Click below to listen to Episode 171 – Debunking Financial Doom And Gloom: A Biblical Approach
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Debunking Financial Doom And Gloom: A Biblical Approach
Learn about professional financial fear mongering when it comes to tactics used and discerning fact from fiction.
Professional financial fear mongering is something many have seen or been affected by. Bob and Shawn address the tactics used by individuals and groups to deliberately spread fear or alarm about financial issues. Highlighting examples like claims of the stock market crashing or the need to rely on gold coins for transactions, it is important to question the credibility of such messages.
Listeners are warned to be cautious of such fear-inducing narratives, especially on platforms like social media. Instead, Bob and Shawn stress the importance of discernment, considering the motivations behind these messages, and aligning financial decisions with Christian values and wisdom.
HOSTED BY: Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
CO-HOST: Shawn Peters
Mentioned In This Episode
Christian Financial Advisors
Bob Barber, CWS®, CKA®
Shawn Peters
Bible Verses In This Episode
2 TIMOTHY 1:7
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
ECCLESIASTES 3:1-12
There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good.
Want to ask a question about your specific situation? Schedule a complimentary 15 minute phone call.
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
Intro:
Welcome to the Christian Financial Perspectives Podcast, where you will learn what the Bible says about stewardship and finance. Here you will gain insight, wisdom, and knowledge of how to integrate your Christian faith with your finances. Here’s your Christian Financial advisor’s host, Bob Barber and his co-host, Shawn Peters.
Shawn:
Welcome to another episode of Christian Financial Perspectives. We’re so glad that you joined us today. My name is Shawn Peters, and I’m joined by my co-host and father-in-law, Bob Barber. Today, we’re gonna be covering professional financial fearmongering, and if you enjoy content on financial topics, but from a Christian perspective, we’d love for you to hit subscribe and join our growing community of Christians who want to glorify God through their finances. So today I’d like to first start with a scripture, 2 Timothy 1:7, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.” It’s a good way to start it out, Bob.
Bob:
I love that scripture and I like it from the King James Version for that particular scripture. I’ve heard that my whole life and heard many sermons on this throughout the years, that God is not a Spirit of Fear.
Shawn:
That’s right.
Bob:
Yeah, that’s right. Exactly. Fearmongering today, Shawn, is everywhere, especially the professional, what I call the “professional fear mongerers”.
Shawn:
They come in many shapes and sizes and forms.
Bob:
It is, and they’re deliberately arousing public fear or alarm about a particular issue. That’s kind of the definition of what fear mongering is. Where I came about wanting to make this program is because we get these phone calls, we get the emails.
Shawn:
And the text messages and…
Bob:
Yeah. And the text messages from our clients.
Shawn:
And sometimes non-clients.
Bob:
That’s true.
Shawn:
We’ll have people just go to our website and send us a message.
Bob:
Yeah. They’re seeing the most ridiculous and reading the most ridiculous things. They’re getting emails, too. It gets forwarded, the emails get forwarded. So here’s some examples, “All the companies in the stock market are gonna crash and go outta business.” Now you think about that, folks.
Shawn:
Yeah. Just actually think about it.
Bob:
So anybody, so all the company, food, shelter, clothing, they’re all going outta business. We’re done for, I mean, that is craziness to even think that that would happen. “The entire banking system is gonna collapse as we know it. All the banks are going out business.”
Shawn:
Wow. Yeah. Good to know.
Bob:
Yeah. And they’ll come up with all of this data to try to prove that. I really like this one.
Shawn:
Bob, before we go on to number three. What is that phrase? I remember, I think you said it to me the first time that figures, figures always lie, but, or liars always figure, but figures never lie.
Bob:
“Liars figure, but figures don’t lie.”
Shawn:
Yeah. Well that also technically goes true to the figures. Because if you have liars generating the figures, they can make that graph and information look the way they want to “support” the statement that they’re making.
Bob:
Here’s one I really get tickled at, Shawn, is how we pay for things is no longer going to work. We’re gonna have to take gold coins and silver coins and gold bars.
Shawn:
Over to the grocery store. The gas station.
Bob:
Yeah. Can you see that? I’m gonna pay for my gas with some gold coins and what if the other people don’t have the gold coins and they need to get gas, or they need to get groceries?
Shawn:
So, I guess only the people with the gold coins and the gold bars and and also I’m just curious, but you…
Bob:
You got me on that.
Shawn:
The grocery store.
Bob:
Yeah, exactly. You got me on this one a while ago when we were talking.
Shawn:
What are you going to buy at the grocery store? Because if only the gold and silver coins and bars are valid currency at this point. Do you really think that the local grocery store had that in stock to pay the vendors? Do you think the farmers and the other companies that are supposed to be supplying those goods to those grocery stores are going to get paid in gold bars? Because if not, then even if you could somehow find a cashier that is capable of exchanging that gold for goods, because most of them can’t even exchange regular currency without a computer. TYhere’s not gonna be anything there in the first place to buy.
Bob:
Yeah, that’s true. I didn’t think about that one. You could, you always, you start using wisdom and you start using logic with this stuff.
Shawn:
It very quickly falls apart.
Bob:
Here’s another one I’ve heard a lot just in the last few months, “The government’s gonna take over all our IRAs and all our retirement plans, and they’re also gonna tell us what we can invest in and not invest in, in the stock market.”
Shawn:
Well, I guess we’ll be out of a job .
Bob:
Fear mongering is routinely used in what is called “psychological warfare” to influence a target population. These professional financial fear mongerers, they use a lot of sources today. Number one is definitely social media. They’re using Facebook, they’re using Twitter. You know also the algorithms play into this. So if you are going to those kind of websites or looking for that on Facebook or Instagram, it’s gonna feed more to you. The fear is creating more fear.
Shawn:
You have to be careful with any content that you’re interacting with can effectively create this echo chamber because the algorithm wants to keep you engaged and keep you on the site as long as possible. So even if you don’t like something, if you keep interacting with it, you’re bound to get more of that because you interacted with it.
Bob:
Because if you do the search, it’s gonna know now you did the search. Like YouTube videos are the same way. If you do a search for a particular kind of YouTube video now, it’s gonna come up every time you go.
Shawn:
Especially if you watch the whole video. Because that’s one of the other metrics, as you know, is it’s always trying to give you, it wants to present the right video to the right person at the right time to make sure that that person is more likely to watch another video, then watch another video.
Bob:
Yeah. Email campaigns, oh man, man, that…
Shawn:
“Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll send you all the stock tips on exactly what to buy and what to avoid and buy this gold,” and all the other nonsense.
Bob:
And then you get in this group, and they all start forwarding all these emails and you’re getting this forward and this forward. And when, if Rachael, my wife, gets on one of these things, she’s just like, stop, I’m done. I’m cutting that out. Also, this is interesting how they advertise on the financial and news websites such as CNBC, Fox News, Newsmax. If you go on your iPhone and go to one of those websites or on your computer and you scroll down to the bottom, you’re gonna see these websites. By the way, I think it’s interesting, too, is that they use pictures of really smart looking guys like me .
Shawn:
Bob, you got the gray hair, glasses.
Bob:
I got the gray hair. I got the thick glasses.
Shawn:
Little bit of wrinkles with like, Yeah. He’s seen some things. He must know what he’s talking about.
Bob:
So they use the smart, really smart looking guys with the thick glasses and or one that looks like a professor or a successful Wall Street trader. They’ll show ’em in their their fancy suit and everything. That’s their mascot. That becomes their mascot. You see the pictures of it and you think, well, this guy, he looks pretty smart. Well, so if he says the banking system’s gonna fail and I’m gonna need gold coins to go to the grocery store to buy things and so forth. Well, it must be true.
Shawn:
It’s weird, but just one thing to think about. So, there’s always this doomsayer or, and I feel like it’s a very similar vein, but you also have the people that are selling you this program or this subscription that is gonna, or an educational seminar…
Bob:
It’s gonna solve it all.
Shawn:
It’s gonna solve all your problems. Whatever it is, you’re scared of or it’s like you’re gonna make $800 a day doing ChatGPT or whatever. The reality is, if any of these were actually valuable, if any of these actually worked. Do you really think that those people would be wasting their time managing and putting together these programs and these subscriptions and all this other nonsense just to sell it to you? No. They would be either getting other people to let them manage their money or they would already have made so much money that they don’t need to ever advertise. Ever.
Bob:
That’s true. That’s true.
Shawn:
So, which kind of goes into our next section.
Bob:
And it’s funny how they’ll predict these certain dates all the time. They’ll say this date is gonna happen. When the date goes by and it didn’t happen, it’s just silence. You don’t hear from anybody.
Shawn:
I feel like we should maybe show like a short little, little clip from Parks and Recreation ’cause I remember there’s this one group that believes in this like lizard man or something that’s gonna end the world. What’s so funny is every year they have this annual picnic of the world’s gonna end. Then when it doesn’t end, they’re like, oh, I misinterpreted it. Like, what do you have next year on May 9th? Oh, that’s not free. Oh, what about May 11th? I think the world’s gonna end on May 11th. They just change. They just change it. .
Bob:
And you think about it, these are professionally paid fortune tellers, but most of the people I know, they wouldn’t go, they wouldn’t go sit across from a fortune teller where they read your hand or whatever. I don’t know.
Shawn:
That’s just the modern day version of it.
Bob:
But, you know what, yeah, it is. Because you’re paying ’em, by the way. Because their ultimate solution to all of these doomsday predictions is to buy their high commission gold and silver or to buy their subscription or their subscription based newsletter or to buy their book.
Shawn:
Or a high commissioned annuity.
Bob:
Yep, so it’s always it ultimately…
Shawn:
There’s something, what do, what do you call, what do we say, Bob? Follow the money. So, if their solution is buy their book, subscribe to their newsletter, or subscribe to their paid subscription, whatever it is, or oh, buy gold and silver from this particular vendor, or buy this high commission annuity, they’re either directly benefiting or they’re being paid by the people that they’re promoting in order for you to buy their stuff and then they keep getting paid.
Bob:
Yeah. Well, that’s another thing. I mean, there are on some very legitimate stations, some of the well-known people that predict this stuff. But then again, you look at what they’re worth and they’re just like you say, they’re professional fear mongerers. That’s how they…
Shawn:
They make money off of scaring you. They make money off you.
Bob:
Yeah, that’s right.
Shawn:
Convincing you that there’s some problem. Then they just happen to have this solution that is commissionable or recurring subscription or whatever the case may be.
Bob:
Which is a major, major what?
Shawn:
Conflict of interest.
Bob:
It’s a conflict of interest.
Shawn:
Yeah. They’re not acting as a fiduciary in that case, in your best interest.
Bob:
So when you see this now, I know a lot of people are gonna say, now Bob, they haven’t tried to get any money out of me. You keep going, keep moving in. They’re gonna eventually get, do they wanna sell you that newsletter? They wanna, go buy gold and silver is the solution, and then there’s gonna be, you can buy from this certain vendor. That’s what it is. So, what’s the solution first of all? Stop it. Okay. Stop listening to this stuff.
Shawn:
What was that old video?
Bob:
The old video by Bob Newhart. Go Google this video. It’s very funny. It’s by Bob Newhart. It’s called Stop It and you need to watch it.
Shawn:
It’s a really funny skit. .
Bob:
And the really, truly, consider the source. What are they gonna gain financially from it?
Shawn:
From creating that fear.
Bob:
Yeah. Are they working for a media company? They’re being paid by the advertisers. Is it subscription based, commission based? And the bottom line is bad things are always gonna happen, but so are good things. Okay. You know why bad things are always gonna happen and good things? Because the Bible says so. It is all in Ecclesiastes. There’s a time for everything. I’m not saying this means we stick our head in the sand.
Shawn:
Exactly. Don’t stick your head in the sand. But use wisdom. Always consider the source. Check if it is true. Do you want me to read Ecclesiastes?
Bob:
I think we need to read that one. I’m gonna read that one, one more time. Use wisdom, consider the source, and check if it’s really true. All right. So here we go. We’re towards the end today. We’ve gotten on our soapbox. This is our soapbox a little bit. Yeah, it really is. But we’re gonna read Ecclesiastes for you because we’ve read it before, but I think it’s a good time, good to understand. There’s always gonna be good times, there’s always gonna be bad times. It’s a part of normal life. By the way, these doomsday predictors, they’ll eventually be right because eventually bad things will happen.
Shawn:
Well, a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while. Yeah, exactly. and a broken clock is right twice a day.
Bob:
Oh, we gotta be careful how we say that one. Alright, so Shawn, you’re my scripture reader. So go for it. For Ecclesiastes 3:1-12.
Shawn:
That’s right. “There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot. A time to kill and a time to heal. A time to tear down and a time to build. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to search and a time to give up. A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend. A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time for war and a time for peace. What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good.”
Bob:
One of my favorite scriptures. I love that because when it is bad times and you’re in a dark tunnel, the light’s coming. There’s gonna be good times too. There’s a rotation and it’s been going on for years. I want to end up on this scripture.
Shawn:
Okay. 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind.” Bob, I would like to say for full disclosure, We also get paid in certain ways.
Bob:
Yes, we do.
Shawn:
As a fiduciary advisor, we either get paid by the hour if we’re doing financial planning for people. We also get paid based on assets that we manage. Now, it’s a much smaller fee. We’re not getting 10% upfront. We get paid throughout the year.
Bob:
And we’re not commission based.
Shawn:
As much as 1% or less, depending on the assets. So you could say that’s where we’re coming at this from. But here’s the thing. We want this information out there. Not because we know everyone’s gonna come work with us and everyone’s gonna be our client, but it’s right and it’s true and it’s good information. Even if you’re not working with us, we’re still encouraging you to find a fiduciary advisor for this kind of information. Don’t trust these people that are selling high commission products that they are just trying to profit off of your fear. It’s not right. It’s not Biblical. Don’t fall for it.
Bob:
Amen. We’re here if you’d like us to help you. Our phone number is (830) 609-6986. You can call or text that during business hours and we’ll text you back, by the way.
Shawn:
A real person.
Bob:
But not normally on the weekend or after business hours. Or you can check us out on the website www.christianfinancialadvisors.com. Thank you for listening today and for watching on YouTube if you watched on YouTube.
Shawn:
That’s right. Thank you. God bless. Bye-bye.
[CONCLUSION]
That’s all for now.
We invite you to listen to all of our past episodes covering many financial topics from a Christian Perspective. To make sure you don’t miss any of Bob’s upcoming episodes you can subscribe to Christian Financial Perspectives on iTunes, Google Play Music, Spotify, or Stitcher. To learn more about integrating your faith with your finances, visit ciswealth.com or call 830-609-6986.
[DISCLOSURES]
* Investment advisory services offered through Christian Investment Advisors Inc dba Christian Financial Advisors, a registered investment advisor registered with the SEC. Registration as an investment advisor does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Comments from today’s show are for informational purposes only and not to be considered investment advice or recommendations to buy or sell any company that may have been mentioned or discussed. The opinions expressed are solely those of the hosts, Bob Barber and Shawn Peters, and their guests. Bob and Shawn do not provide tax advice and encourage you to seek guidance from a tax professional. While Christian Financial Advisors believes the information to be accurate and reliable, we do not claim or have responsibility for its completeness, accuracy, or reliability.