Algebra and Discernment

This great post on long division and discernment from Tim Challies got me to thinking about algebra.

It is a common question of every middle schooler and high schooler. Why study algebra? I've asked myself the same question, although I never asked it about algebra. I enjoyed algebra, and trigonometry and calculus - up to a point. I did ask it about other subjects though.

There really are some good answers to that. It's mainly about exercising your mind.

"Learning algebra isn't about acquiring a specific tool; it's about building up a mental muscle that will come in handy elsewhere. You don't go to the gym because you're interested in learning how to operate a StairMaster; you go to the gym because operating a StairMaster does something laudable to your body, the benefits of which you enjoy during the many hours of the week when you're not on a StairMaster." - Steven Johnson, Everything Bad Is Good For You

It's a way of thinking about problems. It's about discipline, which carries over to other parts of your life. From Challies (By the way, I highly recommend his book, The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment):

"Like using a calculator for division, we can rely on others to give us the bottom line. But like doing long division, it is far better to do the work ourselves and to ensure we understand how to discern. The theological equivalent of using a calculator may be just Googling what John Piper or John MacArthur says about a certain topic and taking that word as law. It may be asking a parent or pastor and accepting what they say without further thought. We are all prone to want to get to the final tally without going through the intervening steps.

But like the kid who cheats by using a calculator, we cheat ourselves if we do not do the difficult work of discernment. As we discern what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong, we train ourselves to think as Christians and we train ourselves to really understand what discernment is. We make sure that we understand the difficult business of discernment—not only the end result but the process of getting there."

You may never have to solve linear equations ever again but you will have to solve problems and understand how others solve them even if you don't, or can't, solve them yourselves.

But who says you will never use it. I do. Take this situation for example.

Mutual funds commonly pay a dividend to their investors. It is paid on a per share basis. So, to make it easy, if you own 100 shares and they pay a $1.00 dividend per share you would get $100. You could take that money and buy a new video game or you could reinvest the $100 back into the mutual fund. When you reinvest you will buy the mutual fund shares at whatever price per share they are at that day. If the mutual fund shares are trading at $20 per share you could buy 5 more shares and thus have 105 shares after the dividend is paid.

Here is where the algebra comes in. This is a real-life scenario, i.e. it actually happened. I'm not making it up to make a point!

A client calls us and said he needs to know how many shares he originally bought of a mutual fund. (Don't even ask where all his documentation was from the original purchase.) The mutual fund just paid a dividend and he now has 1,103.547 shares after he reinvested the dividend. He just doesn't know how many shares he had originally. We know the mutual fund paid a dividend of $.9250 cents per share. He bought, or reinvested, new shares at $12.27. How many shares did he originally have?

Now, I could do a lot of estimating and just keep plugging in numbers to figure out how many shares he had, or I could work through the problem in a logical way with algebra.

So, you tell me. How many shares did he originally have?

You really don't think I'm going to tell you do you? You will have to show me some work first! (Hint: Let "x" represent his original shares.)

The point is that I think you will use algebra - if you know when it is necessary. Like I said, there are other ways I could have solved this problem. I could have called my old mutual fund trading desk, and let them try to solve it, or I could have estimated, and taken a lot of time. I'm sure there are other ways I don't even know about.

In the same way, you will use discernment skills - if you know when it is necessary, which in the case of discernment is almost constant. You can rely on someone else (which involves discernment in itself) or you can do the hard work and grow as a Christian and in the process deepen your relationship with a holy God.