So if you haven't heard, the new Playstation 3 (PS3) is out. The retail price is $499 for the 20 GB version and $599 for the 60GB version. That's quite a bit more than I'd be willing to spend on a game system. But wait, it doesn't end there. Since these game systems are in such high demand, some very clever entrepreneurs have set out to make some money. They took the pains to wait in line for the 24+ hours it took to get one of the first PS3's. After they bought this precious system, they turned around and sold it on eBay. But here's the catch: they weren't being sold for a mere $600. Instead, the auctions have been ending at an average of $2,000, with one auction even ending at $9,000! Before I go any further, I need to applaud those who had the foresight to wait in line and make this investment. I wish I had the time/patience/foresight to do the same. Seriously, these people were thinking... and as a result they made anywhere from $1,400-$8,400! Way to go! But what about the people that bought these PS3's for this outrageous price. My first reaction is to say: "What the heck were you thinking?!?!" I personally can find no way to justify spending $9,000 or even $600 on a game system. But, when I step back and think of it, the people that paid this money must have found a way to justify it somehow. I want to try and understand their reasoning.
As I start to think about reasons why someone might pay that much for a game system, the first thing that pops into my head is that maybe someone has a lot of money. If I was making multiple millions a year, I might seriously consider buying a PS3 for $9,000. If I was making that much money, $9,000 would be pocket change and I might not think twice about dropping it on a PS3. Not everyone has that kind of money, though, and assuming this person doesn't, then they would have to have different reasoning. Maybe they are a "hard-core" gamer, and they spend most of their time playing video games. Maybe they are frugal in other areas of their life, just so they can save up and buy video games and gaming systems. Whatever the reason, I can't completely discount it. I'm sure there are things that I spend money on that other people think is outrageous. I would like to look at what I believe a Christian response to this should look like though.
2 Corinthians 8:1-15 (NIV, My Emphasis)-
1And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will. 6So we urged Titus, since he had earlier made a beginning, to bring also to completion this act of grace on your part. 7But just as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in your love for us[a]—see that you also excel in this grace of giving.
8I am not commanding you, but I want to test the sincerity of your love by comparing it with the earnestness of others. 9For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.
10And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. 11Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.
13Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. Then there will be equality, 15as it is written: "He who gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did not have too little."[b]
The problem that I have when I think about someone spending $9,000 on a PS3 is that I feel that there are many better things that one could spend their money on. For example, for $5,390 you can fund the digging of a traditional well that provides safe water in a third world country. Or, for $3,500 you can educate 10 girls in China for a year. Finally, for $7,448 you can build four furnished Mongolian Ger's (traditional dwellings). When I see someone spending $9,000 on a PS3, I can't help wondering whether they could have spent that money on a more "worthwhile" cause and as a result had a much greater impact on the lives of others. Now I realize that having perfect equality in our society isn't realistically possible.
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