688 The Sunk Cost Fallacy

and Why Some People Make Irrational Choices

The Paradox

I am often asked by exasperated people why their friends or spouses choose to remain with a false idea, a bad relationship, a poor investment, etc.. Why do some people remain with false churches or doctrines when they KNOW they are wrong?

Irrational Behaviour as a Function of Investment

Well, there can be several reasons but one I would like to suggest to you is because of what in economics is called the SUNK COST FALLACY (SCF). In short, people tend to stay with decisions that they've already invested in. The more they have put into something, the less likely they are going to quit the false venture even when it's obviously detrimental for them to do so. In effect, it an unwillingness to cut their losses and move on because of all they have put into the venture.

Invested in a Lie

It's a reason, I suspect, many refuse the offer of salvation and either reject Christ or only become nominal or symbolic Christians. They've invested their whole lives into a lie and they are reluctant to let go because of the sense of shame at having wasted so much time, effort and resources. It's foolish but we all do it at times.

False Hope

Many refuse to remarry after a divorce because of the Sunk Cost Fallacy. They have invested so much of themselves in the former relationship that they cannot let go of the hope of reconciliation and getting back together again even though the other party has well and truly moved on.

Why Some People Cling on to False Religion

Can you imagine, say, someone like Joseph Smith, who built up a massive following and had staked his reputation on being a prophet, seer or revelator, coming clean and saying he made much of Mormonism up or that he was deceived by false spirits? There are many things involved here, of course - loss of power, pride, prestige. It's the same with those who follow a false religion such as Smith's, having spent a small fortune in tithes, built up a thriving business with fellow cultists and enjoyed extensive ties through the social network of fellow believers. Starting again from scratch is just too much a sacrifice for them to make, they aren't willing to cut their losses. The excuses are many and irrational but they make them anyway.

Parable of the Pearl of Great Price

Christ told a parable that illustrates Sunk Cost fallacy perfectly:

"The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it" (Matthew 13:45-46, NKJV).

Free Salvation, Costly Discipleship

They say that salvation is free but often forget that discipleship will cost you all you've got, including everything you have wrongly invested in in the past. That's the price you have to pay to become a Citizen of the Kingdom. All your old ways, habits, investments, beliefs, hopes and dreams have to die. Yet people cling onto them even though that end is futility and death.

Relinquishing Your Old Life

Yes, salvation is free - we can't earn it or purchase as the Gnostic religions like Mormonism and Catholicism say you must - but it will cost you your old life...all of it.

Like Adding Christ to a Corpse

You can't 'add Christ' to your old religion or philosophy or way of life, and that (Messianics note well) includes leaving your Judaism behind to. All of it. Yes, your Torah too - the lot. Why? Because Christ will return everything that is good to you IN HIM but He must be in it first. All Torah must now be in Him. And that's how marriage works too.

The Story of Princess Marie Antoinette

When the Austrian Princess Marie Antoinette came to France to marry the French King, at the border she was required to remove all her clothing and jewellery and leave that, together with all her possessions, behind, and in exchange she received new clothes, jewellery and possessions that the French monarch had prepared for her. She left her old life behind...completely...and received a Kingdom she had not worked for or earned.

The GuitaristWho Burned His Instruments and Music

I knew of a guitarist - a successful musician and pop star - who came to Christ. Father Yahweh ordered him to destroy his guitars and music. He was appalled as he had invested so much into his career but he obeyed because he knew how valuable the salvational Pearl of Great Price he was being offered was. He grieved for a while after the sacrifice was made and began a new life without music. Once the idol was dead in his heart, Father gave him his guitar back and along with it new music for the glory of Elohim (God). He became a famous Christian musician witnessing for the Kingdom.

New Life, New Covenant, New Everything

The Gospel is like all of these illustration. Exactly like that yet most Christians and Messianics don't 'get' it. You see, that's the ONLY way we can be 100 per cent in Christ. Holding on to the past whilst pursuing Christ is like adding Christ to a corpse...and that is impossible. That's why coming to Him is NEW life, why His Covenant is the NEW Covenant, not the Old or (in some ways worse) a hybrid REnewed Covenant. The old is a corpse and has to be left behind. All of it. He'll return what was good from your past by the by but not before everything is in Him. That's what it means to be IN Christ and to be BORN AGAIN. You can't live with one foot in your mother's womb and one in the outside world.

Conclusion

Think on this. Maybe you too are stuck in the 'Sunk Cost Fallacy' and it's crippling your spiritual life in Messiah. If so, maybe it's time to ACTUALLY be BORN AGAIN - properly - and not half-heartedly.

(13 August 2024)

SM111

This page was created on 6 January 2025 Last updated on 6 January 2025

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