Hypothetically, its an expensive commitment that proves one's faith. Anyone can say jesus is coming, but less people are willing to put their money where their

Hypothetically, its an expensive commitment that proves one's faith. Anyone can say jesus is coming, but less people are willing to put their money where their mouth is. The upside isn't the important part - the downside is. It proves that you really believe what you say. This happens all the time with countries when they are negotiating. E.g. Russia is pretty unimpressed when countries say they are going to give ukraine weapons unless there is a ceasefire. Its all cheap talk. If one of the countries bought the weapons first (that they otherwise would not of) and then threatens to give them to ukraine, its much more credible since they have sunk money into it. Or you could look at the animal kingdom with energy expensive mating rituals. The point is to waste resources in order to prove your commitment. Examples of this sort of thing show up all over the world.