Saturday, February 28, 2009
Money and Faith
edited & compiled by Michael Schut
Like The Treasure Principal, I bought Money and Faith to help me prepare a Bible class on finances. Like The Treasure Principal, I found Money and Faith to be lacking. In a sense, it fell on the other side of the spectrum. Where TTP seemed stuck in a conservative, American Middle-class rut, M&F is all about liberal, global socialism. TTP, to its credit, had plenty of Bible verses; M&F relied far more on pundits and philosophers. Where the two books met is that each seemed to have their agenda first and a serious seeking of God's Word second. Both failed to really delve into the depth of Christian stewardship. In Money and Faith's case, the shortcoming was a lack of exploring our own sinfulness and greed.
All that said, I liked Money and Faith a little bit better. It was a thicker, meatier book that challenged the status quo on a deeper level. Mr. Schut has compiled a nice collection of essays to explore "the search for enough." I think a comfortable, suburban Protestant might do well to give this one a read, though I'll say again that it only looks at part of the equation. The essays are followed by study guide for asking questions and, for groups, to stimulate discussions. This, too I found lacking. Here the book adds the trappings of a self-righteous encounter group, looking within for guidance and self-improvement. I pulled some ideas from this book for my class (it, too, an admittedly mediocre effort) but left a lot behind.
Challenging waiting room material, it is.
LibraryThing link
Like The Treasure Principal, I bought Money and Faith to help me prepare a Bible class on finances. Like The Treasure Principal, I found Money and Faith to be lacking. In a sense, it fell on the other side of the spectrum. Where TTP seemed stuck in a conservative, American Middle-class rut, M&F is all about liberal, global socialism. TTP, to its credit, had plenty of Bible verses; M&F relied far more on pundits and philosophers. Where the two books met is that each seemed to have their agenda first and a serious seeking of God's Word second. Both failed to really delve into the depth of Christian stewardship. In Money and Faith's case, the shortcoming was a lack of exploring our own sinfulness and greed.
All that said, I liked Money and Faith a little bit better. It was a thicker, meatier book that challenged the status quo on a deeper level. Mr. Schut has compiled a nice collection of essays to explore "the search for enough." I think a comfortable, suburban Protestant might do well to give this one a read, though I'll say again that it only looks at part of the equation. The essays are followed by study guide for asking questions and, for groups, to stimulate discussions. This, too I found lacking. Here the book adds the trappings of a self-righteous encounter group, looking within for guidance and self-improvement. I pulled some ideas from this book for my class (it, too, an admittedly mediocre effort) but left a lot behind.
Challenging waiting room material, it is.
LibraryThing link
Labels: WaitingRoomMaterial
// posted by John @ 9:20 AM 
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