Being Christian
I was cleaning out some old files and I found this in a text file “blogpost.txt” - I don’t remember if I ever posted this but I did a quick search and didn’t see it in my archive. I thought it was good stuff so i figured I’d toss it up. =)
Christianity For Sale
God does not want salesmen. Salesmen don’t care about the people they’re selling to. They don’t want to know their life-stories, the struggles they’ve dealt with, the passions they’ve pursued, the dreams they’ve had.
So many times in life I’ve felt like I’d been hired to be God’s salesman. It was my job, in all situations and conversations, to find that angle or loophole to slip God into the conversation and convert, convert, convert!
The problem with this mentality is when you’re busy looking for a loophole, you miss the conversation. It’s like a quarrelsome couple in a fight. When one talks, the other spends all their energy trying to think of a comeback and how to defend their position instead of actually listening to what the other side has to say.
We need to lose the briefcase and suit and just be real people. There’s no need to ‘sell your point’ as long as you live it. Don’t go out of the way to hide your christianity from conversation but don’t shout it out either. Being christian should be as much a part of us as being a graphic designer or being a husband, a sister, an artist, a construction worker, a skater, a girlfriend, or whatever combination of things makes you who you are.
8 Comments
Hannah
Apr 17 @ 02:47 PM
Well spoken...er...typed. So often salesmen insist on shoving their product down your throat. I’ve seen Christians who do this as well and in the end it only succeeds in turing non-believers away. I like your website.
Keep up the good work!! :)
Michelle
Apr 18 @ 01:30 AM
Is this an article you found or did you write it yourself. It is very convicting. The one part I don’t like is...there is no need to sell your point as long as you live it. I think sharing your faith is a very important thing to do and so often people say...well my actions will show them, or they will ask me if they want to know about Christ. So many people get looked over because of this. I think it is just ias mportant sharing the Gospel as following it up with actions. Though I do understand the whole salesman approach. In my own ministry at WSU I have asked myself...why am I doing this, or do I really love this person and want them to experience the joy of God or do I just want to be able to say I saw another person receive Christ. It is so important to make sure you get into people’s lives, really be genuine, and not treat them like just a number or statistic. I have seen that happen so often and it is not cool at all!
Chris Harrison
Apr 18 @ 04:36 AM
You hit the nail on the head… Being Christian should just be who we are. I know that for the longest time I was turned off to the idea of being a Christian because all of the “Christians” I knew acted like hypocrites.
Lead by example. Show people how Christ is working in your life. Don’t pretend to be perfect. Be yourself.
AllenReloaded
Apr 18 @ 07:53 AM
Awesome. My sentiments exactly. The question I ask myself is, “if I knew this person would NEVER accept Jesus, would I still be their friend?” If I can’t HONESTLY say YES, then the ulterior motive of evangelism will likely lead to pain for both of us and could actually lead the other person to be even more suspicious of Christ followers in the future.
Honesty. With ourselves and with others. It’s very important.
Jesse J. Anderson
Apr 18 @ 07:59 AM
Michelle - both. It’s something I wrote awhile time ago and apparently forgot to post it until I found it again cleaning out some old files yesterday. =)
AllenReloaded - that’s a great question to ask to help know your own motives!
Ben Gray
Apr 18 @ 11:29 AM
I find that people can instinctively sense when you’re treating them like a sale. Personally I can tell within about 5 seconds if someone I meet wants to get to know me or wants to sell me something. It’s something that ministers such as myself must always keep in mind. I’ve got to focus on them as a person, witnessing will come in time, but only through a genuine relationship.
Shane
Apr 18 @ 12:37 PM
Good stuff as usual dude. I love what you said about not “selling” your point as long as you “live it” those are awesome words to live by, because it still encourages us to “share” our faith with others as long as we are only sharing and not attempting to “sell” our product to others. Like you, I agree that we need to dump the suit and breifcase routine.
Blog on!
Benjamin
Apr 19 @ 03:03 PM
Dude, I agree totally. I think there has become such a pressure on christians to be ‘spiritual parents’ but in my experience it always comes through relationship, deep relationship. I would worry if my friends DIDN’T know I was a christian because it is definately the most important part of my character.
I have found that my best friends always turn to me when they are in need because they know ‘my God’ can help them. Relationships is definately the way.
I do think we have a responsibility to share our ‘discovery’ though, seriously - it is the most amazing thing to be saved by grace - who deserves to perish thanks to our negligance?
I’ve only recently started reading your blog, but I love it. Keep it up dude.