A Few Years Ago, I was hired as a faculty member at a local university. The typical process for advancement in such a position—called a tenure-track review—takes place five years into one's term. At that point, one's performance is evaluated. If the performance is deemed to be of a high enough standard, tenure is usually granted and employment continues. If the performance is not judged adequate, employment is terminated.
A friend of mine told me I should sacrifice everything to obtain tenure.
Knowing that I had been hired under these conditions, a friend of mine told me that this opportunity was the "pearl of great price," and that I should sacrifice everything in order to obtain tenure. I recognized the phrase my friend used as coming from a Biblical parable, where Jesus likened the kingdom of heaven to a merchant who found a pearl of great value and sold all that he had in order to purchase it. See Matt. 13:45, 46 . Evidently, my friend had taken the parable to mean that we must make big sacrifices to fulfill our ambitions.
