A Christian Review of Rich Dad, Poor Dad

Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter, is a book written to help educate those who do not know about money and teach them how to get out of the rat race and become wealthy. Kiyosaki was born in Hawaii and from a young age wanted to be rich. By following six principles his "rich dad" taught him, he was able to retire at age 47. These six lessons have lessons both for and against a biblical worldview; in this essay I will only evaluate three of the lessons.

The first lesson I'm going to evaluate is "the rich don't work for money." In 2^nd Thessalonians 3:10 Paul writes that "Whoever does not work does not eat" and Proverbs 16:26 says that "It is good for workers to have an appetite, an empty stomach drives them on." From only reading the title of the lesson anyone would agree that it is not only anti-biblical, but foolish. The author of

Rich Dad, Poor Dad is really saying to work, but instead of using our money right away, we should put that money to work by investing. In Matthew 25:14-30 Jesus tells us the story of three servants who are given money by there master and told to put it to work. One servant uses the money (invests it) and doubles the amount he was given, another servant does the same, while the last servant hides it, doing nothing with the money. The master commends the first two servants but rebukes the last one. At the end of the parable the master says "To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given. But from those who are unfaithful, even what little they have will be taken away." In the NIV version of the parable it says "The man who received the five talents went at once and put his money to work and gained five more." This is what Kiyosaki is telling us to do, instead of making our jobs our main source of income we need to use our money to build up our assets, and making our assets our main source of income.

The next lesson I'm going to evaluate is "the rich invent money." Proverbs 16:33 says "We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall." Although this lesson may put emphasis on our ability to earn money by finding opportunities and taking chances, we need to realize God is in control and it isn't really our wisdom and ability. Proverbs 17:24 says "Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth." I think this means we cannot be constantly looking for the next big opportunity, but instead we need to focus on gaining wisdom to more intelligently invest our money. Instead of defining whether or not this lesson is biblical, this verse shows how we are to apply it. Proverbs 14:4 says that "An empty stable stays clean, but no income comes from an empty stable." This shows that although having an empty stable poses no risk to you and costs you no money, it would be a source of income if you took a chance. Overall I think we need to apply this lesson to our lives but should not take foolish risks and realize we aren't the ones deciding whether or not we make money, as it is all in God's hands.

The last lesson I'm going to evaluate is "work to learn - don't work for money." I think this lesson is biblical 100%. Proverbs 16:16 says "How much better to get wisdom than gold, and understanding than silver." and Proverbs 17:16 says "Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom?" We can only do so much with money, wisdom can never be lost and with wisdom money will follow. Romans 14:12 says "Yes, each of us will have to give a personal account to God." We cannot take money with us to heaven, whereas wisdom will always be with us.