Learning Financial Literacy

You know the word “literacy,” right? Most basically, it denotes the ability to read and write. But its broader meaning has to do with the useful mastery a body of information to the level of using it creatively and productively to achieve worthy goals. Thus we speak of musical literacy or someone who is computer literate.

It is time to get serious about financial literacy. There is certainly a high degree of need for global and national financial literacy in view of recent money meltdowns and tensions over fiscal policy, debt ceilings, and bankruptcies.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have called attention to some of the Bible’s key texts and ideas about money. I have also promised to let you know about something Dave Ramsey and I have been working on together.

Dave is the guy with solid information about handling money responsibly, avoiding debt, and practicing generosity. His books are New York Times bestsellers, and his radio program carries the challenge of financial accountability to millions of people every day. Some of you have studied his Financial Peace University classes – and wished you had learned the basics years ago. Before you got married. Before you bought a too-expensive car on a too-meager salary.

I have access to young people as an educator and can provide a venue for making good information available to college students. Presenting the Ramsey materials via qualified academics and for college credit could entice young men and women to study principles of financial management early enough in life that it will make a difference for a lifetime.

The result of our collaboration is that Dave Ramsey’s Foundations in Personal Finance is being offered online. For college credit. For both college students and even for high school juniors and seniors who can get early college credit for their effort. We believe the partnership we have established has the potential for making a life-changing difference for thousands of young people.

A seven-week course offering three credits that can be transferred to any accredited college or university should have appeal to bright young people who want to get a jump on their college work. It should also appeal to parents who want to equip their children with solid information they can build on for life.

Check out http://www.rc.edu/daveramsey. Help someone learn financial literacy.

The National Debt

All the talking heads are jabbering about the fact that the United States of America is now over $14 trillion in debt. The USA is over its head in debt and needs to raise the limit on the amount of money our nation can borrow.

Let’s see now. We have borrowed so much money that we are in trouble for it. And the solution is to borrow more money? Yes, I am smart enough to know the problem is far more complex than that. It is going to take time and deliberate action on the part of wise leaders to bring the crisis to heel. But we aren’t patient. We show few signs of meaningful action. And I’ll leave you to make your own comments about the amount of wisdom that is coming from national leaders.

If poor management of money is a national problem of major proportions, what about the magnitude of personal and family debt?

* Total US consumer debt is at $2.43 trillion.
* Average per household credit card debt is reported to be $14,687.
* The average APR on those credit card balances is 13.10%.
* The average college graduate has nearly $20,000 in debt.
* College graduates have an average of $4,100 in credit card debt.

All these figures are taken from a source that promotes the use of credit cards and links visitors to its site to credit card companies. That is to say, these scary figures aren’t made up and are supplied by people in the debt industry.

Money itself isn’t evil - although it is hard to find much in the Bible that is positive toward it. Scripture’s best-known statement about money is this one: “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). Anybody care to challenge that? Murder, drug trafficking, robbery, prostitution, Ponzi schemes - these and many more evil actions trace directly to greed and lust for money.

Then there are people who get trapped in cycles of debt out of ignorance about money and how to use it properly. Parents seem not to be teaching their children about saving money, borrowing money, and sharing money. They are setting them up to be hamstrung for years by bad choices that could have been avoided with a minimum of sound financial information.

I have been concerned enough by what I have seen of individuals and families put under stress (that some didn’t survive) by poor judgment and bad information that I wanted to do something positive about it. So I went to a long-time friend in whose small-group Bible study I was a member for several years and asked that we try to find a way to help high school and college students.

Next week, I will tell you what Dave Ramsey and I have come up with as one means to help teens and young adults. You might want to share it with someone.

“Lay up treasures for yourselves as a firm foundation for the coming age,” said Paul, “so that you may take hold of the life that is truly life” (1 Timothy 6:19).

The Great Recovery

Your Money or Your Spiritual Life!

            No, it’s not a new line to use at church before taking up the offering next Sunday. And it is not a mistaken version of the street thief’s threat of “Your money or your life!” It is the reality of how serious money is as a spiritual issue.

            Money really matters to spirituality. The Bible has more to say about it than most of the topics preachers address. In those biblical texts about money, the emphasis is also different from the ones you likely associate with the sermons you may have heard on money. The Bible speaks less about donating money to church than about handling your own purse properly.

            Here is a high-level sampling: work to earn money, be honest in your labor, don’t make money your life goal, don’t define yourself by your money, don’t look down on people who don’t have lots of money, and don’t kiss up to those who do.

            If those aren’t enough, here are some additional themes: don’t envy success, don’t expect others to pay your way, avoid debt like the plague, and don’t stand as security for another’s debts; do share with people on hard times, do pay fair wages to anyone who works for you, do pay your debts as contracted, do save for the sake of lean times, and do share generously with people in need.

            Get a concordance and count the texts where words such as money, wages, debt, greed (or its old synonym “covetousness”), borrow, share, and give occur. You will wind up with a much longer list than for such hot topics as millennium, abortion, speaking in tongues, marriage, or child-rearing. Why, there are more money-related texts than verses on baptism or Holy Communion. So the subject must be important to spiritual life. It must be very important.

            It wasn’t surprising to me that a recent article in USA Today reported that, in spite of some progress in the economy, “many American families are still in financial distress and lack the financial skills they need to climb out of debt.” My hunch is that Christians are – as a survey showed on marital failure – in about the same boat as non-Christians on money management, borrowing, and debt.

            Could this trace to our failure to live the Bible’s prudent advice? “The wicked borrow and never repay, but the godly are generous givers” (Psalm 37:21 NLT). “Just as the rich rule the poor, so the borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7 NLT). “You cannot serve both God and money” (Matthew 6:24 NLT).

Note: My friend Dave Ramsey and I have hatched an idea about helping your children and grandchildren learn about the spiritual dimensions of money. I’ll tell you more about it next week.

America: “One Nation Under God”

            This is an important week for Americans. We observe Independence Day. On July 4, 1776, this country declared its independence from Britain and began charting its own way on the world stage. It is a day to remember and celebrate.

            The United States of America is not the kingdom of God on earth. And I confess to being frustrated to the point of anger with politicians from whatever party or persuasion when they use religion to manipulate the voting public. The name of God should not be used to justify partisan claims. The divine name ought never to be used to insulate a public figure from criticism or questions. To do so is to profane God’s name – as surely as cursing or false swearing.

            On the other hand, the recent rush to eliminate all references to God from public speech is equally wrong-headed. Highly publicized court cases have sought to banish the word God from the Pledge of Allegiance our citizens recite in schools, at meetings of civic clubs, and on other public occasions. The claim is that our “secular society” must avoid references to religion and that an alleged “separation of church and state” is violated by acknowledging God.

            Our nation’s founders were driven by a variety of motives, including religious ones. They talked about a society with “freedom of religion.” Historians explain that the term meant the freedom of citizens to embrace religious beliefs and practices that their consciences dictated rather than those imposed by power. Citizens would even have the right to forego religious practices altogether. They eschewed state-established churches. But they did not envision a culture that outlawed religion from the public square and silenced religious language.

            Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution acknowledge “God,” “Divine Providence,” and the “Creator.” Our Supreme Court opens to “God save the United States and this honorable court.” By tradition, presidential speeches end with “God bless America.” Only recently has anyone taken these usages to constitute “an unjust imposition of religious faith” on the public.

            “It is doubtful that children reciting the Pledge of Allegiance feel oppressed or brainwashed as a consequence of muttering the phrase ‘under God,’ ” said President Barack Obama back in his senatorial days. “I certainly didn’t.” Indeed, we typically say the majority – as well as all minorities – can voice its beliefs.

            No civil religion. No imposing of religion by government. No prostitution of religion to government agendas. But no political correctness that tramples the rights of the majority and suppresses the consensus point of view either.