I have a friend who works for the U.S. Federal government. Needless to say, it’s been a stressful few weeks. There are emails, sent en masse, accusing she and her coworkers of being lazy, of cheating taxpayers, of being a drain on government resources, of taking more than they are giving. The correspondence comes with a threat: Your job is on the line.

And yet, like thousands of other government employees, my friend continues to show up each day and do her best for the land and the citizens who use it. I’ve known several government workers, be it federal, state, or local, and all have this in common: They work hard for average pay in what they believe is a service to their country, their state, their community, and their fellow citizens.

“Downsizing” is common in any industry. Leaders make decisions based on black and white figures and market projections, but there is always a human cost. This made me wonder: What was the human cost of Jesus? What calculations did God make before sending his only son into the world to take on the sins of others and bring his wayward children home?

Perhaps the easiest choice for God would have been to scrap the entire experiment and start over. Although, he’d done that once before and it didn’t really work. Moreover, he promised he wouldn’t do it again. It was too painful, and cost too much.

Another easy option would be to subdue humanity by taking away free will. If people can’t think for themselves, they will do what you want them to do. But then, what would be the point of creation in the first place? There would be no relationship, and relationship with his children is what God desires.

And so, God had to think of something else–to find some other way to reconcile the the wages of sin and the gift of life. God, Son, and Spirit convened an executive board meeting to go over the options. In the end, it was agreed, and Jesus, the one who spoke creation into being so long ago, came into the world to redeem it. He lived. He learned. He taught and healed. He was betrayed. He was tortured. He was murdered by the same people he had come to save, but he was resurrected by the great love of his father.

So what was the human cost of God’s grand experiment?

According to Paul, it is: Redemption. Forgiveness. Grace.

God made an executive decision that put all of the cost on himself and led to life for others. God took on the burden of sin and death so that we might be free. It was an act of courageous leadership born from a love that most of us will never understand.

In this way, God gives us an example of what leadership should look like. When we make decisions, we, too, must consider the human cost. Who makes the products we use each day? How does our consumption impact the earth itself? Are our words lifting people up, or tearing others down? And when we have the opportunity to lead, are we doing so in a way that seeks to build God’s kingdom or ours?

I’m not going to get into a political debate, but I think its worth remembering that no world leader is going to fix what is broken in the world, nor do many leaders desire to do so. The cost is too high. But God has already weighed those costs and has given us the payout. And it is with this example that we, his people, should seek to live. As John writes in the opening to his Gospel:

So how can we do the same for others?