Spotted A Rep - Guess Where?

[Bigshooter]

This happened a few weeks ago - I was in a very large church and my friend sitting beside me nudges me and points to the wrist of a guy sitting in front of him and off to the side a little, his wrist was hanging over the back of his pew in plain view of my friend.

The way he was dangling it in front of everyone it was pretty clear he wanted us to see it.

So my friend asks in a quiet voice "is it real" so I look over and its a SS Sub with a Blue Dial (gasp) I looked a little closer just to see how bad it really was and trust me it was pretty bad.

So just as I look at my friend and shake my head no - the guy turns and looks right at me - looks down at my Sub (replica SS/Black) - then back up at me then pulls his arm out from behind his wife and places it in his lap - he then turns and whispers something to his wife and

THEY GET UP AND MOVE!

I felt terrible - I didn't intend to out the guy at all - I had no idea he heard the question let alone would turn and catch me giving the answer by shaking my head.

[Leeroy697]

I guess thats what he gets for trying to show off a bad rep??

[z80]

I don't think church is the appropriate place to wear a Rolex (real or fake).. just seems a bit hypocritical, what with all the stuff in the Bible about "sell all your stuff and follow Me" and the rich man and the eye of the needle. Also, I would think passing the collection plate while wearing a Rolex would (or should) inspire guilt, not to mention whispers behind your back. Oh.. that's right, people don't talk behind each other's back in church, that wouldn't be right.

[relaxman]

I don't think church is the appropriate place to wear a Rolex (real or fake).. just seems a bit hypocritical, what with all the stuff in the Bible about "sell all your stuff and follow Me" and the rich man and the eye of the needle. Also, I would think passing the collection plate while wearing a Rolex would (or should) inspire guilt, not to mention whispers behind your back. Oh.. that's right, people don't talk behind each other's back in church, that wouldn't be right.

AHHAHAHHhahahhahah. Are you serious? Do you know how many preachers,pastors and so on wear Rolex? Short answer alot! I know the pastor that married my wife and I sports a nice diamond dial datejust and I never held it againt him. LOL

what with all the stuff in the Bible about "sell all your stuff and follow Me" and the rich man and the eye of the needle.

Bull Hockey!!!!!!!!

Mg

[Bigshooter]

I don't think church is the appropriate place to wear a Rolex (real or fake).. just seems a bit hypocritical, what with all the stuff in the Bible about "sell all your stuff and follow Me" and the rich man and the eye of the needle. Also, I would think passing the collection plate while wearing a Rolex would (or should) inspire guilt, not to mention whispers behind your back. Oh.. that's right, people don't talk behind each other's back in church, that wouldn't be right.

I wasn't trying to spark a theological debate but I see nothing wrong with wearing a Rollie in church or anywhere else that's like saying if you own a Mercedes you shouldn't drive it in order to be humble and apparently the pastor feels the same way - he wears a genuine yellow gold President.

[narikaa]

I don't think church is the appropriate place to wear a Rolex (real or fake).. just seems a bit hypocritical, what with all the stuff in the Bible about "sell all your stuff and follow Me" and the rich man and the eye of the needle. Also, I would think passing the collection plate while wearing a Rolex would (or should) inspire guilt, not to mention whispers behind your back. Oh.. that's right, people don't talk behind each other's back in church, that wouldn't be right.

Shoulda followed him - maybe the ploy was later to toss it into the collection plate with a flourish saying 'hot damn that sermon moved me'.

[Linder]

lol, Narikaa.

I've often wondered how many pastors who have a nice watch do so because a member purchased it for them?

[KB]

My thoughts are similar to z80 only I believe you shouldn't wear a rep in church, it is an illegal item after all and not what church is all about I always wear my Pulsar when I go to church.

Ken

[alligoat]

Ah, yes, we all know the perils of wearing a rep, especially a Rolex. And ss blue subs are scarcer than hen's teeth. Bet he doesn't wear that watch much anymore!

At least w/ these forums, we all know what is good and what's bad. And some of our stuff is damn GOOD. I love it when my watchmaker looks at my WM and says, "That's real, isn't it?"

[z80]

I wasn't trying to spark a theological debate but I see nothing wrong with wearing a Rollie in church or anywhere else that's like saying if you own a Mercedes you shouldn't drive it in order to be humble and apparently the pastor feels the same way - he wears a genuine yellow gold President.

Theological debates are my speciality

I'm sorry, but a Pastor wearing a Rolex? That so goes against nearly everything taught by Jesus. "Christians" have become very worldy in the past hundred years or so. Just so you know, I have very theological background in pretty hard-core Fundamentalism. The fact I have chosen the path of reason over mysticism does not negate the knowledge of scripture I aquired over the years. It does, however, allow me to look at the "Church" with open eyes. For a Christian to flaunt wealth goes directly against the teachings of Jesus, no matter what ANY Pastor says or does:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Parable of the Rich Fool

13Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

14Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?"

15Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.

17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '

20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christians seem to take what they want from the Bible and not hear the rest. It is also the fault of alot of pastors for pandering to congregations, especially the Mega-Chruches, guilting them into donating, yet still comforting them that massive wealth is ok. When Paul spoke of the Church of Laodicea, it strikes a resembalance to the Church of today. I mainly left the Church over blatant hypocracy (Fundamentalist Baptist). Now.. the connection between Christians and guns and the Republican Party... That's another rant.

[Bigshooter]

Theological debates are my speciality

I'm sorry, but a Pastor wearing a Rolex? That so goes against nearly everything taught by Jesus. "Christians" have become very worldy in the past hundred years or so. Just so you know, I have very theological background in pretty hard-core Fundamentalism. The fact I have chosen the path of reason over mysticism does not negate the knowledge of scripture I aquired over the years. It does, however, allow me to look at the "Church" with open eyes. For a Christian to flaunt wealth goes directly against the teachings of Jesus, no matter what ANY Pastor says or does:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Parable of the Rich Fool

13Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

14Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?"

15Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

16And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop.

17He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

18"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.

19And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '

20"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

21"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christians seem to take what they want from the Bible and not hear the rest. It is also the fault of alot of pastors for pandering to congregations, especially the Mega-Chruches, guilting them into donating, yet still comforting them that massive wealth is ok. When Paul spoke of the Church of Laodicea, it strikes a resembalance to the Church of today. I mainly left the Church over blatant hypocracy (Fundamentalist Baptist). Now.. the connection between Christians and guns and the Republican Party... That's another rant.

I partially disagree - equating being poor with being spiritual is just as unbiblical as flaunting your wealth.

I agree there have been some preachers who abused their position and influence so seek exorbitant personal financial gain over all else. Their greedy manipulative efforts have hurt the church and given unbelieving critics ammunition to attack and descredit but to say a pastor can't drive a luxury car of wear a Rolex IMHO is wrong.

How about pastors like Rick Warren who wrote a mega-selling book and made millions - he didn't abuse anyone to get his money - why would it be wrong for him to live well?

[relaxman]

Theological debates are my speciality

Yea wrong forum

[Richard Tracy]

As a broker, I spot reps quite a lot where I work, and live... however I see these guys like

brothers, and never break their cover to the outside world.. or even let

them know, that I know...

Nothing more embarrassing..

I do at times, for friends, when asked, guide them to a better class of reps ...

So the question is.... Are we, our own worst enemies ?

[Bigshooter]

As a broker, I spot reps quite a lot where I work, and live... however I see these guys like

brothers, and never break their cover to the outside world.. or even let

them know, that I know...

Nothing more embarrassing..

I do at times, for friends, when asked, guide them to a better class of reps ...

So the question is.... Are we, our own worst enemies ?

Yes - I never out someone on purpose or in front of others - after all I'm wearing a rep too - am I any better just because I know where to get a good one? Usually I just let it go or if I get a chance to show them mine in a private conversation; guide them a little.

This happening was unusual - I had no clue the guy knew what we were talking about.

Edited August 7, 2006 by Bigshooter

[Richard Tracy]

Yes - I never out someone on purpose or in front of others - after all I'm wearing a rep too - am I any better just because I know where to get a good one? Usually I just let it go or if I get a chance to show them mine in a private conversation; guide them a little.

This happening was unusual - I had no clue the guy knew what we were talking about.

I know that,...and my post was not referring to you bro...

I was just bringing the question of if our knowledge us mostly used to help or hurt others,...

For instance, I have an acquaintance at work that used to buy the down-town alley variety of reps...

Then after some tips and buys from me, he uses his newly acquired knowledge to snicker and laugh

at those that are wearing the same watches that he used to... forcing me to turn and walk away

from him whenever he does this....

How many of us are doing the same ?

[Bigshooter]

Remember also the rich young ruler, who asked "what must I do to be your follower?" And Jesus replied to "give away everything you have, and come follow me."

The problem is in loving our possessions more than loving our Lord. There is nothing wrong with having nice stuff, but if you're ever asked to give it away, it would be best if that simple decision was already made in your mind.

Very well said Nanuq - it's the condition of your heart not what is or isn't on your wrist.

[bres3000]

This happened a few weeks ago - I was in a very large church and my friend sitting beside me nudges me and points to the wrist of a guy sitting in front of him and off to the side a little, his wrist was hanging over the back of his pew in plain view of my friend. So my friend asks in a quiet voice "is it real" so I look over and its a SS Sub with a Blue Dial (gasp) I looked a little closer just to see how bad it really was and trust me it was pretty bad. So just as I look at my friend and shake my head no - the guy turns and looks right at me - looks down at my Sub (replica SS/Black) - then back up at me then pulls his arm out from behind his wife and places it in his lap - he then turns and whispers something to his wife and THEY GET UP AND MOVE!

the Bible states that "Ye shall not wear false jewelry in a house of worship."

Translation: You, your buddy and the blue-dial guy are goin' straight to hell!

[Bigshooter]

the Bible states that "Ye shall not wear false jewelry in a house of worship."

Translation: You, your buddy and the blue-dial guy are goin' straight to hell!

LOL ! At least I'll have the nicest rep sub in all of hades!

I can't stop laughing!

[Linder]

Remember also the rich young ruler, who asked "what must I do to be your follower?" And Jesus replied to "give away everything you have, and come follow me."

The problem is in loving our possessions more than loving our Lord. There is nothing wrong with having nice stuff, but if you're ever asked to give it away, it would be best if that simple decision was already made in your mind.

Thank you, Nanuq, for keeping this in perspective.

Edited August 8, 2006 by Linder

[hk45ca]

Thank you, Nanuq, for keeping this in perspective.

ahmen!

[Watchwatcher]

nanug, i appreciate your putting your finger on the heart of the issue, which is the state of a person's heart, rather than what they're wearing.

i have a good friend, who for many years had a beautiful solid 18K genuine rolex. a few years ago, a mutual friend of ours died, leaving three young sons and his wife. the friend with the rolex, sold it for several thousand dollars and gave all but a few hundred dollars to the family for the boys education fund. with the money he had left he bot a high quality rep, which he wears to this day. now, when i see that rep on his wrist (on Sunday morning or otherwise) it reminds me of his generosity... funny how we are so good at making up rules about what others can and can't wear... there must be a parable here somewhere???

[Linder]

Wow, now that's a story to remember

[linkukbora]

Your story reminded me of an encounterment with one jerk shoving his coca cola sub trying to impress the bar girl This jerk is sitting next to our group at the counter, hence knowing his very intention( He's talking loudly) , we deliberately took turns to shove our rollies and my 1803 sent him out of the door

[dabom]

Remember also the rich young ruler, who asked "what must I do to be your follower?" And Jesus replied to "give away everything you have, and come follow me."

The problem is in loving our possessions more than loving our Lord. There is nothing wrong with having nice stuff, but if you're ever asked to give it away, it would be best if that simple decision was already made in your mind.

Exactly. If riches were evil, God would never have rewarded Solomon with lots of it.

The Bible never says money is evil (as is often misquoted), it says "the LOVE of money is the root of all evil".

It is in fact the WORLD that teaches that Christians be poor - not the Bible.

Did you know Jesus himself was wealthy? He was so wealthy that people cast lots for his underwear. People think that only "3 wise men" came to his birth - it was in fact a whole boatload of kings from all around the region who came to his birth - they brought 3 gifts: gold, frankenscence and mirrh. He was so rich that he had a treasurer who frequently helped himself (Judas), and he had at least 2 houses. (the verse ".. but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head" refers to the fact that he was an itinerant preacher - not that he had nowhere to live!)

When it came to feeding the 5000 men, his disciples ask "where are we going to buy food at this time" - they never said "how do we pay for it!" Let's see 5000 men, maybe 10000 children, and maybe 5000 women. That's about 20000 people. How much money do you think it would have cost to feed 20000 people?

Teachings of poverty was NEVER in the Bible. It in fact came from the monks. When the Roman empire integrated the state with religion, a group of people disagreed because they associated the integration of state and religion with corruption. They separated themselves and the poverty movement was born.

As for the "easier for a rich man to enter the eye of a needle than heaven": do you know what the eye of the needle was? There is a gate to Jerusalem called the "eye of the needle". This gate was a very narrow gate, so a mule carrying lots of goods could not fit through the gate unless it unloaded first. The problem is people don't understand the context of history, and then they go misquoting verses thinking that God wants us all to be poor. When Jesus said that analogy, do you know how the disciples answered? They answered "then how can any of us be saved?" They said that because virtually all of the disciples were rich! One was a physician, some were very successful fisherman, one was a tax collector. Jesus chose very successful businessmen to be his disciples.

The point is: don't judge. Wealth is good. No-one listens to a poor man (just look at all those people who listen to Bill Gates and Donald Trump as if they were gods). And nothing can be accomplished without money. Put it this way: to whose best interest is it if Christians are incapaciated by poverty and debt?

[cib0rgman]

@Dabom.

Very well said, is all I can say.