A Necessary Option
On the spectrum of available options for cars – from mild to wild, $100 floor mats to the $84,000 Weissach package available for Porsche 918 Spyders, Packard’s air-conditioning option in the 1940s was among the wildest. The automotive industry's first air conditioning was available on a 1941 Packard. It was a $1,080 option, at a time when a decent new Plymouth was in the $600s. Even on models in the late 1940s, the technology was too new, therefore too exclusive, and therefore not likely to break into economies-of-scale manufacturing costs that could be passed down to the consumer. It remained expensive.
“For that price,” people say, “someone could buy two whole additional cars.” Yes, someone could. But would they? Let’s say there are 100 people who, right now, have enough money to buy two Bugatti Chirons. How many of them would buy all the remaining Isuzu Amigos they could find and launch Spec Amigo – the world’s worst racing series – instead? Judging by the number of Chirons that continue to find buyers, and the tragic lack of Isuzu spec-racing series extant, probably zero. And Packard buyers who wanted air conditioning probably just got air conditioning.
We all have the option to buy things we don’t need, eat things we don’t need, consume media we don’t need, or experience things we don’t need. We make choices every day on what to take in based on what we want to spend time and resources on, or not. Everything available to us passes through some filter, and we filter a lot out. Something holds us back from certain things, and this is the message of one of the most powerful and moving passages of Scripture:
“‘If anyone would come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?’” Luke 9:23-35
(Jesus must have emphasized this pretty strongly, because it’s recorded throughout all four Gospels, sometimes more than once. Understanding the sentiment of “taking up your cross” and being ready to suffer was crucial for the early church. Their willingness to spread the word of the Gospel meant more and more people heard the Gospel quicker. Believers today can thank those believers back then for taking up their crosses.)
It’s just as important for us today. As we filter out what we think we don’t need, we better take a look at that filter. What parts of the world do we gain that could potentially cost us “our very self?” Some examples:
The satisfaction of doing a job yourself, at the cost of the joy of collaborating with someone else or teaching someone a skill for the first time
The pleasure of proving someone wrong, at the cost of caring enough about the person to understand how they think a certain way, and helping them by showing them a second point of view
The pride of suffering silently because you think you don’t deserve help, at the cost of getting the help you need and deserve
Sure, these aren’t all terrible. And the Packard buyer could indeed get two Plymouths instead of air conditioning. Economists call that “inconspicuous consumption,” and in a free-market economy, we can certainly do that. But, again, let’s bring our Biblical understanding into that filter. “‘Everything is permissible’ – but not everything is beneficial. ‘Everything is permissible’ – but not everything is constructive.” (1 Corinthians 10:23)
We need to crave a close walk with God so that nothing else will satisfy us. Because, for the Packard buyer, no amount of Plymouths would provide air conditioning. Only that $1,080 option will do. All the satisfaction, pleasure, pride, and Plymouths in the world are nothing compared to the mercy, grace, and forgiveness from God, the gifts offered by God, and the eternal life with God given to people who follow Jesus. Without those, we’re just standing in a Plymouth-filled garage, staring with regret at the sweat-stained upholstery. Yeah, it’s hot out there. We need that option that only Packard can provide, and we need the grace that only God gives.
