There’s one particular phrase I heard taken out of context a lot growing up, but it requires a hefty bit of explanation. You see, there’s an entire invented architectural feature that goes along with this one, so strap yourselves in because, this week, we’re looking at the Eye of the Needle…
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. (Mark 10:25, NRSV)
Where It’s Often Cited:
“Whoa, hang on. Jesus doesn’t mean an actual needle. You see, Jerusalem had a small gate called the ‘Eye of the Needle’ that never closed. If a traveler with a heavy-laden camel arrived after the main gate had been shut and locked for the night, they could go through the Eye of the Needle instead. To fit the camel through this small doorway, the traveler would have to take any bags off of the camel and force it to bend down. So Jesus isn’t actually saying the rich can’t enter the Kingdom of God; he’s saying the rich need to unburden themselves and kneel down to come in.”
That’s a neat little image, huh? Too bad it’s entirely made up.
Original Context:
There is no archaeological evidence whatsoever to support the existence of such a gate, and passing a large animal (usually a camel or elephant) through the eye of a sewing needle is a recurring idiom in rabbinic teaching. While you really can visit an “eye of the needle” gate in modern Jerusalem, it’s a more recent invention for tourists based on the modern myth. But look, two points about this:
(1) The gate myth betrays Jesus’s actual argument here. Just two verses later, when the disciples are despairing that it seems like no one can be saved, Jesus elaborates, “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.” Jesus says it is impossible for a human being to get a camel through the eye of a needle. Period. That’s the whole point of the idiom: it’s impossible. Jesus is saying that the rich cannot save themselves through their wealth or piety; only God can save them, so they’re going to need to put their faith in something other than money. If it were possible to fit a camel through the eye of a needle, that would contradict Jesus’s whole point.
(2) It’s fascinating to me how modern Western Christians are so intent on redeeming the rich. When Jesus encounters rich people in the gospels, he humbles them, instructs them to sell their possessions, and sometimes even uses them as villains in parables. Jesus had harsh words for the wealthy, but for modern American Christians especially, wealth is a core value of our society. American capitalism assumes that everyone is trying to get rich and that anyone can become rich, and our economy revolves around the theory that our mutual competition balances out to benefit everyone. This economic belief system clashes hard with the teachings of Jesus, who prophesied a Kingdom where the first shall be last, where the mighty are brought low, and where money is so worthless we’ll pave the streets with it. To make Jesus and capitalism work together, we’ve had to do some impressive biblical contortionism: inventing the needle eye gate, insisting the Parable of the Talents is literal, resurrecting the Old Testament idea of “tithing” to replace Jesus’s command to give it all away, creating whole fanfiction around the rich young ruler, etc. Our culture is determined to save itself through wealth, but that’s not what Jesus taught.
Now, full disclosure: I’m a big giant hypocrite on this issue. As someone who has weathered two major recessions, a student loan crisis, ever-increasing income inequality, inflation, and an absurd housing bubble, I’m pretty invested in the idea of financial stability. And as someone who has only ever lived in capitalist America, I have a hard time imagining any other system. When Jesus says to sell everything and give the money to the poor, I get a little uneasy because I’ve only ever lived in a system where we had to compete for basic resources (and where people with inherited wealth had a perpetual upper hand). But with God there is no scarcity. Jesus preached abundance and prosperity and eternity— not in earthly riches, but in a greater Kingdom than we can fathom. In God’s Kingdom, everyone is provided for, and striving is replaced with peace. Because God does the impossible, we can set aside our hoarded wealth and economic competition. We might think we need them, but Jesus assures us here that we don’t (as hard as that may be to believe). As tempting as it is to try and soften Jesus’s words, they’re a hard message we need to hear. Wealth won’t save us; God’s love will.
And that’s the truth of the Eye of the Needle.
But that makes me really curious… what are your thoughts on modern tithing? (I ask as someone who did so religiously for quite a time… until our kids health insurance was more than our tithe.)
The very very short version is that I’m not a fan, but I may have to write a whole post on this at some point! Thanks for the idea, Kathy!
While I believe in financial giving as part of spiritual discipline and growth, the concept of tithing to the church always struck me as a little manipulative. At this point, I’ve worked in enough churches that I want to see a budget before I trust a church with my money; with most churches’ main expenses being buildings and clergy salaries, there are other organizations out there better positioned to help people in need. I love my church, and I give to my church to support our programs because I think they’re great, but at the end of the day, I know World Central Kitchen can get more out of my dollar.
Since I’ve always found modern tithing kind of sketchy, I never actually preached tithing while working in a church. Still, I did hold myself to the standard of 10% for a while. Frankly, looking at my old church’s budget and then at the drastically different biblical teaching on money was what ultimately dissuaded me from the practice. 10% may have made sense in the era described in the Torah, but it’s a very arbitrary number for our modern context.
Nowadays, I like when I can give more (since Jesus advocates for some pretty radical giving), but I’m okay with giving less, and candidly, that happens more frequently due to kid-related expenses and the general expensiveness of being alive in 21st Century America. Sometimes all I can give is my time, and I’m okay with that. Sometimes a friend in need or a nonprofit is just a more immediate concern, and I think Jesus would be okay with that.
So yeah, always found tithing sketchy, and I think the Hebrew Bible passages on the subject are very much misapplied today.
Where in the New Testament does it say to tithe. My understanding is that we are to give from the heart. When we do this most times we will end up giving more.
I do a worship offering to God and most times it’s above 10%. My thought on tithing is us living under the law. As Christian we now live under grace. If we live under the law then we will be judge according to the law and we have to atone for our sins one a year. The law is not for us Christians, It’s for those that have not accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. Grace is what we live under as Christians. There are sometimes that God will instruct you to bless someone in need instead of giving to the church and that’s what you should do.
Old Testament
Leviticus 27:30
The Bible is very clear in Leviticus 27:30 where it says “A tenth of the produce of the land, whether grain or fruit, is the Lord’s, and is holy.” And Proverbs 3:9 (NIV) says, “Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops.” It’s critical to recognize that tithing was central to God’s law.
Malachi 3 Verses 8 to 12
[8] Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
[9] Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
[10] Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
[11] And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the LORD of hosts.
[12] And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the LORD of hosts.
Because we are under GRACE our Heavenly Father no longer curse us with a curse like the churches of today teach to force us into titheing submission. Whereas they cause the body of Christ to fear being curse by God and not Loved.
New Testament
Churches freely gave to Paul in order to support his ministry (2 Cor. 11:8-9; 1 Cor. 9:6-18). One could not have expected Paul to have a day-to-day occupation when he was traveling around the region preaching the gospel, could he?
Paul wrote, “Even so, the Lord has ordained that those who preach the gospel should live of the gospel” (1 Cor. 9:14), and he declared that he had the authority to not work (1 Cor. 9:6).
If I’m hearing you right, it sounds like you agree that tithing is a doctrine specific to the Hebrew law which is misapplied in modern churches (often to an oppressive extent). I also agree that some of our modern churches tend to talk up curses and fear way more than love (a few future posts forthcoming).
While this may get away from the central point of your comment, I’m intrigued by the notion of Paul working or not during his ministry. On the one hand, he says in Galatians that communities of Christians should compensate their clergy financially. On the flip side, Acts 18 shows him bonding with Priscilla and Aquila over their shared profession (tent making), and I’ve always found the phrasing there (“and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them”) a little ambiguous. I imagine that with Paul’s energy, he could have easily pulled off bi-vocational ministry— maybe not working a full-time job in the modern sense, but possibly engaging in some manual labor while just starting to establish his presence in a city. Just a thought.
That cant be right..The Lord Jesus said to give…and it will come back to you..He never said he’d cancel tithing..Nor ‘our’ money our own..it is the Lord’s. He giveth the Power to get wealth. Therefore, if we love the LORD Jesus we must honor him with our substance by giving. The tithe, I believe, is the bare minimum, a start-up discipline for us, to enable us to give more later, for the work of the ministry. Because God is the source of everything we need: wisdom, health, safety, protection, sound mind, peace, power to get wealth..He literally owns everything we have. He is just the gentleman that he is that he only requires the 10% share from all that he gave us, until we learn to give him more and then more and then our all, as the case of the perfect rich young man
May I suggest that Tithe isn’t even a suggestion by Jesus but a heart issue. That money you have made is just an act of Gods grace in your life. He is the one who makes you to prosper. Jesus told young ruler to sell all. That’s not a tithe but rather all. When we struggle with a tithe and offerings we are holding on to the world that will pass away. But when we connect with Gods agenda on earth we will see His Kingdom come. Strip off this sense that you have accomplished anything at all but by the Grace of God.
You may say what I am saying is foolishness. But did not Jesus also say if you have looked at a woman lustfully you have committed adultery. He also said if you are angry with someone you will face judgement like murder. Jesus’ standard were heart standards one that requires you to walk in the Spirit of the law. But how then can you accomplish this. Through Jesus Christ living through us and the power of the Holy Spirit. Revelation 3:14-20 speaks to the rich young ruler and for many in the American Church. Have I mastered this lifestyle no but is God calling us as disciples to live this way yes. I pray that as a church as whole we can adopt this lifestyle of community living and use the wealth, that God has provided for him.
The 10% tithing sentiment is a mystical teaching. Rid yourself of the 10% in the left hemisphere of the brain and enter into the right side. The tribe of Judah was on the right side, rising in the East.