The Legend of the Monk and the MerchantTwelve Keys to Successful Living
By Terry Felber (Published by Thomas Nelson)
Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book (in
e-book format) from the publisher with the expectation that I would provide an
honest review of the book.
I am usually a little
skeptical about parable-type books, where the author tells a simple story to
illustrate bigger ideas since I often find them to be too simple and
obvious. The legend of the Monk and the
Merchant was very different and was a very pleasant surprise. The story itself is good, but the study and
discussion guide is the real gem in this book.
In The Legend of the
Monk and the Merchant, Terry Felber tells the story of a wealthy merchant in
Venice telling his grandson about the keys to his business success. The merchant had collected his experiences
and insights in a journal over the years with his mentor and uses it to
encourage his grandson who is deciding what he wants to do with his life. Along the course of the story, they discuss God’s
view of money, wealth and work, principles of success in business and life, and
man’s obligation God and his fellow man.
Also, and this may be
because we (my Wife and I) have young adolescents at home who—before we know
it—will be making their own decisions about careers, we were really impressed
with the challenging questions in the discussion guide about choosing their
vocations based on God's call.
Students of Christian
approaches to finances and stewardship (including Dave Ramsey, whose foreword
presents a very persuasive endorsement of the book also) may find at last some
of the principles familiar. However, the
way in which they are presented and the practical reflections of them in the
story are very real and compelling.
Felber goes beyond just
another book on Christian business principles by examining the artificial
distinction between clergy and laity.
Without harping on it, he effectively makes the point that all work is
sanctioned by God and that the merchant is no less ‘godly’ than the Monk. He uses the setting, in Renaissance Venice to
underscore the observable differences in the two callings at the time and thus
make his point that fundamentally they are not really different at all if one
truly understands God’s call to work.
The story that Felber
uses to make these points moves quickly and is deceptively simple. A good reader could easily read it in a
single sitting. The Study guide is where
this book transforms from potentially run-of-the-mill to outstanding.
The study guide contains
twelve sessions that delve deep into the ideas and concepts with challenging,
soul-searching questions. This isn’t a
simple personal or small-group study that you can just answer with shallow
quick off-the-cuff answers. Felber asks
the Hard Questions that really make you think and examine what you think, what
you believe and how you act. This book
can be greatly valuable to people who are looking to learn about a Christian
perspective on finances, but it also has a lot to say about those considering
their careers—either where to start them, or thinking about a work change. As my Wife and I observed, it is also an
excellent book for young teens to read and then review with their parents as
they start looking at possible careers and what it means to be an adult.
We highly recommend this
book and encourage readers to invest the
time to go through the questions and let themselves be challenged—and
potentially inspired—by wrestling with the questions it asks.
