A reflection on the series of posts that I have just written.You can read the first here.
Passing through the eye of a needle
Reflecting on the common but differentiated responsibilities that we share in relation to climate change reminds me of Jesus’ response to the enthusiastic man who runs up and kneels before him to ask what he must do to inherit eternal life. It’s told in the gospels of Mark (10:17-31), Luke and Matthew. We don’t learn until right at the end of the story that he “had many possessions”, but we can assume that Jesus would have been aware of this from his appearance when they first met.
Jesus first reminds him of the last six of the Ten Commandments. At least he appears to, but on close reading he swaps the 10th Biblical commandment, “You shall not covet”, for his own “You shall not defraud”. Perhaps Jesus thought that the rich are more likely to defraud than to covet!
The man tells him that he’s done all these things since his youth. Jesus then goes further, “sell what you own, give the money to the poor … then come, follow me”. The man’s initial enthusiasm drains away, and he leaves, “grieving, for he had many possessions”.
Jesus then turns to his disciples and explains how difficult it is for “those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God” and adds that, “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle”. There have been various attempts over the centuries to soften this saying, but it is essentially a hyperbolic and humorous statement of impossibility. It is impossible for the largest animal that anyone in the audience has ever come across to pass through the smallest hole they have ever seen.
The differentiated responsibilities that are required of the wealthy, whether individually or collectively within the developed nations (to use the language of the UNFCCC), are not to give up everything, as Jesus required, but they will require us to give up some things. The wealthy today, however, do not find this any easier than the wealthy of Jesus’ times. This includes most of us in the UK where median income is over 5 times greater than that across the world as a whole.
The rich man was able to walk away from Jesus because there was no-one there to compel him to stay and accept the choice that Jesus offers him. To turn it down is his loss, and he knows it, leaving in grief. Those of us want to live in a better world have a responsibility to call on those who act on our behalf to engage positively with the choices with which we are presented today. Without this, we will all be left to grieve.
Large Blue 