I told my adult boys in my Jesus is Our Only Hope Bros text group that I gave away six bags of Mad Scientist Coffee today. I didn’t sell a single bag. I gave away two bags for a silent auction for a Make a Wish fundraiser that will help a little boy who has brain cancer realize one of his dreams, I gave three bags to support the great work that the Boone County Chamber is doing to connect small businesses in our community, and I gave a bag of coffee to a stranger to encourage her. My son is working on a MBA and he warned me that my business practices are not sustainable. He’s right!
I know that companies need to make money so that they can pay their employees well and to grow. Good business leaders are careful to consider the return on investment (ROI) when they make even small decisions on how to spend company money. Fortunately, I don’t have any employees to worry about, I’m more interested about community, ministry and fun than in making money. I have met so many wonderful people during my coffee journey!
God has been moving in my heart to think differently about my coffee company this past week. I’m starting to think that I would make a much better coffee missionary than a coffee CEO and salesman! The impact that my actions have on eternity is more important to me than my bottom line. I’m much more focused on the return on eternity (ROE) than the ROI. I wonder if that is why Jesus put Judas in charge of the money bag because He knew that the money would not go very far if He was in charge of it. He would give it all away and they wouldn’t have any money left to live on as they traveled from town to town.
This morning my wife and I talked about two parables that Jesus gave us to help explain the kingdom of God to His followers. In Matthew 13:44-46 Jesus said;
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”
When I have read these parables in the past, I have always focused on the treasure and the pearl. This morning my wise wife was saying that she thinks that Jesus wanted us to focus more on the man and the merchant. We are not told how much the theoretical treasure and pearl were worth, so it may, or may not have been a good ROI to sell everything the man and merchant had to buy them. In fact, the parable about the pearl of great value would have had special meaning for Jews because pearls come from an unclean animal. Pearls were considered to be worthless to the Jews.
The Old Testament book of Leviticus 11:9-12 says;
“Among the creatures that live in the water of the seas and streams, you may eat any that have fins and scales. But anything that doesn’t have fins and scales, whether in seas or streams, whether small creatures in the shallows or huge creatures in the deeps, you are to detest.” (MSG)
So why would Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, say that a merchant sold everything he had to buy an unclean and worthless pearl? Maybe the kingdom of heaven has a different value system than we do here on earth? I’m wondering if Jesus considers the ROE more than the ROI when He looks at the decisions that His followers make.
Jesus left the glory of heaven and lived as a poor man who never owned a home. He depended on the kindness of others to provide his food and lodging while He walked in the dust that He created. Jesus was not tempted by wealth, power and possessions like we are. In fact, Jesus was willing to give His life for unclean and sinful pearls like you and me so that we could spend eternity with Him in His Father’s house.
So I’ll ask again. Do we spend more time worrying about the ROI or the ROE when we make decisions? It’s good to plan, save and be good stewards of our resources, but maybe it is also good to place a proper value on the“stuff” in our lives so that we don’t miss out on discovering true treasure that is only found by walking with Jesus and loving others sacrificially like Jesus does.
Manna and Coffee 