DIVEST TO PROFIT
The common theme in our society is, ‘invest to profit’. We make calculated investments to make a gain or a profit. We put in our resources like time, money and effort to gain a profit, as these investments multiply. However Jesus puts forward a strange theme of ‘divest to profit’ during one of his conversations with the disciples.
“ …… no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers., children and fields- and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mark10: 29,30)
While investing means to put in, divesting means to pull out or deprive. Jesus invites his disciples to deprive themselves of resources and people for the express sake of honoring him. The usual pattern is for people interested in growth to make contacts, to add resources and build alliances. Jesus offers an alternative. When any alliance or resource is in conflict with the will of God, we are asked to divest ourselves of it no matter how important it might appear to be. It isn’t easy to do so! And this whole conversation took place in the context of a rich young man who wasn’t willing to give up his wealth to follow Christ.
When such a course of action is taken, it is like staring down an abyss in terms of future prospects that appear to be so reliant on the resources and alliances that have been divested. Like the rich young man who had been likely raised up learning to trust in riches, adopting a path of letting go of that trust appeared impossible. And so he rejected the way of Christ and chose to remain with the philosophy of ‘investing to profit’. But the disciple converts the abyss of hopelessness brought on by divesting to a stronghold of faith, as he clings to Christ and his sufficiency.
Let us look at the returns. The disciple who gives things up by divesting, more often than not looks at the eternal reward to come and takes satisfaction in that. And that should be the guiding principle of a life that remains in sync with Christ. After all, this life is temporary and nothing we have remains in our possession as we move on to eternity. Having that attitude of detachment to the worldly things also prevents the resources and the profits we make from having a stranglehold over us. We handle them, use them and enjoy them in quite a dispassionate manner much like the bank teller handles a ton of money at work but takes home nothing.
But there is much more. The one who divests also make a hundred fold profit, earning back every single resource or alliance that he gave up a hundred times over. Jesus also guarantees that sort of a return emphasizing that every one who divests for Christ gains, and every single time, without fail. Considering the fact that all things belong to Christ who reigns supreme over all, and that he honors those that honor him, it not hard to imagine the veracity of this statement. A guaranteed 100-fold profit is hard not to notice especially if it happens in this present age, which could mean in one’s lifetime or in the lifetime of one’s descendants.
It is also interesting that Jesus mentions that along with a 100 fold return, the disciple can also expect to have persecutions. Why is this so? Remember a person who decides to follow Christ already has set his mind on eternal life and handles the treasures of this world in an indifferent manner. While he handles treasures much like the people of this world, he does not sync well with the people of this world, who are attached to and enslaved by these treasures. They cannot party together and so persecution follows as the people of world ostracize a disciple for his beliefs and mannerisms. Also there are two competing spiritual systems in place that are at work here though both of them end up providing treasures. It is hard for the worldly system that rules this world to accept and acknowledge the godly system that brings gain to a disciple. Persecution becomes inevitable.
In the overall scheme of things, divesting to profit is rarely followed, but a principle that brings incredible returns.
