AFA Journal, January 2001 Edition

Financial planning consultant Larry Burkett says American Christians are among the poorest managers of money in the entire world.

"It isn't that [they] don't handle money better than the rest of the world," says Burkett, "they handle it worse! That's a real blight on Christian testimony."

Mike Mancusi, another financial planner, agrees with Burkett. He has some sound advice for Christians who want to "get their financial house in order." The first thing to do, he says, is to eliminate debt, and then establish an emergency reserve.

The experts say Christians could likely quadruple their giving without a negative impact if they would pay off debt and transfer the interest payments to benefit Christian ministries. But as it stands now, 37% of Christians don't give to any Christian cause, and only three to five percent tithe.

American families as a whole are carrying a debt load greater than any other in history, and Burkett is concerned that an economic downturn would present a real problem for all Americans, but Christians in particular.