As iron sharpens iron,
one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17)
“a federal judge in Tennessee dismissed a lawsuit this week that had alleged that the Christian personal finance guru had discriminated against an employee’s religion during the COVID-19 pandemic.” - CLeaders
“The lawsuit alleges that Ramsey, Timeshare Exit Team and Happy Hour Media Group, a marketing firm with ties to Brandon Reed, one of the founders of Timeshare Exit Team, violated the Washington Consumer Protection Act by defrauding customers” - RNS
Accusations and counter-accusations center on incidents in which the company allegedly enforced or failed to enforce its sexual ethics requirements. - RNS
“Ultimately, Ramsey’s motto, ‘If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else,’ is not worth the paper it is printed on for Christian who don’t understand that it is freedom from money as a master, not getting out of debt, that really matters. ” - CPost
“A former Ramsey employee says his religious beliefs teach him to trust science and protect his family. That allegedly put him in conflict with his COVID-skeptic boss.” - RNS
“In court documents, Ramsey Solutions said O’Connor, who is not married, was fired for having premarital sex, which violated the company’s ‘righteous living’ policy.” - C. Leaders
Read Part 1.
Author’s note: This critique has been specifically focused on the appropriateness of Financial Peace University as a financial counseling program in a local church. It does not evaluate Ramsey’s TV show, radio program or books, none of which I have ever seen, heard or read.
For all the benefits of Dave Ramsy’s Financial Peace University (FPU), I found several troubling problems with it. I addressed the good and the ugly in Part 1 of this essay. Now let’s look at the bad.
When I mentioned to a friend recently that I was writing a review of FPU, he responded with enthusiasm that Dave Ramsey had changed his life. He explained that through FPU he had gotten out of debt, was saving for retirement and living a much more frugal life. When I indicated that my review was not likely to be favorable, he was surprised and a little defensive. Because he is theologically astute, I asked him about what I perceived to be the major flaw of FPU—the distortion of the gospel. He responded as I think many Christians would if asked that question: what distortion? I think it very likely that many Christians could attend FPU and not notice anything wrong with its message. The reason this is true is because most Christians do not have a firm conviction that the gospel ought to be central in any discussion regarding an issue of the Christian life. The gospel for many is about evangelism, not money, or sex, or parenting, or leisure.
A truly Christian viewpoint, however, sees everything through the lens of the gospel. This flies in the face of so many Christian attitudes toward everyday life, whether it be money, music, the arts, technology, or any host of cultural issues. The typical Christian response is to find some scattered verses and weave together a loose tapestry of references organized by his preconceived notions. To be truly Christian is to approach the issue from the standpoint of the gospel, and here is where I find FPU to be downright lacking.
Discussion