It’s that time of year where you do some spring cleaning, purging the closets, basement, and attic of things you’ve cherished for years but are only collecting dust and using up space. Sentimentality makes you want to keep those things, but you probably have a wife like mine that is saying, “If you haven’t used it in the last five years, get rid of it!” You deem it too valuable (whether financially or sentimental) to just throw away in the dumpster. Taking it to a thrift store may not feel right, either. So, you decide to take it to an antique or vintage store where it can be sold to someone who will appreciate it as much as you do.
But how do you know if it is vintage or antique? Lifehacker.com gives us the criteria for making the determination.
“As a general rule, an item has to be at least 100 years old to be considered “antique.” This really narrows things down: Even though a new crop of stuff earns the label every year, true antiques are still rare. Unsurprisingly, this also means they’re quite expensive.
“Pinning down a definition for “vintage” is a lot harder. The word itself comes from winemaking and refers to the time and place something—usually wine—was produced, but it doesn’t say anything about its age. Some dealers consider anything between 20 and 99 years old “vintage;” others are a little stricter. The important thing to remember is that nobody agrees, so “vintage” can mean almost anything.”1
Typically, slapping a vintage or antique label on something increases the dollar value. A virtual trip on Amazon or Facebook Marketplace proves that to be true. Those words also cause the casual scroller to stop for a moment and examine a product. Though you may not need it, those marketing buzz words caught your attention, causing you to take a second look.
As I was writing this, I realized that I only know one person who qualifies as an antique
while most others are vintage. Yesterday, April 9th, was National Cherish An Antique Day. Do you cherish the antiques and vintage people in your life, especially those vintage people who are closer to being antiques than they are to being “new”?
We know that Job had three friends who were probably vintage. We are never told their age. A fourth friend named Elihu enters the conversation in Job 32 and observes this axiom in Job 32:6-7. “And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said, I am young, and ye are very old; wherefore I was afraid, and durst not shew you mine opinion. (7) I said, Days should speak, and multitude of years should teach wisdom.” Though Elihu cherished the wisdom of the vintage and antiques, these three friends had left him sorely disappointed and empty as we read in the verses that follow.
The Jewish community was taught to cherish the antiques and those who are vintage. Leviticus 19:32 says, “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honour the face of the old man, and fear thy God: I am the LORD.” Within the church, we are instructed in 1 Timothy 5:1, “Rebuke not an elder, but intreat him as a father; and the younger men as brethren.”
Not only does the Scripture tell us to cherish these vintage and antique individuals, we are to remember that they still have purpose and value. We need to esteem their ongoing functionality. The Psalmist prayed in Psalms 71:9, 17-18, “Cast me not off in the time of 
old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth… O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works. (18) Now also when I am old and grayheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.”
The work of an antique or a antique-adjacent person is not finished. They are still able to accomplish great things for the Lord. We just need to cherish them. Listen to their stories. Hear their faith and be encouraged. David says in Psalms 37:25, “I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.”
1https://lifehacker.com/the-difference-between-antique-and-vintage-and-why-it-1847688595
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