Christian Opportunism, Part I
The true cost of something is what you give up to get it. Opportunity cost is term most often used in economics and business. I believe, though, that the principle offers tremendous insight into everyday life. It’s the difference between liking something and liking the idea of something.
I. Take for example a random act of kindness: providing a simple meal–let’s say a burger, fries, and a drink–to someone in need.
The cost of the food itself: $5.00 – got it.
The time investment: 10 minutes (maybe) – got it.
Factor in the fact that it’s good to feed the hungry and on top of that it just plain feels good to help someone out. What other costs are involved?
The cost of setting aside what I’m doing (staying the same) for doing something else (change). That’s what tips the scale.
Don’t get me wrong, we make excuses and rationalize ourselves so it doesn’t seem so selfish; we can even make it sound quite responsible not to help a person in need! The fact is, the opportunity cost is keeping us from action.
II. Example number 2: physical health.
The cost of my gym membership: $30/mo.
The time investment: 1 hour/day
A lower commitment of time and money (you can exercise for free for as much time as you have) is very available, but it’s not about that; it’s about the fact that the opportunity cost keeps our lazy butts in the sofa.
III. Last example (for this blog): Spiritual health.
Most Spiritual disciplines don’t cost a thing financially. It’s easy to like the idea of being a follower of Christ…
Time investment: by now you should be realizing that it’s not about how much time these things take; the fact is that we aren’t willing to put aside our daily plans, even if we realize that 2+2=4 and the things we currently invest ourselves into will not pay worthwhile dividends.
How can we keep our lives and resources in proper perspective so that opportunity costs don’t keep us from action? Part II is coming soon and the major idea is that when it comes to our relationships, we’re far too afraid to offer constructive criticism. Thoughts?
Posted on July 26, 2011, in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. 8 Comments.
My wife, Melissa, and me!
love it. that’s all.
Thanks Karen
Give a man a fish and you’ll feed him for a day. Teach him to fish and he’ll starve to death
Interesting connection
I guess Ive always looked at an opportunist in a different way. Not opportunity lost but gained. In a bad way. I know people who only would do that act of feeding someone if it provided them with an opportunty…not because its just the right thing to do.
That’s quite true, Brie. As for the positive side–redeeming the negative connotation–we’ll get there in “Part III.” Stay tuned!
Good word! Interesting how we can minimize God by only acting on the opportunities that we view as “worth it”.
This brings to mind a common thread in both economics and behaviorism, though it’s referenced in different terms in each field. The basic idea of opportunity cost in economics is that we will not do anything in which the opportunity cost is greater than the payout. In behaviorism, we will not engage in anything that is not more reinforcing than what we are currently doing.
Thankfully, though, we humans do have the ability to meta-cognate, and engage in activities that are less immediately reinforcing or have a higher opportunity cost than our current activity because we can reference the future, long-run reinforcement (or “payout”) mentally.
I guess that’s really a key part, then, of discipline: consciously being mindful of not only immediate costs and benefits, but also those that are not immediate and/or build over time. But it’s also more than that: we have to not only be aware of it and know it intellectually, but also feel it and trust (God) that doing the right thing actually IS worthwhile.