Super Bowl ads are selling in excess of three and a half
million dollars for a thirty second spot. As of Jan. 2 maybe two were left for
the February 3rd game. CBS expects to set a record for revenue with
this year’s event. At those prices, that is not surprising.
One report added that at least three commercials were in
excess of one minute in length. Unless the business got a discount, that puts
the price for their spot near eight million dollars. Somebody somewhere thinks
that the time in front of all those millions of people is worth it. If I get to
see the game, I’ll be the stereotypical viewer that uses commercial breaks to
head for the refrigerator.
We are always placing value on the things around us be they
material or otherwise. We place value on commercial advertising time. We place
value on the time we spend watching the football game. Woe to the church that
tries door-to-door visitation during that three hour block! We place value on
the people with whom we share that time. We may even place a value on the place
in which we share it.
The team owners place value upon the team members. The team
members place value upon the other members of the team. The spectators who
attend have placed a significant value upon their tickets and seats. For some
that value extends to the great expense to which they went just to get to the
game.
We place a level of value on everything. Some things we
categorize as having no value at all. The other extreme includes those people,
things, and ideas for which we are willing to give up life itself to show our
level of value. In between are all those aspects of our lives about which we
make value judgments every day.
What is the worth to you of your context and what it
contains? I dream of wealth and then tell myself that I would starve to death
sitting in a room filled with gold. Ask King Midas. Invest in gold, but if you
are not willing to sell it, you starve to death or freeze to death or cannot
pay the doctor for her care. Wealth has value for what it can do, not for what
it is. A lot in life is like that.
Other things in life have their value in what they are
rather than what they can do in and of themselves. A beautiful rose brings us
pleasure both visually and through its fragrance. A cut sapphire is only a cold
stone yet its beauty and quality place it in a different category from common
flint. People will travel great distances to see the water cascade over Niagara
Falls and only because of the beauty represented in its awesome power.
A baby’s laugh, the soft touch of the hand of a friend,
their silent presence in a moment of grief, honesty, sincerity, faithfulness,
wisdom, and so much more have nothing to do with monetary value. We place
tremendous value upon such things and yet cannot begin to measure that value in
dollars and cents. The writer of Proverbs says, “Happy is anyone who becomes
wise – who comes to have understanding. There is more profit in it than there
is in silver; it is worth more to you than gold.” (Proverbs 3:13-14, Good News
Translation)
Individuals and churches, maybe governments as well, need to
reevaluate on a regular basis what is of greatest value to them. Our values should
determine our priorities and therefore our actions. For businesses that is
generally making a profit. For churches and Christ followers the most valuable
priority is living out the relationship we have with our God. What he considers
of value, we must also. Wisdom that comes from spending much time with him will
show us that. Time spent with God always carries the greatest value.
