My journey home from the office was a long one. A major accident had the primary thoroughfare between home and office closed for about 30 miles. This ended up putting me on a lot of back roads I had never traveled before. To pass the time, I was listening to a business podcast. I listen to these frequently because I am trying to learn how to better utilize the internet and social media for a few of my projects and especially for my ministry. This particular episode was dealing at least in part with people’s hesitance to sell. Largely he paired a hesitance to sell with a lack of belief in the product you were selling. He said something to the effect of if you have a product you believe in, it is cruel for you not to try to sell it to as many people as possible. He made some excellent points, but in the process I felt some guilt bubbling up inside me.
You see I started to think about what I am ultimately “selling.” Please forgive the use of the term, I am going somewhere with it. You see as a minister, what I am really “selling” is Jesus and faith in Him. Now to be clear. I do believe. I shout my faith from the rooftops, especially in a church setting. Among may other things, I believe Jesus Christ is the single greatest source of positive life change there has ever been and I know this from personal experience. I believe in Jesus. I love Jesus and I believe the single best thing anyone can do is place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I’ve stood before thousands of people over the years and have proclaimed the Gospel and I can think of nothing I would rather do. To carry the selling metaphor to its logical conclusion, I’m a firm believer in my “product” because I know He changes lives and He works every time.
So why is it in a one on one setting, I get really bashful and it’s hard to “make the sale.” Why can I stand before thousands of strangers and preach and proclaim the message, but one on one makes me tongue tied? I don’t have a conclusion to offer to you today and I make no excuses. Lord help me. I believe in you.
AMOKArts 