Freebies and discounts
15th July 2010 by Sandy MacDonald
Brisbane is the place to be for new tunnels and bridges! In March the Clem 7 tunnel opened, we now have a second Gateway Bridge, The Go Between Bridge opened two weeks ago and The Ted Smout Bridge (Australia’s longest bridge) at Redcliffe opened just last weekend.
When the Clem 7 tunnel first opened in March, there were a couple of weeks when travel was completely free. Apart from the few fearful people who have vowed never to travel in a tunnel, especially not one 4.8km in length with a low point of 60m under the Brisbane River, most people I know at least drove through once for the experience while it was free.
The second phase has been 30 percent off tolls in the tunnel. Not surprisingly traffic levels are lower than when it was toll-free. This discount was supposed to end on Mothers’ Day but was extended. Clearly traffic has not been as high as expected and now the toll has been reduced to $2 per car to try to encourage motorists to use the tunnel.
When something is free, people hardly think twice about using it. Once something comes with a price tag, we start to think about whether we value the item (or service in the case of a toll road) as much as its cost. In terms of travelling the Clem 7, the electronic signs to entice you are how many or should I say how few minutes it will take to get from Point A to Point B via the tunnel. Perhaps they also need to put a comparative sign of how many minutes via the free roads to the same point! The other enticement is skipping 24 sets of traffic lights. Now that we pay, we make a conscious decision which way to go. Even our GPS knows that some people will do anything to avoid paying a toll, which is why it gives you the option to choose routes not involving tolls.
I find it disappointing at times that these attitudes cross over into Christianity. Many people are scared to talk about money and God in the same sentence. There’s an assumption out there that churches are only after money. I know what I am about to say could offend or upset some people but I believe I need to say it anyway.
I think there’s something about The Salvation Army that brings out the worst in people. There’s often an assumption that everything should be free. People don’t like paying for stuff that happens at The Salvos. I’ve had said to me on a few occasions at special events by a few different people, words along the lines of, “So do we have to pay to come to church now?” There have also been people who’ve snuck in through a side door or turned up late to avoid paying. I’m also sure that there are people who have chosen not to attend a divisional event because it had an entry fee. These are the people who have preset their spiritual GPS to avoid all toll routes!
I know South Queensland is not the only division that has people ringing up, emailing or facebooking to ask for discounts or freebies to attend divisional events. And the same goes for territorial stuff. I’m sure these same people wouldn’t phone up Planetshakers or Hillsong or some other mega church or ministry asking for free or cheap tickets to their headline events!
Seriously, what can you get for twenty bucks these days? You can have ten trips through the Clem 7 its current price. You’d easily spend more than a “rock lobster” on a night out at the movies, it doesn’t buy many main courses at a restaurant, you’d get 2/3 of a CD, forget going to a live concert – that would probably set you back over $100, although you might score a cheap t-shirt somewhere for a “redback.” Or, for $20 you could come to Impact (South Queensland Youth Councils) for one day or a whole weekend. Yet people still wanted discounts.
I’ve heard the story a few times now about astronaut John Glenn who was the first American to go into orbit. Someone asked him what he was thinking when he was crouched in the nose of the rocket awaiting blastoff. His reply? “I was thinking that the rocket had twenty thousand components and each was made by the lowest bidder.”
There are even whole websites set up on the premise of “winning” items by being the lowest unique bidder.
Man, we don’t want to be the lowest bidder when it comes to following Jesus! We shouldn’t want to get out of it as cheaply as possible. We shouldn’t try to give the minimum and get the maximum. We need to be prepared to spend money on our spiritual food just as much as on our physical food (be it masterchef, 4 ingredients or take away quality!)
Jesus did say that we should consider the cost of following him. See, in particular, verse 28 below.
Luke 14:25-33 (NLT)
25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them,26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him?32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away.33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.
So, no. There are no discounts. And there are no freebies. Just hand over your cold, hard cash. (On second thoughts, hand over your slippery, colourful plastic.)
save. grow. serve.
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Comments
Great article!
Well said
This is simply awesome, inspirational