Threading the Needle: How an Early Christian Writing Made a Way for the Rich to Get Into Heaven

To say that the New Testament has some negative things to say about the wealthy would be an understatement:

“It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Mt. 19:24, KJV).

“Woe unto you that are rich! for ye have received your consolation” (Lk. 6:20, KJV)!

“Do not rich men oppress you, and draw you before the judgment seats” (Jas. 2:6, KJV)?

“He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away” (Lk. 1:53, KJV).

From a reading of these verses alone, it would be reasonable to conclude that wealth is a grave sin, that having money is a form of oppression against those who have not, and that no rich people will be allowed into heaven. But then what should we do with New Testament passages that speak of some wealthy Christians in a positive light? What about Lydia, the merchant who opened up her house to Paul and Silas (Acts 16:40)? What about Joanna and Susanna–women who supported Jesus’ ministry with their money (Lk. 8:3)? And what of Cornelius–the gentile believer whose military service may be controversial, but whose generosity to the poor is praised unreservedly in Scripture (Acts 10:2)?

How do we reconcile this tension between wealth’s association with sin and the existence of wealthy believers in good standing described within the pages of the New Testament? One early Christian writing, The Shepherd of Hermas, attempted to resolve that discrepancy.

A number of scholars argue that at least part of The Shepherd of Hermas was written around the end of the first century, though it doesn’t seem to have reached its final form until the second. Some early Christians considered it Scripture, while others saw it as at least an important Christian writing; thus its inclusion in a significant biblical manuscript, Codex Sinaiticus. Its genre is apocalyptic, like the Book of Revelation. Its protagonist, Hermas, is a follower of Jesus and former slave who was granted five visions and then given parables to guide his Christian walk. The second parable concerns the place of the rich in Christ’s church.

It begins this way:

“As I was walking in the field, and observing an elm and vine, and determining in my own mind respecting them and their fruits, the Shepherd appears to me, and says, ‘What is it that you are thinking about the elm and vine?’ ‘I am considering,’ I reply, ‘that they become each other exceedingly well.’ ‘These two trees,’ he continues, ‘are intended as an example for the servants of God.’”

Hermas’ guide then tells him a parable using the elm and the vine. The vine produces fruit, but its fruit will rot if it doesn’t have the vine to hold onto. In contrast, the elm produces no fruit, but does, in a sense, through its relationship with the vine. In short, when “the vine is cast upon the elm, it yields fruit both from itself and from the elm.”

The Shepherd instructs Hermas that this tells us something important about the rich and the poor in Christ’s church. He says that:

“The rich man has much wealth, but is poor in matters relating to the Lord, because he is distracted about his riches; and he offers very few confessions and intercessions to the Lord, and those which he does offer are small and weak, and have no power above. But when the rich man refreshes the poor, and assists him in his necessities, believing that what he does to the poor man will be able to find its reward with God — because the poor man is rich in intercession and confession, and his intercession has great power with God — then the rich man helps the poor in all things without hesitation; and the poor man, being helped by the rich, intercedes for him, giving thanks to God for him who bestows gifts upon him. And he still continues to interest himself zealously for the poor man, that his wants may be constantly supplied. For he knows that the intercession of the poor man is acceptable and influential with God. Both, accordingly, accomplish their work.”

In short, the rich are given to the church in order that the poor may be supported. Through their relationship, the members of Christ’s body and the mission of His church are blessed.

It’s noteworthy how this work is able to maintain the New Testament’s warning about the spiritual dangers of wealth and God’s closeness to the poor while also explaining how wealthy Christians could be welcome additions to Christ’s church. He does so through a creative reversal of expectations–the poor and weak are not here to serve the rich and powerful, as the pagan world of his day would have seen it, but in fact the opposite is true. To be truly great is not merely to have, but to use your resources in service to others.

While this reading is creative, it also has roots in other New Testament texts. For instance, James speaks of the poor man as being exalted because Christ raised him up. However, the rich man, who was already exalted in the ancient world’s system, is told to rejoice “in that he is made low: because as the flower of the grass he shall pass away.” (Jas. 1:10, KJV). The Apostle Paul adds that wealth serves as a great temptation which can destroy us, and that the “love of money,” though not money itself, “is the root of all types of evil” (1 Tim. 6:10). He goes on to warn rich brothers in the fellowship not to “trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy.”

While some wealthier Christians may object to Hermas’ characterization of them as inherently less spiritual due to the distractions of money, it may be helpful to universalize the biblical concern to one of privilege. To be rich is to have a privilege that many others do not have–but the same is true of any of the gifts which God provides. Do you use this gift to satisfy only your desires, or do you see yourself as a steward of a gift that comes from God and should be used according to His good purposes? When used in this way, wealth becomes the prerequisite of what Paul calls a “spiritual gift” in Romans 12:6-8–the gift of giving. If one cannot exercise the gift of giving without something to give, then wealth need not always be seen as an evil–even it can be as much of a liability as other spiritual gifts which can contribute to pride or selfishness; for instance the gifts of leadership which, though a potential source of temptation, are very good when they are used in service to the body of Christ. That’s why the apostle Peter wrote, “as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Peter 4:10, NKJV).

As a means of demonstrating a posture of fidelity to the God who gives, the wealthy should be “rich in good works, ready to distribute” (1 Tim. 6:17-18, KJV). When they do so, they are not merely investing their wealth on earth where it will rot or fade away, but in heaven. When we submit what we have for God’s purposes, we find that as difficult as it may be to thread a camel through the eye of a needle, “with God all things are possible” (Mk. 10:27).