What is your favorite metaphor in the New Testament about Christian living? There are so many descriptive ones it is difficult to choose. The vine and branches, salt, light, and living water are some of my favorites. They help me understand lofty concepts in easy-to-grasp, yet profound ways.

One of my other favorites is the subject of this brief essay. The business tool called ROI (return on investment) may seem irrelevant in a biblical context, but is actually a very scriptural metaphor. Consider Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:25-26: "For whoever wishes to save this life shall lose it; but whoever loses his life for my sake shall find it. For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world, and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Although the Greco-Roman world may not have called it ROI, the concept of investing and hoping for a high return is as old as civilization. The fear of making a financial investment and not turning it into a profit has always been significant (e.g. the Parable of the Talents). Akin to the modern meaning of ROI, Jesus is saying that a person who invests in his own life, will end up losing it (i.e. a poor return on investment). In contrast, a person who invests in Jesus will gain a substantial return; he will gain his own life. Jesus adds in verse 26 that if a person invests in the world, he will not only fail to gain a profit, he will lose everything! Investing in the world is a consistently poor ROI.

In order to further apply Jesus’ ROI metaphor to our own lives, we’ve taken an actual ROI spreadsheet template from Microsoft and spiritualized it. Before we consider the spiritual version, consider the following ROI performed on an accounting software project:

Columns A and B contain all of the cost items and dollars for implementing the new accounting software. In contrast, columns D and E contain all of the benefit items and dollar values that the new system will bring to the company. In this simplified example, the ROI is 34.4%, which is very good in business terms. Accountants and managers would look at this and say, "Let’s do it!"

Now let’s consider a spiritual project. Instead of implementing accounting software, let’s say we’re implementing a Christian lifestyle. The cost/benefit analysis might look something like this:

Columns A and B contain all of the cost items and their relative values based on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) for implementing a Christian lifestyle. In other words, one might say, "Giving up carousing costs quite a bit. On a relative scale, I’d rate it pretty high; certainly higher than having to give up some of my weekly income." In contrast, columns D and E contain all of the benefit items and their relative values for becoming a Christian. In this example, one might say, "As a benefit, gaining real love is very valuable; certainly more so than carousing, but not as valuable to me as peace in Christ." When all things are considered, the ROI in this example is 40.0%, which is outstanding in business terms. Accountants and managers would look at this and say, "Let’s do it!" Christians might look at it and say the same thing, but in reality may not act like it’s such a good deal.

Warning: don’t get hung up on the details! You may want to argue with the relative values assigned to the costs and benefits or the level of detail to which I’ve taken this, but that isn’t important. Here are the important points:

• Do the math yourself – the Christian life really does add up.
• The ROI is outstanding, and we didn’t even figure in your soul (Matthew 16:26). When you consider the human soul, we don’t even need to do the math – it’s a "no-brainer." Conceptually, yes, but in reality, we still struggle with the cost side. Our actions often yell out, "It’s not worth it. I’m giving up so much and getting so little in return." The "accountant" in us says that it all makes sense, yet the "salesman" in us says that it doesn’t seem to add up when you consider how it feels.
• Feelings are deceptive, but the truth is real, rational, and reliable. In the beginning, Jesus calls us to accept the facts, and in the end, he provides the way to emotional acceptance. Through his example of paying the cost, and the reality of it resulting in our benefit, we can reach the point where it even feels right. Ultimately, someone else actually paid the cost, not us. Praise Jesus for his willingness to pay the supreme cost! Praise God for such wonderful benefits!