週一嗎哪
服事全球工商界
2007.6.25
昂貴的物品 － 是福氣或負擔？
在1976年我向朋友買了一只二手的勞力士錶，我付他150美元。買了那錶之後的六年間，我每天都戴著它。那期間我花了六百多美元的修理費，甚至有一次我還寄到瑞士去清潔及潤滑。漸漸地，我覺得每天戴著這麼昂貴的手錶太不實際了。我覺得開法拉利跑車去上班還比較合理。
有一天，我到芝加哥參加一個商展，遇到一位陌生人願意付1,200美元現金買我那只勞力士錶。雖然我尚未計劃賣錶，但當時我毫不猶豫，立刻就賣給他。然後第二天，我去一家我很喜歡的百貨公司，用50美元買了一只非常便宜的錶，讓我淨賺1,150美元，我實在太快樂了。我很愛那只勞力士錶，也很欣賞它的精湛手藝，但它已變成一個不必要的負擔。
老牌影星保羅紐曼有多次被拍到，戴著與我同款式的勞力士錶。那一款式就一直被稱為「保羅紐曼錶」。可能他戴起來比我實用多了。
在賣掉我那勞力士錶之後，我開始注意到廣告上那款勞力士錶的價格是3,000美元以上。目前那款錶的標價是17,000美元。而最近一次拍賣會上，那款錶以84,000美元成交。
我是否後悔以1,200美元賣掉那勞力士錶呢？一點也不。當然，我寧願我是以$17,000賣出，而不是$1,200。但對我而言，擁有17,000美元的錶會是一個很大的負擔。這負擔比我戴上它的快樂還大。可能只有我是這種感覺，但我絕不要戴價值那麼高昂的錶，要花工夫保護它的安全，還要定期保養修理。這些都太麻煩了！
聖經新約希伯來書12章1節說：「就當放下各樣的重擔，脫去容易纏累我們的罪，存心忍耐，奔那擺在我們前頭的路程。」昂貴的錶、汽車或吉他，本身並非不好，但它們一定會成為我們的重擔，阻礙我們過不為「物質」憂慮、自由自在的生活。
我認識一些人因擁有非常昂貴的照相機，就不把照相機帶出門；因有昂貴的樂器，就從不彈奏它；因有昂貴的汽車，就不開出去。我想，擁有這些會帶來某種程度的快樂。但對我而言，它們是使我不能自在享受生活的負擔。我不是擁有它們，而是它們擁有我。
我現在戴的錶是從一個賣場的小攤販買來的。那不是勞力士錶，但也運作得很好，告訴我準確的時間。而且我已決定，當它停止運轉，我不必費心去修理或保養。我只要把它丟掉，再買一只就好了。它可能不像勞力士那麼有名，但對我而言，它的方便性就很值得了。
思想 / 討論題目
你是否同意本文作者對勞力士錶的態度？你會不會質疑，他沒有先評估那錶當時的價值，就衝動地賣錶？為什麼？
他認為：昂貴的物品帶來許多麻煩，使我們的生活增加不必要的複雜性。你是否同意這論點？請解釋。
你現在（或過去）擁有最昂貴的東西是什麼？若你突然遺失那東西，你會有什麼感覺？
「不是我擁有它們，而是它們擁有我。」你對這主張有何看法？你認為這句話是什麼意思？你是否同意？我們要如何被物品所擁有？
註：若你有聖經請看有關此主題的其他經文，請看：
箴言11章28節，15章6節，15章16節，18章11節，30章8-9節；馬太福音6章19-34節，19章16-24節；路加福音12章16-21節
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MONDAY MANNA
A service to the business community
June 25, 2007
EXPENSIVE THINGS – BLESSING, OR BURDEN?
By: Jim Mathis
In 1976, I bought a used watch from a friend. It was a Rolex Daytona Cosmograph. I paid him $150 for it. I wore it every day for the next half dozen years. During that time I spent about $600 to $700 to keep it in proper running condition. This even included sending it to Switzerland on one occasion for cleaning and lubrication. Gradually it became apparent to me that wearing such an expensive watch every day was not practical. In a way, it seemed to make as much sense as commuting to work in a Ferrari. One day I was attending a trade show in Chicago when a man I had never met offered me $1,200 in cash to purchase the watch off my arm. Even though I had not been planning to part with the watch, I sold it to him immediately, without hesitation. Then I went to a favorite department store the next day and bought a very inexpensive watch for $50, leaving me with a tidy profit of $1,150. I could not have been happier. I loved the Rolex, and appreciated its fine workmanship, but it had become an unnecessary burden. Over the years Paul Newman, the legendary actor, has been photographed several times wearing a watch exactly like my old Rolex, and that model has since become known as the “Paul Newman Watch.” Perhaps he found the watch to be more practical than I did. Not long after I sold my Rolex, I began to notice ads from people offering to buy Rolex Daytona watches for $3,000 or more. The current book value for that particular model, as I understand it, is $17,000. And recently one was sold at an auction for $84,000. Do I regret selling my Rolex for $1,200? Not at all. Certainly I would rather have $17,000 than $1,200. But to me, possessing a $17,000 watch would be a tremendous burden, even greater than the watch was to me before I decided to sell it. This may be true only of me, but I could never wear a watch that valuable, and the chore of keeping it safe and in good working order would have been far too bothersome. In the Bible’s New Testament, Hebrews 12:1 says, “Let us lay aside every weight…and run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Expensive watches, cars, or guitars are not bad things in themselves, but they can certainly weigh us down and hinder our ability to live as freely as we would like, unencumbered by worries about our “stuff.”
I know people that have cameras so expensive that they never take them out of the house; musical instruments so expensive that they never get played; and cars so expensive that they never get driven. I suppose the knowledge that you have them brings a degree of pleasure, but to me they are burdens that keep us from life. Rather than owning them, they seem to own us. The watch that I wear now I bought at a kiosk at a local shopping mall. It is not a Rolex, but it works just fine, telling me the time very accurately. And I have already decided that when it stops, I don’t have to bother with any complicated repairs or maintenance. I can simply throw it away and buy another one. It may not carry the prestige of a Rolex, but for me it more than compensates for that with its convenience.
Jim Mathis is Executive Director for CBMC in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A., where he oversees Homer’s Coffee Shop. He and his wife, Louise, formerly were co-owners of a camera and photo processing shop in Overland Park, Kansas.
CBMC INTERNATIONAL: Robert Milligan, President
1065 N. 115th Street, Suite 210 ▪ Omaha, Nebraska 68154 ▪ U.S.A.
TEL.: (402) 431-0002 ▪ FAX: (402) 431-1749 ▪ E-MAIL: nbrownell@cbmcint.org
Web site: http://www.cbmcint.org/
Reflection/Discussion Questions
1. Did you agree with Jim Mathis’s attitude toward his Rolex watch? Do you question his impulsive decision to sell the watch, rather than first determining the “going rate” for the time piece? Why or why not?
2. Do you agree with his contention that costly possessions can be more trouble than they are worth, that they can bring unnecessary complications into our lives? Explain your answer.
3. What is the most valuable material possession that you have – or have owned in the past? How would you feel if you suddenly lost it or had it taken away from you?
4. What is your reaction to the comment that sometimes, instead of owning valuable things, they can “own” us? What do you think that statement means, and do you agree with it? How can we avoid being “possessed by our own possessions”?
If you would like to look at or discuss other portions of the Bible that relate to this topic, consider the following brief sampling of passages:
Proverbs 11:28, 15:6, 15:16, 18:11; 30:8-9; Matthew 6:19-34, 19:16-24; Luke 12:16-21
A service to the business community
June 25, 2007
EXPENSIVE THINGS – BLESSING, OR BURDEN?
By: Jim Mathis
In 1976, I bought a used watch from a friend. It was a Rolex Daytona Cosmograph. I paid him $150 for it. I wore it every day for the next half dozen years. During that time I spent about $600 to $700 to keep it in proper running condition. This even included sending it to Switzerland on one occasion for cleaning and lubrication. Gradually it became apparent to me that wearing such an expensive watch every day was not practical. In a way, it seemed to make as much sense as commuting to work in a Ferrari. One day I was attending a trade show in Chicago when a man I had never met offered me $1,200 in cash to purchase the watch off my arm. Even though I had not been planning to part with the watch, I sold it to him immediately, without hesitation. Then I went to a favorite department store the next day and bought a very inexpensive watch for $50, leaving me with a tidy profit of $1,150. I could not have been happier. I loved the Rolex, and appreciated its fine workmanship, but it had become an unnecessary burden. Over the years Paul Newman, the legendary actor, has been photographed several times wearing a watch exactly like my old Rolex, and that model has since become known as the “Paul Newman Watch.” Perhaps he found the watch to be more practical than I did. Not long after I sold my Rolex, I began to notice ads from people offering to buy Rolex Daytona watches for $3,000 or more. The current book value for that particular model, as I understand it, is $17,000. And recently one was sold at an auction for $84,000. Do I regret selling my Rolex for $1,200? Not at all. Certainly I would rather have $17,000 than $1,200. But to me, possessing a $17,000 watch would be a tremendous burden, even greater than the watch was to me before I decided to sell it. This may be true only of me, but I could never wear a watch that valuable, and the chore of keeping it safe and in good working order would have been far too bothersome. In the Bible’s New Testament, Hebrews 12:1 says, “Let us lay aside every weight…and run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Expensive watches, cars, or guitars are not bad things in themselves, but they can certainly weigh us down and hinder our ability to live as freely as we would like, unencumbered by worries about our “stuff.”
I know people that have cameras so expensive that they never take them out of the house; musical instruments so expensive that they never get played; and cars so expensive that they never get driven. I suppose the knowledge that you have them brings a degree of pleasure, but to me they are burdens that keep us from life. Rather than owning them, they seem to own us. The watch that I wear now I bought at a kiosk at a local shopping mall. It is not a Rolex, but it works just fine, telling me the time very accurately. And I have already decided that when it stops, I don’t have to bother with any complicated repairs or maintenance. I can simply throw it away and buy another one. It may not carry the prestige of a Rolex, but for me it more than compensates for that with its convenience.
Jim Mathis is Executive Director for CBMC in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.A., where he oversees Homer’s Coffee Shop. He and his wife, Louise, formerly were co-owners of a camera and photo processing shop in Overland Park, Kansas.
CBMC INTERNATIONAL: Robert Milligan, President
1065 N. 115th Street, Suite 210 ▪ Omaha, Nebraska 68154 ▪ U.S.A.
TEL.: (402) 431-0002 ▪ FAX: (402) 431-1749 ▪ E-MAIL: nbrownell@cbmcint.org
Web site: http://www.cbmcint.org/
Reflection/Discussion Questions
1. Did you agree with Jim Mathis’s attitude toward his Rolex watch? Do you question his impulsive decision to sell the watch, rather than first determining the “going rate” for the time piece? Why or why not?
2. Do you agree with his contention that costly possessions can be more trouble than they are worth, that they can bring unnecessary complications into our lives? Explain your answer.
3. What is the most valuable material possession that you have – or have owned in the past? How would you feel if you suddenly lost it or had it taken away from you?
4. What is your reaction to the comment that sometimes, instead of owning valuable things, they can “own” us? What do you think that statement means, and do you agree with it? How can we avoid being “possessed by our own possessions”?
If you would like to look at or discuss other portions of the Bible that relate to this topic, consider the following brief sampling of passages:
Proverbs 11:28, 15:6, 15:16, 18:11; 30:8-9; Matthew 6:19-34, 19:16-24; Luke 12:16-21
posted by Shine Lin at 10:55 PM
