Capitalism and the Bible 02 - The Camel and the Eye of the Needle

[Barney]

Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it 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.’

From a capitalist perspective, why is it hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven? They are arguably the most virtuous of people, as Francesco D'Anconia says in Atlas Shrugged. They are producing things that other people want, which is why they are rich. They have earned their money and they have a right to spend it however they choose. They can be perfectly just, fair, and reasonable without giving a penny to anyone else less deserving than themselves.

So why is wealth such an obstacle to the kingdom, according to Jesus?

[Ondrej]

Probably because your wealth and capabilities which led to your wealth train you to trust in yourself rather than rely upon God. They lead you to believe that you are in control of your own destiny and fear submission to and trust in an authority you may not understand.

[Barney]

That interpretation doesn't take account of the context. The two verses before are as follows:

Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

For this rich man, he loved his wealth too much to give it up, even as the price of following Jesus. Note it was his wealth, not the joy of running a business that produces great products. Sadly it is typical of the human condition that we focus more on making money than on serving others through our work.

I think it is hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven for two reasons:

• Because when you're rich, you are accustomed to having what you want, to getting your own way. You are not familiar with the discomforts and inconveniences of life, or with the frustration of wanting something you can't have. Your phone screen breaks, you get a new one. You need a kidney operation to stop feeling awful every day, you simply get one. You want a holiday in the Bahamas, you fly there. You want a bigger house, a faster car, a nicer TV, you just buy them. You want your child to have a first class education - no problem! You don't have to put up with things you don't like. But one of the most important virtues of those in the Kingdom of God is that they accept that their will and wishes are not supreme. They have displaced their own desires from the centre, and have put the Kingdom in the centre instead. The rich are disadvantaged because they have never had to practice this sort of self-displacement. The poor have had to practice it endlessly, by definition.
• Because in order to get rich, you have to make numerous little choices about your priorities. Do you give the customer what they really need, or persuade them to spend more on superfluous accessories? Do you spend that extra hour in the office, or come home to see your family? Do you give your employees the sick leave they need (and pay them while they're sick), or fire them in order to hire healthier employees? Same for maternity leave. A thousand little choices reflect whether your goal is to make as much money as possible, or to seek the best for the customer and the employee while still turning enough profit to survive. The kind of person who has gotten really rich has normally made the less worthy choices. Not always - there are exceptions. But they are exceptions, not the rule. Consider the difference between Jeff Bezos of Amazon, and other online retailers like wordery.com or bookshop.org, who will never make billions, but who treat their employees with more dignity.