Money and the Christian: Opportunity Cost and what it proves

If I remember anything about economics class…and I don’t…there was this one concept that I remember. “The economic problem: Scarcity.” And yes, I just checked on Wikipedia to make sure I had it right.

The economic problem, scarcity, simply means that we have limited means to satisfy unlimited wants. Therefore, choices must be made. And whatever you didn’t choose is called the “opportunity cost.”

Simple example. I am at Winco. I have three dollars. Cheese filled little smokies? 2.74. Java Monster energy drink? 1.99. Greedy as I am, I take both to the front check out. The checkout lady says to me,

“You insolent, mentally decrepit fool. This total comes out to 4.73. You only have 3.00. Choose what you will not take home with you.”

“But…but…I want both! Can’t I have both?”

“Bite thy tongue, you mathematically impaired glutton! You must choose to leave one here with me.”

Whichever one I choose to leave, that one is the “opportunity cost.” Choosing Java Monster costs me my chance to savor cheese filled little smokies. Choosing little smokies costs me my chance to down my Java Monster.

As you can see, this is simple. Not complicated. Not complex. Simple. But it affects everything we do, and it is WHY money is the best indicator of what we value. In order to say YES to something, I must say NO to something else. Thus, in the above example, if I choose Little Smokies, I must say no to Java Monster. Although I might change my mind, if you see me do this many times, you can safely say that I like little smokies more than I like Java Monster.

But now, we move into things that are more important than Java Monster and Little Smokies. Let’s talk about values.

Now, I am not going to talk about “right” values or “wrong” values. I am not interested in that in this blog. I am simply going to talk about consistency between verbalized values and monetary choices. Let’s say someone talks about how important it is to give money to the poor or to missions or to the church. But then, when confronted, they say that they don’t give anything right now, because they aren’t in a position where they can give money to any of the above.

“Why not?”

“Well, because it’s really tight right now.”

A realistic answer. But…if suddenly they are wearing new clothes, or they just got a new video game, or they eat out at restaurants, is it really that tight right now, financially? I must emphasize and repeat: I am not saying that new clothes or video games or eating out at restaurants is wrong, nor am I saying it is a higher or lower value than tithing. On that topic I am saying…nothing. I am simply saying that in these cases, the verbalized values are different than the values shown by money. And in this case, whether it is you or whether it is a friend, which do you believe? The verbalized values? Or the monetary values?

I believe the same is true of time. One says “I have no time!” while the next says “I have some time available…” but don’t we all have 24 hours a day? Time is the one thing that we all have an equal amount of (concerning hours in a day). Some just spend it differently. And this spending of time in one place means we cannot spend time another place. Thus, we have opportunity cost in action, yet again.

 

Hence, this is probably why the saying is true. “People would rather you see them naked before they let you see their pocketbooks.” If you can see how I spend my money, all of my secrets are out. If my wife and I agree to a budget, I cannot fool her into thinking I am a different person than I really am.

And most of us value things that we would never say we value. I, for example, am a video gamer. Very few people would proudly tell their pastor that “video games are a priority in my life.” Yet, how many of us prioritize video games over sleep? Or how many of us prioritize food over friends? How many of us will get a $60 video game but deny our spouse a blender or some other device?

So this post is not about right or wrong. This post simply backs up one statement:

Money doesn’t lie. It tells more than anything else about you and what you value.

 

1 Chron 21:22-27 (NASB)

Then David said to Ornan, “Give me the site of this threshing floor, that I may build on it an altar to the LORD; for the full price you shall give it to me, that the plague may be restrained from the people.” And Ornan said to David, “Take it for yourself; and let my lord the king do what is good in his sight. See, I will give the oxen for burnt offerings and the threshing sledges for wood and the wheat for the grain offering; I will give it all.” But King David said to Ornan, “No, but I will surely buy it for the full price; for I will not take what is yours for the LORD, or offer a burnt offering which costs me nothing .” So David gave Ornan 600 shekels of gold by weight for the site. Then David built an altar to the LORD there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he called to the LORD and He answered him with fire from heaven on the altar of burnt offering. And the LORD commanded the angel, and he put his sword back in its sheath.