Adventure of Strategy

In the Bible, Jesus says that "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God." (Matthew 19:24) As a child, I was somewhat dismayed to hear this, when it was provided by my Sunday School teacher as evidence that rich was "bad" and poor was "good." As it turns out, context is everything and the teaching is far deeper than simply an indictment on worldly wealth. It also provides a fundamental strategic insight.

No other passages in the Bible that I am aware of, that describe how one enters the Kingdom of God, specifically require that one reduce oneself to penury to do so. (If this was a pre-condition, one would imagine that particular emphasis would be placed on it.) Nor is there any statement that I know of that heaven is populated exclusively by the poor. So my Sunday School teacher's interpretation was probably, at best, oversimplified.

As to context: In ancient Jerusalem, there was a gate in the wall called "The Needle," which was so narrow that one had to take everything off one's camel, before the animal could pass through. So the metaphor about a camel passing through the eye of a needle is not so much about an impossible task, as about unpacking baggage.

Superficially, this could mean the same as that one does not take worldly goods with one when one dies. Christianity does also teach that even in this life, worldly wealth is irrelevant. Which in this age of materialism is a view shared by many.

At a deeper level, though, Jesus could just as easily have been talking about the extreme difficulty involved for a person to make the necessary intellectual and spiritual transition, from a position of wealth and comfort, compared to somebody who is not encumbered by wealth and comfort. In short, the metaphor may be as much about intellectual baggage, as about fixed assets.

Whatever one's religious persuasion, this is where the camel passing through the eye of a needle resonates strongly with the realities of modern day strategy and change management. Just like the camel could not pass through "The Needle" with its baggage intact, so a strategist cannot embrace new paradigms with the baggage of his or her old thinking intact. The same goes for those that have to execute the strategy. If encumbered by "old thinking," they simply cannot make the intellectual transition necessary to execute, especially when the old thinking has led to current prosperity and comfort and the change is necessary to address something that is looming in the future rather than causing actual immediate pressure.

Discarding ideas, strategies, plans and viewpoints that have served well in the past, it seems, is at least as difficult as it is with tangible wealth.

Postscript: No doubt this posting will annoy more fundamental Christians (assuming some read my blog.) At least two Biblical commentaries claim that Christ's statement has nothing at all to do with a gate in the wall of Jerusalem, but rather that it means rich people don't make it past the pearly gates, period. Although personally there are many things above accumulation of worldly wealth on my list of life goals, I am not quite ready to exchange my home for a mud hut in the Kalahari Desert. Not claiming to be a theologian, though, I am content personally to wait and find out the truth first-hand.

You know what they say about fundamentalists? NO FUN and ALL MENTAL. I am a Christian leader and teacher. I found your site preparing for a sermon. I am sharing on the principle of obedience and how obedience will sometimes take you to the eye of the needle, a place where you have to change your strategy and unpack your old ways of thinking. This rich man was A RICH MAN. I don't think liquidating his assets was the reason he walked away. Statistics show that most wealthy people got that way by experiencing complete loss at one time or another. He was not worried about losing money --- he was worried about losing control. His paradigm had served him well. The thought of trusting this traveling prophet was not in his thinking. He wasn't about to unpack something that worked so well! If he only knew that not only would the new strategy prove to be a blessing --- his personal finances would have gone up as well.

Thanks for your great insights on your blog

Roy

I am a pastor, and your interpretation of this passage is spot on. Obviously Jesus didn't mean that rich people couldn't go to heaven--most of the Old Testament patriarchs were rich, and the ministry of Jesus and the early Church was financed by rich people according to Scripture.
The point of the passage is humility. In order to come closer to God, you must (allow Him to help you) unburden yourself, and you must get on your knees--the camel had to get on it's knees to fit through the Eye.
Great job, and great comparisons with business principles in general.

Well, I know speculation leads to debate and arguing amonst Gods children of faith so lets examine the scripture carefully in its "context" not "proof text". If we have the gift of faith in God that comes from God then we go through the narrow gate of heaven as our names are written in the Lambs book of Life. I take this scripture to mean exactly what it says. Jesus says "needle" in this particular scripture but he does not say "gate" at this point yet. Elsewhere, he uses the word "gate" plainly spoken. He also said "camel and needle" plainly. He said "rich", meaning,those that worship money without faith because of self dignity, piety and pride (Pharisees, those similar). It is "impossible" for a man without faith to go through the eye of a needle or the gate of heaven (Amen). God must call them miraculously and they have a choice to respond through humbleness and brokeness for their own sins (Repent). I did not locate a single scripture to support needle as meaning gate however needles reference to sewing in biblical scripture. Surely, Jesus means what he says? Right?

I think you are right on. But I have been unable in my researches to find out about the needle in the wall of ancient Jerusalem. Is there a way you can elaborate on that more? Or is there a website you can give me for more information?