Camels, Needles and Us.

Giving up idols: or going away sad.

It being Sunday, here’s a bit of a reflection on a Biblical passage.

We often see this passage as a reminder of the dangers of wealth in the Christian walk.

Mark 10: 17-29

17As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 19You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honor your father and mother.’”

20“Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.”

21Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

22At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

24The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

26The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, “Who then can be saved?”

27Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

28Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!”

29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—along with persecutions—and in the age to come eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

It’s where we learn about camels and needles and riches.

(Chesterton famously said that since then ‘everyone has been looking for bigger needles and smaller camels.’)

But I’ve been thinking about that. And I think there’s a wider message here.

And it’s a message for much of the modern church.

The thing is, we love tolerance and acceptance. When I was younger I didn’t get it. I had to commit my own sins for any of it to make sense. It was a hard lesson, but a really important one. You can’t really love the unlovable until you see how wretched you can be.

These days, in like manner, we are endlessly reminded not to judge. That everyone is beloved in the eyes of God, ‘just the way they are.’

I don’t think that’s wrong. Parents love their children just as they are.

But good parents want more for their children. They want them to overcome the things that limit them.

They want them to avoid toxic, dangerous behavior. They, we, want our children thrive by maturing, leaving behind rude behavior, laziness, anger, slovenliness. We want them to use their talents maximally so that they can care for themselves and their own spouses and children; so they can contribute to the world. So that one some far, distant day, they can lie down and die fulfilled and at peace.

Jesus wants the rich young man to be free of the idolatry of riches.

But then, I think we could rewrite that passage in any of a number of ways.

“‘Go, give up your position of authority, and come and follow me.’ And his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had great position.”

“‘Go, give up the importance of politics, and come and follow me.’ And his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had very strong opinions.”

“‘Go, give up your alcohol, and come and follow me.’ And his face fell, and he went away sad, for he loved a good evening of drinking.”

“‘Go, give up your hatred of other believers, and come and follow me.’ And his face fell, and he went away sad, for he loved to think that only he and his fellow believers would inherit eternal life.”

“Go, give up the pride you feel in your education, and come and follow me.’ And his face fell, and he went away sad, for he was brilliant and believed that mattered most of all.”

“‘Go, give up your sexual sin, whatever it may be, and come and follow me.’ And his face fell, and he went away sad, for sexuality was the most important thing in his life.”

The list is long and we all have a place in it. These are idols. And we all bow before different versions; few are stone or wood.

I believe that one can believe in Jesus and be rich, or an alcoholic; a drug addict or engaged in any number of sins; at the beginning. The question is, like the rich young man, are those things more important? Do we want to be delivered from them? Do we want to mature, as God our father wishes?

If we say “I will follow Jesus as long as he asks me not to give up this thing,” then it’s clear that we truly worship that thing, that act, that position.

And eventually, Jesus can only shake his head and leave us to our own small temples.