The Economy of the Infinite: Opportunity Cost

Opportunity cost defined…
“The cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action.”
-Financial Dictionary

Basically, if you choose Option A, you give up Option B. If you pick Rocky Road, you surrender Cookies ‘n’ Cream. If you pursue a college decree, you relinquish a full-time income. If you choose the night lights of the city, you forfeit the starry skies of the country.

Ever since I first wrote on the economy of the infinite last spring, I’ve been considering opportunity cost in the realm of eternal truths. There are at least two ways in which this economic term is reflected in the gospel. One relates to Christ’s decisions, and one relates to mine...and to yours.

In Philippians 2, Paul gives us a glimpse of what opportunity cost looked like for the world’s preeminent hero:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (verses 5-8)

The all-sufficient, all-powerful Christ gave up His heavenly throne to come to earth as a needy baby. Though He was fully God, He didn’t take advantage of His divine privileges. He relinquished them, subjecting Himself to the limitations of humanity. But He didn’t come to just be human. The peak of Christ’s earthly purpose was accomplished in His excruciating suffering and death and in His triumphant resurrection.

We can see what Christ sacrificed. But why? What was His motive for choosing Option A and giving up Option B? The answer is twofold. Number one: Jesus came to die that God might be glorified. “‘Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again’” (John 12:27-28).

Number two: Jesus came to die so that a lost world might be saved from hell. “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). Paul put it like this: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9).

The sacrificial generosity of Christ has been seen and sung for two thousand years. But why doesn’t everyone choose it? The math seems pretty simple. We deserve hell. Jesus offers heaven to us if we truly repent and trust in His moral perfection to replace our moral filth. So, if we choose to believe that in faith, we forfeit our tickets to eternal suffering. Pretty sweet deal. Why wouldn’t everyone pick that option?

Well, lest I oversimplify the issue, it may be a matter of never hearing the truth. It may be a matter of never recognizing a need for salvation. But it may be a matter of opportunity cost. G.K. Chesterton wrote, “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried.” Jesus told His disciples:

If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. (Matthew 16:24-27)

Now, was Jesus saying every true believer must be a martyr? Was He saying that real Christians must live a life void of happiness and pleasure? Of course not. Jesus was saying that the choice to pursue Him is just like any other choice, and, though the rewards are infinitely great, it demands a price. A life truly submitted to the lordship of Jesus will increasingly reflect that joyful submission in actions, desires, words, and thoughts. God doesn’t want your lip service, and on Judgment Day, it will mean nothing. (Matthew 7:21)

So following Christ means we are obedient to His Father. (1 John 2:3-6, 3:4-10, 5:1-5) Opportunity cost for the Christian means you don’t get to do whatever you want. You don’t get to cheat your way to gain or ease. You don’t get to gossip about your neighbor. You don’t get to waste your life in drunkenness. You don’t get to gratify your lusts with pornography. You don’t get to have sex outside of marriage. You don’t get to spend all of your resources on your own pursuits. You don’t get to hide when truth must be championed. You don’t get to be silent when souls around you are perishing. You don’t get marry an unbeliever. You don’t get to respond in anger when you’ve been wronged. The list goes on.

You may be thinking you’ve already messed up too much...the above list was essentially your biography. Or you may be thinking that there's way too many don’ts to be worth it. To the former, I say, keep reading. To the latter, remember what’s on the other side of the scale –eternal, horrific suffering. Forfeiting some instant gratification and worldly pleasure in this whisper of time we call life is far less egregious than spending eternity in hell. And, like I said before, you don’t have to give up every pleasure. Every good thing is from God –beer, sex, vacations, beauty, wealth. But the way we pursue, use, and spend those good things must honor God.

Please don’t misunderstand me. You cannot save yourself by obedience. Paul told the Ephesians, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9). But your works, your obedience, are the evidence of your faith (James 2:14-26). God doesn’t expect His children to be perfect, but He does expect us to be faithful. And in that we forego those behaviors that blaspheme Christ's work on the Cross. Obedience is a response to grace. It’s a response to the Cross. We obey out of humble gratitude. Like the prostitute who wiped Jesus’ feet with her hair, those who are forgiven much, love much. We can love because we’ve been so loved. We express our love in obedience.

Taste and See: An Ode to My God

Fiona (who I affectionately call Flea) and I stayed home from church this morning because the poor little dear caught the stomach flu. So she napped, the sky drizzled, and I sat down with my Bible and journal to reflect with God on past weeks. You wouldn’t think being trapped inside with the flu bug on a drippy day could be so encouraging but such was the case…to the extent that my heart overflows in praise to my Lord, and I want you to know what He’s done.

Situations and circumstances have recently catapulted me into a state of spiritual unrest, for lack of a better term. Some of this is due to my own sinful foolishness. Some of it is a result of living in a fallen world. But this morning I’d had enough. Feeling overwhelmingly sinful and spiritually thirsty, I knew I needed to soak in the wisdom of the Most High. I studied Ephesians this week in my class, so that’s where I went. Paul starts his letter reminding the church of all they have in Christ:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

This is the gospel and its rich implications for those who believe. Here, in the beauty of Christ and the grandeur of God’s sovereignty, I found respite for my weary soul. But God wasn’t finished. As I prayed through the above verses, I was particularly grateful for Christ’s blood; because in my depraved wretchedness, it is my only hope for salvation. Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient -even in my miserable failings and fallings. What a comfort to know God’s favor towards me is not based on what I can or can’t do, but on the finished work of Jesus. That’s what it means to be saved by grace. But, as Paul wrote to the Romans, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” So I exalted in the finishing work of the Cross but continued to look for wisdom to be obedient in fighting against my own depravity.

That’s when I remembered Ephesians 5. Paul is talking to husbands but references Christ’s sacrificial death which sanctified His Bride, the church. She is “cleansed…by the washing of water with the word.” The author of Hebrews wrote that “the word of God is living and active.” So, in the knowledge that I have been betrothed to Christ by His death and resurrection, I prayed that God would cleanse and lead me by His Word.

I went on journaling and praying through all the stuff of the past weeks and the grime of my own heart. In the issue which caused the most havoc, I realized I was gripped by fear. I was afraid of my own propensity for sin –its subtlety and its strength. I was afraid of continuing on my current path for fear of making another mistake. I was afraid of making a new path for fear of the effects it may have. I was a slave to fear.

And here God faithfully answered my prayer to be sanctified by His Word. He brought to mind Paul’s words in Romans 8: “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” I realized that the fear of my own sin and weakness was inhibiting me from living boldly for the Kingdom. And if that’s how I’m living, then I’m functionally rendering Christ’s work on the cross as powerless and worthless. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1). So with my eyes fixed on Christ and the hope of the gospel, I hopefully and joyfully continue on this path as a soldier of the King, made strong in Jesus and the Word.

I am overwhelmed by the mercy of my God. This morning I tasted and saw that He is good. I cried for help and He answered. Today, in another degree, the living Word conformed my heart and mind to Christ’s. And that is “to the praise of His glorious grace.”

Meditations on Psalm 1

This psalm promises blessing for the one who delights in the Word of God. But the psalmist does not only offer this positive action, something to do –he also provides a negative, something from which to abstain. Blessed is the man who turns from the wicked’s advice, who avoids the sinners’ lifestyle, who removes himself from the scoffers’ presence. The child of God may read and love Scripture, but that is not enough. He cannot muddle its counsel with that of the world. Human emotion and subjectivity may say this dangerous mixture seems right and good, but it is impure –the world’s contribution is smattered, however subtly, with the dross of the Fall. It cannot be trusted. A dear friend –who is good and moral but not bearing the fruit of one who is truly redeemed– cannot be trusted. Even with the best of intentions, her counsel must ultimately be compared to the Word of God. How prevalent this combination of “Word-plus-world” is in the Church today! Too many members of the Body draw “wisdom” from Isaiah and Oprah, Paul and Dr. Phil, the Prophets and The View –and all receive an equal hearing. Sadly, the latter too often shapes the Bride’s worldview more than the former.

So let us humbly pursue truth from the Originator of truth, knowing we will never fully understand all things but that the blessing is in the seeking.

The Economy of the Infinite

Economist and writer Thomas Sowell once wrote, “The first lesson of economics is scarcity: There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it.” While I’m confident Dr. Sowell knows a great deal more about economics than I could ever hope to possess, I cannot completely agree with him on this point. That scarcity is the first lesson of economics, I wouldn’t know. Sounds plausible. And the earth’s limit of “goods, services, and resources” also seems to be quite logical. But there is one exception.

Let me preface my thoughts by saying that I in no way intend to attack Dr. Sowell. I assume he wrote the above in the context of finite economics –those we grudgingly learned about in grade school. That financial system which affects the cost of gas and the price of wheat. Supply. Demand. Opportunity cost. Inflation. In that context, Dr. Sowell’s assertion seems true –even wise. But I want to introduce another economic system. It is both infinite and infinitely important. So I only want to use Sowell’s quote to draw a comparison and put an unconventional spin on the “old, old story.”

The idea first came to me as I was listening to R.C. Sproul preach a sermon from 1 Peter 1:18-19 on Christ’s “precious blood.” Precious, timios, isn’t just an aesthetic adjective Peter picked to add some pizzazz to his writing. It is a powerful, intentional descriptor to convey the value of Christ’s blood. Sproul defines the precious as that which is “not common…extraordinary.” So what’s so remarkable about the blood of Christ? Peter says we are to know “that [we] were ransomed from [unrighteousness], not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” Contrasted with perishable, though “precious” metals, here we see a picture of the perfection of our Savior. And therein lies our answer.

No man, woman, or child who ever walked the face of the earth lived a perfect life. And no one is living such a life. And no one ever will. But then there’s Jesus –tempted in every way and without sin. Blameless. Righteous. The life of Christ was “without blemish or spot.”

I’ll come back to that; but, first, the issue of blood. One might wonder why blood is such a big deal. Some may think such an emphasis a bit violent or morbid or savage. The answer starts back in the Old Testament. The Lord, in His sovereign work of redemption, instituted a precedent, which became a foreshadowing to its fulfillment in Christ. The sacrificial system. In this system, blood was sacred. God said, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life” (Leviticus 17:11). The blood of the Israelites’ sacrifices was their atonement, their reconciliation to God. We’ve already established no one is perfect. From the moment of Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden, man has lived saturated in the muck of sin. It is our nature. We cannot escape. So as the Israelites needed the sacrifice of blood, life, to be right with God; so we all need the sacrifice of blood to be right with Him. And it can’t be a drop or a pint. It must be “the blood that makes atonement by the life.” He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed (1 Peter 2:24).

Let’s connect the dots. Christ’s life was perfect. The only life ever to be perfect. So His blood, His life, is one-of-a-kind. Rarest of the rare. Most precious. As Sproul said, “Scarcity drives value.” The blood of Christ is the most valuable commodity, if you will, in the history of the planet. But scarcity isn’t the only factor of this infinite economy. Demand. Whether people admit it or not, they need the blood of Christ. They need atonement by it. I need atonement by it. In fact, it is the only genuine need I have. Everything else is dispensable. Nothing else is eternal. What is needed by every person on the face of the earth? All 6.8 billion of us? What was needed by the billions who lived before us and what will be needed by the billions who live after us? The blood of Jesus. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. So Christ’s blood is not only the most scarce, it is in highest demand. If the blood of our Savior is not precious, nothing is precious.

Going back to our dear Dr. Sowell – “There is never enough of anything to satisfy all those who want it.” Again, in Christ we see the exception. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13). In Christ alone am I completely satisfied. Even when the road is long and hard, I can be filled in no one or nothing else. There is no substitute for Reality.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.

1 Peter 3:18

This is the economy of the infinite. It is the economy of your soul.

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Hebrews 13:20-21

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I realize there are more illustrations to be made between the finite economy and the infinite economy. But I will endeavor to make them another day. Stay tuned for opportunity cost…

VERSE REFERENCES
Our sin: Psalm 14:1-3; Romans 3:23
Christ’s perfection: Hebrews 4:15; Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22; 1 John 3:5
Christ’s provision: Psalm 23:1; John 4:1-45; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Philippians 4:19

[Read and/or listen to Sproul’s sermon here: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=427082318128.]

What is the Church? A Response to a Friend

A friend recently asked me the following:

What is church? What we normally do on a given sunday morning, like the songs and message and sunday school, etc., do you see a scriptural basis or precendent for it? This came up in conversation last week, as my girlfriend and I were talking about the sermon we'd just heard. We've had people in the past who are like, "I don't need to go to church because according to the Bible, we ARE the church." What would you say to such a person?

And this is my response:
Let me say I am quite humbled by your opinion of my understanding of the Church. And blessed by it. I DO love the Church, but there is so much I don’t know. So much on which I fumble about. So much more I could do to love Her better. There are a great many among your acquaintance who could give you a richly biblical and articulate answer -and even more whose works you could read. But the Lord led you to ask me (perhaps more for my benefit than yours), so I will attempt to give you the best I have.

The person who says, “We ARE the church,” is very right; but the person who prefaces that with “I don’t need to go to church because…” is very wrong. Let me rephrase it like this: “I don’t need to go to the church local because we are the Church universal." This is antithetical to what I believe the true statement is: “Because we are the Church universal, we need to be a part of the church local.” Let me see if I can develop a biblical basis for you. (In general, a great book to study and see both facets of the Church is Acts. It would be interesting to know if there were different Greek words for the Church universal and the church local or if one pulls the distinction primarily from context...)

First, what makes one a part of the Church? (Capital ‘c’ will henceforth denote the Church universal.) I think the easiest answer for this (based on my biblical capacities) is in Jesus’s High Priestly prayer in John 17. Jesus specifically prays for those given Him by God, who believe in Christ -those who have heard His words and believed them and kept them. He also prays for those who will believe in Him through the word of His disciples (you and I). So Christ acknowledges a specific group as those who believe in Him and obey His word. (He even says He’s NOT praying for the world.) The Great Commission (Matthew 28:1820) removes the limit of this group to a specific location or time. And He prays for the unity of us all. So it’s not surprising that Paul tells the Romans, “in Christ we who are many form one body” (12:5). What makes the Church is Christ, and He is the head (Colossians 1:18). A few more verses involving the Church: Acts 9:31, Galatians 6:10, Hebrews 2:11, Acts 14:23.

Now, for the local church… Nowhere in the Bible, that I know of, anyway, does it say, “Thou shall attend church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night or thou shall be damned to hell.” I don’t even find a conservative variation of that. But we do know the first believers of the Church “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers,” thus forming the first local church (Acts 2:42). (I’m not sure if there’s a verse which explicitly states an equivalent to “the local church is formed by members of the Church as they meet and care for each other.”) How can one devote himself to teaching he does not hear? (The command for and purpose of preaching is a response in and of itself. 1 Timothy 4:13, for starters.) If the Church is one body (see verses above), how can one be part of a body to which he is not connected? (Perhaps that’s why Paul uses the analogy to begin with -to necessitate connection???) The writer of Hebrews clearly commands against “neglecting to meet together” (10:25). I’m not sure if a guy would need more motivation than that to pursue fellowship in a local body, but… Throughout the New Testament, there is a sense (and direct command!!!) of fellowship for the purpose of edification and encouragement. We are to love as Christ loved, laying down His life for His Bride (1 John 3:16). How can one love those with whom he does not spend time? How can he be loved by them? And the church serves another purpose: exhortation & discipline. Jesus Himself gives the structure for church discipline in Matthew 18:15-17. How can one be held accountable by the church if he does not place himself under that accountability? The Church is an institution of God to convey the love of Christ to the world and grow us to be like Him; under His inspiration, men have written the practical application of its “hands and feet” in the local church. I would take that VERY seriously.

So I would ask Mr. “We ARE the church” to consider how he became a member of the Church. Ask him who his Head is and what the Head calls him to do. Ask him why men, under God’s inspiration and Christ‘s authority, command us NOT to NEGLECT meeting together, but to be devoted to public preaching, exhortation, and rebuking. Ask him why there is time spent in the Bible outlining local church leadership. Then ask him where his biblical basis is for not taking part in a local church body because “we ARE the church.” I think he’ll find his thesis is contradictive and anti-biblical.

As for your first question: “What is church?” -I think it’s answered most simply in the description of the Early Church: Christ-followers who devote themselves to the apostles’ (biblical) teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And all of that for the glory and proclamation of Christ. Christ is the Head and the Center. Whatever the Church is, it should revolve around Jesus Christ. The rest of what you mentioned (songs, Sunday School, etc) typically has a biblical basis for its profitability, but not in its explicit structure. Church ecclesiology, how the local church is structured, is also an area that isn’t particularly black and white; thus, in part, the variety in denominations. This relates a lot to my recent questioning. Christ was very clear in His emphasis of praying for the unity of the Church, as were the Apostles. What do we do with the many divisions of denominations in the Church? The root issue, I think, involves interpreting the Bible. But that’s another discussion we can delve into another day.