What is the ministry really seeking to restore?

Learn to look beyond visible needs toward people, context, relationships, and flourishing.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Fruitfulness

How do you recognize meaningful impact?

Consider how ministries learn, evaluate their work, and pursue lasting change.

Applied Generosity Intervention Partnership Faithfulness

What does genuine ministry partnership look like?

Explore how to foster trust, alignment, and shared mission in your giving.

In our Intervention Series on the Applied Generosity Podcast, we’ll help you become a more thoughtful, discerning, and faithful partner.

Start the Series

Quotes to Remember

  • “The Kingdom works the opposite of the way that economics says the world should work.”
  • “We should not only be good Samaritans, but shrewd Samaritans, that we actively think about what we do, as well as we pray and feel led by the heart.”
  • “The poor are important enough to Christ that we owe them an informed decision on how we give and not just a feeling-based decision.”
  • “What is the role that God has placed me in?”
  • “It’s not about one person saving the world. It’s about one person listening to God and His calling on our lives to serve where He wants us to serve.”
  • “If we understand where there’s a need and then see where our gifting lines up with that need, God will bring about His biblically-based human flourishing in that intersection.”
  • “Providing cash is almost always better than providing stuff.”
  • “The earlier you intervene in a child’s life, the more impactful it is.”

Links from the Show

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Use Our
Free Guide

Have you considered the ways you are uniquely called into generosity? We’re not all called into the same adventure.
Generosity Profile Image
Enter your information below and we’ll send you our free PDF guide to explore the specific adventure you were called into.
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