When the Lord said, "Let there be inflation," that pretty much gave Christian landlords the green light to raise rents without guilt ... that seems to be Dave Ramsey's take, anyway.
The financial guru radio host -- who's also a devout evangelical -- took this stance earlier in the week ... and it's getting a lot of backlash now from people who think the very nature of booting a tenant because they can't afford the rent anymore is ... not very Christ-like.
Not so, according to DR ... who gave his thoughts on the subject after a fan wrote in talking about his inner turmoil regarding raising prices on his properties, and reconciling that with his faith.
It's an interesting premise (if you're religious) ... the viewer says he feels he's technically responsible for displacing someone if he chooses to evict -- and thinks that makes him a bad Christian. But, Ramsey takes the opposite view ... saying that's total nonsense.
Check out the full clip for the entire context -- in which Ramsey and his cohost say there are circumstances where you don't have to be a cold, hard capitalist -- but for the most part ... they seem to agree that there's nothing un-Christian about adapting to the marketplace.
“For I was hungry, and thirsty, and needed a place to live, and you said ‘sorry, the market demands a higher price for these things than you can pay so get out.’”
— Rev. Jacob Brenton (@jacobbrenton) January 7, 2022
Of course, not everyone agrees with DR and co., including some prominent Christians ... who feel like, yeah, being a landlord that's willing to put someone out on the street DOES make one a crappy steward of Christianity.
One pastor writes, "We are absolutely responsible when our actions displace others from their homes. The Son of Man had no place to rest His head, and it sounds like Dave wouldn't give him one for even a penny under what he thinks 'market value' is."
The question really seems to boil down to economic philosophy, and whether the nature of our capitalist DNA goes against Christian values in and of itself. With that said, we gotta ask ... WWJD in this modern-day wealth of nations???