I'll get back to the altar call discussion soon. However, I was finally able to pinpoint exactly what bugs me so much about Dave Ramsey's financial philosophy. He said this morning on his radio show (a paraphrase) that we should live differently than everyone else now, so that later we can live differently than everyone else. What he meant by that was that if we live frugally now, then we won't have to live frugally when we are older. That, right there, is one of the big problems with his financial advice.
We ARE supposed to try to live frugally. Ramsey encourages people to earn as much as they can and save as much as they can. John Wesley did the same in a sermon called: On the Use of Money. However, Wesley scolded the Methodists of his day the same way he would scold Ramsey-ites. Wesley said that while Methodists were good at earning, and good at saving, they missed the whole point of the earning and saving. Scripture wants us to do those things with a particular goal in mind ... as Wesley put it ... to "GIVE ALL YOU CAN."
We don't earn and save so we can be comfortable. We earn and save so we can give! So, we should live differently than everyone else now, so we can GIVE differently than everyone else later. Giving is the goal, not finanacial comfort and stability.
3 comments:
You see, Dave. This is were you are uninformed. You are obviously not a listener.
If you actually listened to the show on a regular basis, you would have heard Ramsey say (and he says it often) to GIVE, GIVE, GIVE. He's always saying that.
Discussion over.
No, I'm not uninformed. I've heard him teach giving. But when a lady calls up and says that she's been saving and saving and saving and they are now 42 and they have saved up over 1.5 million dollars by penny pinching, a certain parable of Jesus' comes to mind. However, Dave Ramsey praised her hands down for being prudent. We have the choice: store up treasures in heaven or on earth. Ramsey praised her for storing up her treasure on earth. She was calling asking for advice on what to do with the money, like, giving. He told her to keep doing what she's doing!
Look, I'm not arguing that Dave Ramsey doesn't say "GIVE, GIVE, GIVE," however, his integration of theology and finances is horrible. Also, he is inconsistent. Discussion is not over. If he says one day to "GIVE," and the next praises someone who isn't, he's inconsistent.
Discussion continued.
Years ago, Dave Ramsey opened my eyes to a debtor's mind set that keep me and my family under almost constant severe financial strain. It hinder my ability to give as I would have liked. There were many instances where I'd see a need in someone else's life but was unable to meet that need because of my own extreme indebtedness. Part of what Dave teaches is that when we apply God's principles to our finances, we will be better able to help others in their time of need.
I have no more financial debt now, and my family and I can finally breath a big sigh of relief. We're now in a position to make a real difference in other people's lives financially, and partially (and I mean a BIG partially) because of Dave Ramsey.
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