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If you can’t CASH FLOW private Christian school, you can’t do it!

I came across an interesting blog post this morning on our man, Dave Ramsey. I try to read all of the pro and con stuff published on the web about Dave. In most cases, the negative things about Dave are published by someone with an agenda and/or someone who picks out a specific piece or advice that does not represent the totality of Dave’s thinking on an issue.

Here’s the blog post in question, Good Financial Sense by Andrea Schwartz. Great blog with some very good points, but I would suggest to Andrea that she listen to Dave’s show for a more complete understanding of what Dave attempted to get across in a one paragraph answer.

Q. We have three kids enrolled in Christian schools, and it’s very expensive. We truly believe they’re getting a great, faith-based education, but they’re only in elementary school and already we’ve had to dig into our savings.

A. Private schools can have academic advantages, and in some cases a good Christian school can have spiritual advantages. But if you can’t cash flow it, you can’t do it. It’s just that simple. My kids didn’t go to private Christian schools, and they’re all strong Christians. They went to public schools and learned to interact with people of no faith, different faiths and how to display their faith adequately in the marketplace. Lots of times people send their kids off to a Christian school, only to find out they still have to teach them about life – the good and the bad. And the fact is, you’re just kidding yourself if you think sending them to a Christian school means they’ll be in a perfect world where no one ever acts mean or nasty. I hope you can find a way to continue, since this is an important decision to you. But from what you’ve said it just doesn’t make good financial sense.

Andrea has some issues with Dave’s advice …

This answer is wrong from the root outward.

First, God mandates that Christian children have a Christian education. The multitude of Christian parents who believe Christian education is an option they may choose for their children will be shocked on Judgment Day to find out how wrong they were.

Second, there are no neutral facts. A key component to a Christian education is accepting the reality that all facts come from God. Any educational enterprise that does not begin with God and celebrate Him as the foundation and fountain of all learning is based on lies.

Third, public schools do not provide a Christian education for Christian children. In fact, Christian children are often persecuted for making any public expression of their faith in the public school setting. Anyone who believes a public school is an acceptable environment for any child needs to read Bruce Shortt’s The Harsh Truth about Public Schools. I am glad Mr. Ramsey’s children survived it. Many children have not.

Fourth, Mr. Ramsey does not suggest that the parents look for ways to economize and cut expenses to keep the children in the Christian school. This would require more personal knowledge of the family and its finances. Usually there are always ways to cut expenses so that a family can pursue something that is a high priority. In this vein, he does not even mention homeschooling as a viable option for pursuing a Christian education with a minimum of expense.

Fifth, apparently having a “sound” financial footing is a more important priority for Christian families than pursuing a God-mandated Christian education. I do not know a living soul who would not like to be financially secure. And many have won financial security at a great cost. God promises to give us the things we need, not the things we want. And the Bible teaches us over and over that the true path to blessing is obedience to the law-word of God. Disobedience always brings God’s curses. This is a fact that cannot be escaped.

Yet, Mr. Ramsey has pit debt free living (a Biblical principle) against rearing children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (another Biblical principle) and in the process has ostensibly likened Christian education to a decision to buy a new car or a vacation home. Do it, but only if it is in your budget.

I just don’t agree that Dave is pitting debt free living versus giving children a Christian education. The letter in question stated that the school in question was very “expensive” and there were 3 kids. If this were a radio call, Dave would have unpacked this in more detail and probably found that the questioner gave up the option of an expensive Christian school when they ran up the credit card debt, or bought the new cars, or bought a house they could not afford.

Believe me, Dave tells people every day to cut expenses. Actually, he most often tells them to “cut your lifestyle.” Most people in this situation, long ago traded the option of an expensive Christian school for their lifestyle. God does not use debt for his blessings. We don’t know enough about the questioner’s financial stats to really discuss this issue. If they have debt or choose to go into debt to pay for a Christian education that is way out of line with their budget, this is not a blessing from God, but more likely a self-inflicted curse. I have heard Dave tell folks all the time on the radio that Christian school is fine when it fits.

Dave is a big proponent of mom’s staying home with the kids and doing whatever it takes (short of debt) to make that happen.  I suspect, he and Blogger Andrea agree on more than they disagree on.