The calculation of profit is an easy one. Simply subtract costs from total revenue to tabulate the margin of profit. When considering any kind of endeavor, counting the costs to evaluate whether it is worth the investment is essential. We don’t want to waste our resources on pursuits that will not bring us the kind of return that we seek. But the question is, what is the unit of measure that we use to calculate our profit?

Pharmaceutical companies are raking in record profits for the year — calculated in units of money. For example, prior to the Covid 19 pandemic, Moderna was a relatively small pharmaceutical company, typically making about $100 million in annual revenue. By way of contrast, their 2021 profits are projected to be $10 billion. This makes their profits one hundred times larger than their average revenue before the pandemic. Undoubtedly a financial success story, at least on the face of it. But this is only true if we consider the financial costs. When considering the collateral damage done to the percentage of people who have physically suffered or even died as a result of taking their vaccine, the costs are much more material. One wonders how God calculates the profits of pharmaceutical companies when considering the cost of unnecessary harm done to people desperately seeking safety. I doubt the numbers would be very impressive.

To some, an endeavor that appears to waste money or time might in fact produce value that is meaningful to us individually. Volunteering time or donating money are examples of giving away valuable resources that may not appear at first to bring in a profit by the same measure. The profit of those activities may be inherent in the joy of helping others. What appears to be a fruitless dedication of time and money can yield great returns when the unit of measure is not so material. As Christians, we ought to understand this clearly, as we are admonished to seek our treasure in heaven (compare Matthew 6:20). We also understand, of course, that giving to others with the right motivation will result in physical as well as spiritual blessings (Luke 6:38; Malachi 3:10; compare also Mark 10:29-30)

God wants us to profit, but only in the right way. “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the LORD your God, Who teaches you to profit, Who leads you by the way you should go. Oh, that you had heeded My commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, And your righteousness like the waves of the sea’” (Isaiah 48:17-18). Our methods and measures for achieving a profit must be guided by God. We are to make our investment with a spiritual return as our motivation, knowing that He will hold us accountable in our time of judgment. In whatever way we choose to invest the resources that God bestows upon us, the targeted product must not compromise with His commandments. He is the one who teaches us to profit through obedience, measured by the fruit of the Spirit that we are able to produce (compare the above with Galatians 5:22-25).

When we become baptized into the Family of God, we are given a measure of the Holy Spirit. It is not something that we can feel in any physical way, but it has the power to produce immense positive change in our lives. However, the power of God the Father and Jesus Christ will only work within us when we put it to use. If we choose to continue in our worldly ways, seeking a material profit by worldly measures, we will quite ironically become unprofitable (compare Matthew 25:30, Luke 17:10). Not only does God want us to be profitable with our lives, we have a responsibility and duty that we MUST be profitable. This, of course, according to our spiritual growth.

The measure of our profitability lies in the way that invests our resources spiritually. The proverbial “good life” is not identified by luxury. Rather, if we want to live the good life, we dedicate our resources to obedience, loving the way of life that God commands, with joy. Love for Him and our fellow man lead us into the kind of profits that are most valuable in the long run. If our costs are the sacrifices that we make to leave the desires of this world behind, and our revenue is spiritual fruit, then our profit is the reward promised by God to those who remain diligent in their commitment to the Work (compare Matthew 16:27).

People don’t like to think. The reasons why are not surprising when we consider what it takes to actively engage the mind. Thinking takes work, time, energy, concentration, and can even cause a modest amount of discomfort. I believe that we can all relate to some degree that it is often easier to find reasons to do anything else but think when we are faced with the need to think. Thinking is simply hard to do.

Knowing that it is difficult for people to actively engage their minds in mental exertion, we can see why people would rather believe in something “simple” even though it is wrong, rather than do the work of asking questions and seeking out the answers. It is more comfortable to believe in a simple explanation because it doesn’t require thinking.

However, quite often simple explanations focus only on a limited point of view, and reject anything that challenges such an explanation. Oversimplified explanations often get in the way of understanding the whole truth of a matter. This oversimplification is reductionism. Reductionist explanations sound good, but can be very misleading to people when a deeper understanding is needed.

Reductionist explanations can do great damage when applied in situations when more completeness is necessary. For example, if we believe that all we need to do to maintain a car is to put fuel in the gas tank, it won’t be long before no amount of gas will make it go. It is true that a car requires gasoline, but relying on an overly simplified solution that “for cars to function, they need gas” doesn’t paint the whole picture. We often need to consider more information when looking to understand how things work.

When we look at secular so-called Christianity today, it is easy to recognize reductionist reasoning in effect. People will hang all of their beliefs on a handful of Scriptures and ignore the others that contradict their belief without even realizing it. People can read over Scriptures, passages, chapters, and books in the Bible without taking the time to think about what the words mean, because thinking is hard work. For example, it is common for nominal Christians to quote John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life,” and stop there. It is appealing to read one Scripture and build an entire body of doctrine around it. Taken alone, one would think that all a person has to do is believe in Jesus Christ to have everlasting life. Yet people don’t ask what it means to believe in Christ. As we know, there is a lot more to becoming a fully converted Christian than a mere belief in the existence of Jesus. But asking questions that challenge such an appealing and simple belief structure is inconvenient.

Of course, we cannot place all of the blame on people who don’t take the time to think about the teachings of the Bible. Not everyone is called in this age to understand the Truth. God calls whom He will today, which excludes the vast majority (compare John 6:44-45, John 6:65). However, the warning of falling into the trap of reductionist explanations applies even to converted members, and gravely so. If we choose to pass too quickly over the teachings of the Bible and the Church, through God’s ministry, without taking the time to make sure we understand why those teachings are true, we place ourselves in a slippery place. Developing our understanding of the Truth that will lead us to salvation requires searching the Scriptures for more collaborating evidence, not reducing explanations to less.

Developing our understanding of the Truth requires the entire Bible. You don’t need to take my word for it either! The Word of God expresses this instruction with great clarity. In Jesus Christ’s response to the temptation of Satan, He said, “… ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”’” (Matthew 4:4). We must take this to mean that all of the words of the Bible are there for us to use, and not ignore when the teachings are inconvenient to us, or when we might not yet understand what we learn. By using the entire Bible to help us build a complete understanding of the Truth, without corrupting it with the bias of our carnal nature, we will grow spiritually. But it takes some work to do it. “… For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line, Here a little, there a little” (Isaiah 28:9-10).

Whether it is easy for us or not, it takes work to think and ask questions about what we learn if we want to develop our spiritual understanding. It is undoubtedly hard work to do. But we didn’t answer our calling from God because it would be an easy path for us. We answered our calling out of love for the Truth, knowing that this is the better way to live. We can be reassured that the work is worth the effort when we consider the instruction of Jesus Christ, “‘Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it’” (Matthew 7:13-14).