I’m imaginatively inhabiting the story of Nehemiah these days, and at the same time I’m listening to the story of Billy Beane (a.k.a. Moneyball by Michael Lewis) on audiobook. Just like the The Count of Monte Cristo helps me better understand the world of Joseph, son of Jacob; so Billy Beane’s general management of the Oakland A’s helps me better understand the savvy hands-on approach of Nehemiah.

Billy and Nehemiah are like sheep amidst wolves. For instance, Billy’s payroll was approx. $41 million, but his competition’s payroll was $125 million! Similarly, Nehemiah is an enslaved exile who must maneuver through a wolfy world of formidably nefarious politicians like Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem! And yet, Billy and Nehemiah navigate the relentless complexities and challenges of their callings with serpentine shrewdness! For instance, Billy has eyes that see efficiency and excellence in people where no one else can see it! And so does Nehemiah. For example, when it comes to rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, Nehemiah doesn’t hire civil engineers, general contractors, and construction companies – instead, Nehemiah employs the goldsmiths and perfumers (see Nehemiah 3:8)!

Moreover, Billy is unlike any other GM in the biz. Billy is regularly in the clubhouse, and he’s in the weight room, and he’s in the film room – shoulder to to shoulder, and face-to-face, with his ballplayers. Billy is all up in people’s business. And that’s how Nehemiah rolls as well! Nehemiah will involve himself in people’s personal lives, and he’ll weigh in on unhealthy happenings in people’s marriages; and when people persist in their unhealthy habits Nehemiah will confront them and curse them and beat some of them and pull out their hair! (Nehemiah 13:25).

The story of Billy Beane is helping me with the actual flavor, texture, and the authentic feel of the story of Nehemiah! Bible commentaries are certainly helpful when it comes to historic information and theological undercurrents, but when it comes to imaginatively inhabiting the world of Nehemiah – Moneyball by Michael Lewis is the best resource available!

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“Every form of strength is also a form of weakness,” he once wrote. “Pretty girls tend to become insufferable because, being pretty, their faults are too much tolerated. Possessions entrap men, and wealth paralyzes them. I learned to write because I am one of those people who somehow cannot manage the common communications of smiles and gestures, but must use words to get across things that other people would never need to say.”

“The inability to envision a certain kind of person doing a certain kind of thing because you’ve never seen someone who looks like him do it before is not just a vice. It’s a luxury. What begins as a failure of the imagination ends as a market inefficiency: when you rule out an entire class of people from doing a job simply by their appearance, you are less likely to find the best person for the job.”

“People in both fields operate with beliefs and biases. To the extent you can eliminate both and replace them with data, you gain a clear advantage.”

“If you challenge conventional wisdom, you will find ways to do things much better than they are currently done.

“You know what gets me excited about a guy? I get excited about a guy when he has something about him that causes everyone else to overlook him and I know that it is something that just doesn’t matter.”

“What begins as a failure of the imagination ends as a market inefficiency: when you rule out an entire class of people from doing a job simply by their appearance, you are less likely to find the best person for the job.”

“The statistics were not merely inadequate; they lied. And the lies they told led the people who ran major league baseball teams to misjudge their players, and mismanage their games.”

“People express their fondness for a thing by thinking up lots of different ways to say it.”

“The old scouts are like a Greek chorus; it is their job to underscore the eternal themes of baseball. The eternal themes are precisely what Billy Beane wants to exploit—by ignoring them.” (Think of how Jesus did this with the Pharisees. Recall the sundry instances where Jesus blatantly downplays and/or ignores the chorus of Pharisees clamoring about their precious, “venerable”, traditions …e.g. Mark 7:1-13).

In summary – – – > Deconstruction of Gross Oversimplifications, and perverse incentives.

“His preference for leaving an honest mess for others to clean up rather than a tidy lie for them to admire.” Michael Lewis, talking about Bill James (frank beans factory security guard) 🙂

– Michael Lewis