by Mats Tunehag

 

I was asked recently to reflect on the idea of “transformational sacrifice”. What do sacrifice and transformation mean in a Jewish-Christian tradition; our roots and context? What follows are some reflections on the topic, linked to our roots and tradition, which of course includes Holy Scripture.

Sacrifice is intentional and voluntary, not an unintended or surprising consequence of action taken. That may be a price we pay for a decision made.

The meaning and practice of sacrifice have evolved before, during and after the temple in Jerusalem, and also before and after Christ. But some common denominators are:

Sacrifice is for God and the common good; it has a cost, and it can be transformational.

King David said: “I will not offer to the Lord that which costs me nothing.”

We use this kind of ‘cost language’ in phrases like:

She sacrificed her career for her family.

They sacrificed comfort for justice.

Soldiers sacrificed for their country.

Redemptive Action vs. Empty Ritual

Those examples indicate that some things are worth sacrificing and suffering for, love involves cost, a greater good may require giving up comfort, and costly sacrifice can be redemptive.

Sacrifice can thus mean giving up something valuable, enduring loss or cost, for the sake of someone else, for a higher purpose, based on justice, and mercy, for the common good.

However, sacrifice isn’t inherently good. Prophets like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and Micah criticized when sacrifice became an empty ritual, filled with hypocrisy, overlooking injustice and exploitation of the poor.

Instead, sacrifice should be covenantal, relating to God as well as to us, as individuals and communities. It should be connected with the things that God calls us to—that is, justice, mercy, love and service.

Transformational Sacrifice?

In both Jewish and Christian traditions, sacrifice is often understood as transformational, not merely as loss, but as something that can change things. It can be internal (we are transformed) and external (the circumstances are transformed). The transformation may be spiritual, moral, relational, social, political, economical, or cultural.

There are many kinds of sacrificial transformational agents: Parents sacrificing sleep, time, and comfort for children, entrepreneurs sacrificing security to build an impactful company, and missionaries leaving familiarity to make Christ known.

But there are no guarantees that a sacrifice, even with good and right motives, will bring about a good and lasting transformation. Or it may happen, many years or even generations down the road.

An Old Testament example of sacrifice is Abraham going to sacrifice his son Isaac, the embodiment of the fulfillment of the promise God gave to him. It certainly transformed them, especially in relationship to God, and in trusting God. It also had implications for generations to come.

There are also stories of sacrifices with fraudulent and evil intentions that bring about an encounter with God and positive transformations down the road.

The story of Joseph being sold by his brothers is an example of “bad sacrifice” which can transform lives and show how God can redeem the past for future blessings. Joseph’s brothers were willing to sacrifice their father’s favorite son, but God transformed that situation, one that caused Joseph and Jacob to suffer greatly, into a national rescue plan for Egypt, and eventually also a restoration of a dysfunctional family and the birth of the nation of Israel.

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present outcome, that many people would be kept alive [as they are this day].” (Genesis 50:20, AMP)

The Church has many saints who made significant sacrifices, which continues to have a transformational impact down the centuries. Dietrich Bonhoeffer resisted Nazism and was executed. He spoke of a “costly grace.” His sacrifice transformed later Christian thinking about: discipleship, resistance to evil, public faith, and ethics.

In the long struggle to abolish the slave trade, many abolitionists in William Wilberforce’s time sacrificed wealth, and status, drawing deeply from biblical ideas of human dignity and moral responsibility. Their tireless work over decades brought about transformation; the abolition of the slave trade and slavery in the British empire. Their transformational sacrifice reshaped societies and laws even beyond the empire and their generation.

More recently Martin Luther King Jr. framed nonviolent struggle in profoundly biblical terms during the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 60s. He personally paid a heavy price over the years, and ultimately it cost him his life. But the sacrificial endurance became transformative for generations to come. MLK and others in the movement were willing to suffer to expose injustice, and it changed public attitudes and legislation.

Faithfulness as Our Motivator for Sacrifice

I don’t see “sacrifices” in terms of a cost-benefit analysis; it is about following God and being true to your mission and calling.

Yes, I have sacrificed financial stability and security for decades. Regrets? No! But I would never or hardly ever get on a plane again if there wasn’t a sense of calling and mission.

But life has to be lived forward and can only be understood (to some extent) in hindsight.

As the Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard wrote: “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

We must act now, relying on faith and courage to navigate the future, without complete understanding the potential impact our sacrifices may have.

Consequently, we do not know what the future holds, nor the impact our choices will have. But we trust God (or at least try!) and keep walking forward.

It mustn’t be a “do ut des” approach. It is a Latin phrase meaning “I give so that you might give”. The phrase stems from ancient Roman law and religious practices, such as offering sacrifices for divine favor.

Today we may talk about an arrangement based on reciprocity, such as business deals, negotiations, or relationships, often used synonymously with a “quid pro quo”. Life with God is not transactional, but relational, a covenantal relationship.

Chronos and Kairos

There are two words in Greek for time.

Chronos is quantitative, sequential and of course is the root of the word chronological. We operate in the chronos, we plan and evaluate in the chronological time, also in business.

Kairos is qualitative, the supreme moment, the right time. This is for example used for God’s intervention, in the fullness of time. We cannot control this, but we can set the stage for it to some extent.

For a longer introduction, please read this blog post.

We are to be faithful in the chronos, serve God and the common good with professionalism, excellence and integrity, trusting God for impact, for the kairos moments, which may be very transformative.

Daniel and his three friends, doing “civil service as mission” were faithful in the chronos (Daniel 1-2), and God used them in kairos moments. We don’t see any “do ut des calculations” in their actions and attitudes, but God used their lives—and sacrifices—to transform King Nebuchadnezzar personally, and also make God known among the many peoples and languages within the empire.

We don’t know, nor can we control, the impact our sacrifices may have.

The Why and How of BAM Sacrifice

In business as mission, we talk about creating business solutions to the world’s pressing issues. Indeed, it is one of our BHAGs, or “Big Hairy Audacious Goals” for the BAM movement.

We do business for God’s glory, the gospel and the common good.

Should solving the world’s greatest problems be a motivator for our sacrifice!? Maybe. But if it is, how should we approach it?

I have observed an increased engagement in using business to address global issues like human trafficking, unreached peoples, environmental challenges, rampant youth unemployment, et cetera. This is honorable and often good.

But I also observe, especially from the West, a “Deus ex machina” approach. Deus ex machina, literally “God from the machine” in Latin, refers back to ancient Greek and Roman drama; when the plot thickened, and there was an unresolvable issue, a man-made mess, the gods and demigods appeared from above and fixed it, and disappeared again. It was a plot device, still used in books and movies today, used to resolve seemingly unresolvable issues.

Some of us have money, connections and solutions. These can be good things, but we must be careful. We are often blind to where we are steeped in post-colonial attitudes or a modernity paradigm. It is too easy to use triumphalist language and come with mechanical solutions to other peoples’ problems.

Instead, as we seek “shalom”, a wholeness for all relationships, we must recognize Shalom as Presence, the incarnational model of God.

Jesus came and dwelt among us, and He gives us His Shalom, the Holy Spirit, to live in and among us. As my good friend Michelle shared in her devotional at the BAM Global Leaders Forum in Manila in March 2026: Jesus offered his presence, and He didn’t fix all the problems.

We know as parents, or grandparents, that our kids or grandkids want, above all, our time and our presence. We cannot compensate for our absence with toys or things—they want us, our presence, a relationship. And then time and space to develop that relationship are essential. Such relationships are truly transformational and foundational for healthy human life, and they are in no way about speed or efficiency.

So, what should we possibly consider giving up—sacrificing—as we do BAM? Speed? Triumphalist language? Trusting our money, connections and solutions? Impersonal Deus ex machina strategies?

How can we, like Jesus, offer presence instead? We may have to sacrifice more time than we imagined. We may have to sacrifice some of our plans and strategies.

 

 

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Photo by Guillaume de Germain on Unsplash