The Bottom Line.

School most years I find a little dull, uninteresting, and irrelevant. This year in particular is no exception. In fact it has increased. I tried for a little while to brush this off as 'senioritis' but this clearly wasn't the case. There has been something going on this last 3 weeks of school, that has brought up more doubt, more confusion, and frustration than ever before. It took me a while to pinpoint exactly what the problem was, and I never expected to learn a lesson about Jesus in it, but since I did, here goes my thoughts about Jesus and Business School.

Business School this year, (as well as most years) is all about money. We will have several hour lectures on exchange rates, the future value of a dollar, and how to make money. If I was to sum up what the last 4 years of business school has taught me it is this; 'Make as much money as possible, whatever it takes.'

In fact that statement isn't that far from the truth. In my senior business class my instructor said 'To be a good business person there are 3 things to do.

1. Make money,
2. Keep shareholders happy,
3. Always act ethically and responsibly, unless when it violates 1 or 2.'

Now if that doesn't jump out at you right away, then read it a few more times. Get why that is messed up right now. This is what my college is teaching the future business leaders of our nation. That the most important thing to do is make money. Indirectly, we are also be taught that personal safety, health, and even human life in general has a price. I am coming to that conclusion because, there is a simple formula to follow.

(e) = Event
(R) = Cost to remedy a situation, with court settlements etc.
(z) = Potential profit margin increase from (e)

If z > R we are taught at business school that this is a good idea. It is easier to mess up someones life, and take the burden of lawsuits since it will be creating more money for the shareholders.

Needless to say, it should be clear why Im starting to become more and more uninterested in business school. If there was one giant thing that was holding me back from being a better Christian it was money. But I realized that the American Dream is crap compared to the Kingdom Dream! The America Dream says, make as much money and get as much fame for yourself as possible. The Kingdom Dream, says give away all your money and everything you own of value, and get as much fame for Jesus as possible. Truth be told, the Kingdom Dream is so much better. I wish I could get a major in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now this talk isn't actually about money, even though Ill write a blog post eventually elaborating on some of these elements. This blog post is actually about something else. The fact is in business school something I hear alot is "the bottom line." Essentially this phrase means what is the absolutely lowest I can acquire this for. In a business deal, someone would say this when they are trying to eliminate as many costs as possible.

Ironically this phrase was something I was thinking about alot today. I was trying to imagine what life today would look like if Jesus said to the Father, "Ok dad, whats the bottom line here? What is cheapest price I have to pay to reconcile your wrath and save these people?" Lucky for us, Jesus is a terrible business man (at least according to our culture, perhaps, he is the best example of a businessman there is, let that stew for a while)
Jesus, instead said, "I will give everything, including life itself to reconcile the wrath of God and save the world." The more I think about it, Jesus gave everything when he didn't have to. So what is the 'Bottom Line' for me. The minimal amount I can give, is my life. Giving my life to Jesus is the bottom line. It is the cheapest, I can obtain everlasting life, and a relationship with God. Now that we have establish that "the bottom line." is a rather corrupt business tactic, I think its safe to say that I don't want to give God the minimal amount. Especially when we know that God will multiply my investment 10 fold. In fact from a business standpoint, giving God everything will yield the highest return. So let us follow the example of Jesus, and ask not the Father "what is the bottom line here?" Instead let us give God everything and then ask "What more can I give you today?"