The Depreciation of Appreciation
No one knows depreciation cycles like purveyors of used luxury cars. Not classic, collector’s, certified pre-owned, or even plain-old pre-owned, but that four-letter word: used. Depreciation means a 2004 Bentley Continental GT, which had a $158,000 base price in 2004, is now worth $30,000-$60,000. This is because Bentleys are the tip of the spear for innovation in areas like luxury, technology, and power. The features Bentley introduces are exclusive when new, amazing after the first year or two, and then common five years later.
Continental GTs had hand-stitched headrest crests, but they don’t illuminate like the headrest badges that can now be found in lowly BMWs and even lowlier Hyundais (to the Bentley owner: ask your chauffer what a Hyundai is). They had 551 horsepower from a twin-turbo W12, but new versions have 650 horsepower and 200 fewer pounds to move around. Plus, have you seen navigation systems from 2004?
A 2004 Bentley is not a bad car. Not many 198-mph all-wheel-drive luxury liners can be considered “bad” (unless the metric is fuel consumption, in which case don’t ask). The market has simply decided its worth, which is about the same as a loaded 2022 Honda Civic. Thanks, depreciation!
Depreciation cycles, on a hyper-microeconomic scale, are what John’s first Epistle is actually talking about. The cycle of lusting for something only to eventually tire of it and devalue it is like appreciating something only to depreciate it later. It’s all evidence of a sinful mind, and it isn’t how God wants his people to live:
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.” (1 John 2:15-17)
A person’s heart is only big enough to fully value one thing at a time. If you find yourself with skyrocketing appreciation for, say, a used Bentley Continental GT, your heart will devalue “the love of the Father.” Maybe you even buy the used Bentley – after finding enough loose change in the couch cushions – and your appreciation for it fades. Maybe maintenance costs on a vehicle with 48 valves makes you yearn for the 2004 Toyota Corolla LE that you traded in for the Bentley (although the Bentley’s real wood trim sure is nicer than the Corolla’s faux wood). Eventually, something will make the value of the Bentley depreciate in your mind. The world passes away, and perhaps more significantly, its desires pass away.
The closer you get to the bottom of the depreciation cycle, the easier it becomes to appreciate God. Maybe it’s after calculating your Bentley’s fuel consumption – a task you do by hand, since trip fuel economy calculators weren’t available on Bentleys back in 2004 – that you think, “Hmm, perhaps I should appreciate something more eternal.”
God wants you to prepare for this shift in appreciation now. He wants you to stop loving the world, and love him instead. 1 John spends a lot of time explaining the importance of loving your brother or sister. Maybe that’s a good place to start. You may even find your desires for good deals on used Bentleys begin to pass away, not out of depreciation for the car but because your heart is too full of appreciation for God and how he continues to work in your life.
A convertible version of the Continental GT didn’t come out until late 2006. Dubbed the Continental GTC, it featured pop-up rollover hoops, a top with a triple-layer headliner, about 240 pounds of chassis reinforcements, and a stunning $40,000 to the asking price. Its additional drag also meant the top speed was reduced to 195 miles-per-hour. The average Bentley buyer probably didn’t mind. The more they appreciated that coach-built retractable roof more and more as other desires faded away.
