Why Camels Don't Fit...

As an entrepreneur, I always cringed and had a small rebellion in side of me when I heard the scripture saying, "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".

Why?
Cuz I'm an entrepreneur at heart,
I've been wired that way since I was little,
I like succeeding,
I like making money.

So in my opinion that verse would basically disqualified me from being a good Christian.
I never doubted my salvation,
But it was clear to me that Christianity and success don't mix...
At least that's the way the church made it sound.

Twenty years later (better late than never),
I began to realize the deeper truth behind this verse.

Ok so let's look at the WHOLE context of how it led upto this statement.

So there's this punk rich kid, who thinks he's got this "holy" thing down pat.
He comes to Jesus and asks,
"Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"

Jesus eventually answers with "If you want to enter life, keep the commandments."

Then the little punk asks, "Which ones?"

"Jesus replied, 'You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’"

"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"

Ok just this right here is why I call this person a punk kid.

I'm totally reading in between the lines, but it's as if this kid had an attitude of "Yes, got it. I know, I know, I know... What next? What next? What next? Let's get on with it. Just tell me how IN I am. Start telling me how awesome I'm doing."

It's the attitude of pride and self-sufficiency,
It's the atttitude of "I got it. What next?",
It's the attitude of "I'm awesome, just tell me I passed.".
It's almost like he was fishing for a compliment or a passing grade and not really searching for the truth.

It all comes out when,

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

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."

Ok, so if this punk was TRULY searching for the truth,
Then when the Messiah tells you something you didn't know,
The attitude should be "Oh, I didn't know what. Thanks for teaching me. Let me do that right away!".
Not this punk.
He didn't get his compliment,
Instead he was shown how unwilling he was to follow Jesus.
This fishing expedition went south for this kid.

Unfortunately that looked a lot like me in my walk with God.
When God wants to me learn patience I'd say, "Yes, I got that down. What's next?".
When God said wait I'd say "Ok, I did that. What's next?"
What God said learn to love I'd say "Ok, been there done that. What's next?"

I can imagine God saying, "You think you have all that down? Ok, then wait."
Then I'd say "I already told you I'm passed that. I'm good. What's next?"
I'm a little punk myself.

The entrepreneurial spirit is a double edged sword.

This spirit of growth and success can be a massive force that can move God's kingdom forward but it can also be our achilles heel in thinking "we got this" and become like that punk rich kid who was fishing for a compliment.

I've been in times of abundance and in times of scarcity,
And I can promise you that I hang on to Jesus a lot tighter in the hard times than the good.
It's like comparing a gentle holding of the hand versus a desperate clutching of Jesus garment refusing to let go.
It's just different.

But when the holding of the hand is too gentle,
When it's too loose,
When prosperity slides it's hand in to take Jesus' place,
It's a very slippery and tricky slight of hands by Satan,
To turn God's blessings into an idol without us knowing it.

Just to be clear,
God likes rich people.
He was so cozy with rich that it made the pharisee's mad.

Tax collectors were known to be wealthy,
Working for the Roman government,
And notoriously crooked and corrupt,
Any self-respecting Jew considered them a sinner and traitor to their own people.

Jesus comfortably hung out with these wealthy, sinful tax collectors.
Jesus even ate with the CHIEF tax collector,
The CHEIF crooked man named Zaccheus,
Which would make him the richest of the rich.

But here's the difference between Zaccheus and the punk kid...

When Zaccheus received Jesus' love,
And his heart was truly moved and touched to follow Jesus,
Without asking,
Without boasting,
Without fishing for a compliment,
In complete sincerity and true repentance,

"Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, 'Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.'"

This is what a rich man's heart in the RIGHT POSTURE will do. He will move into generosity, repentance and making things right because he is overflowing with the desire to be like Jesus.

And here's how Jesus responded...

Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."

So in this scenario, this super rich man received salvation.
Jesus approved of him.
Jesus ate dinner with him.
This camel made it through the eye of the needle!
Who'd a thunk it?

So for those of you with a desire to succeed,
With a desire to build,
With a desire to grow,
That in itself does not make you a camel that won't fit through the eye of a needle.

HOWEVER, wealthy is a very seductive mistress that Satan is always trying to use to distract you.
And here's the greatest challenge and test of all...
Being successful.
That is the most slipperly slope of letting go of Jesus and not holding on tight.
Unless you have FIRM habits and foundations rooted in the LOVE of Christ and the PERSONAL relationship with Him,
You will be like the seed that the farmer sows on the road that gets picked up by the birds or the one that grows but get's choked out by weeds.
In this case, for entrepreneurs, we get choked out by business, by success, by wealth, by our pursuit of happiness that we put in worldly things and not seeking Jesus FIRST.

So I applaud our fellow camels out there,
But be careful,
Keep you eye on Jesus,
Spend time with Him daily,
Read scripture daily,
Make it a non-negotiable,
Pray for strength to keep Him #1 in your life.

Cheers to being a camel that fits through the needle.

What is ONE thing you can do today to seek Jesus first?
Just reply and let me know!