An Unusual Man

It's been an interesting Christmas season.  This time of year is usually a financially difficult time for me.  As a handyman, most people don't want you in their house tearing things up from Thanksgiving through the New Years.  I've tried thinking of many ways to boost my income during this time of year, but only the Lord can do it as wells as He's done it this year.  Needless to say, I've put in long hours, and made enough money to carry me through to the New Year, with a short waiting list of people needing me to do work for them.

Strangely, as I've gone through this past year, I've been working with a local businessman who's shown me what it's like to have the mind of Christ.  He isn't family, but I care for him as if he were.  I believe he was sent by God to help me through this dry season, and to teach me how to have the mind of Christ. To many in the community I live in, he is a rich man.  People have abused his wealth, because he has a good heart.  At the same time, it is obvious he would like to lash out, like any of us would, at those who've hurt him.  It would be even easier to succumb to the power in wealth, and lock up the bowels of compassion.  He could cash out at any time, and leave a great deal of people writhing in the dust.  BUT. . . . he doesn't.  I've often stepped into his place of business and found him and his wife praying.  They could be bitter, bitter people enveloped in hate, and wrath, but they aren't.

The mind of Christ is to accept the persecution, the abuse, the falsehoods, the outright lies, and love those who've hurt you.  You see, it is the power to forgive, and even reconcile, that makes us 'supernatural.'   Christ gave us that power.  It is human nature to dominate, control, and abuse.  Christ gives us the ability to live above the the natural tendencies.  When we are born again, and his presence fill our hearts, we find ourselves able to live as he lived.  Not in some legalistic abstinence from life, but embracing the people who fail, knowing full well that we ourselves have failed.  We overlook the evil others do to us, knowing that it is God who owns vengeance.  His retribution is more sure, but even in that, he gave us, His children a way to be like him.  In forgiving others, we remove the need for him to exact vengeance.  He can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that we have become like Him.  Extending mercy to those whom mercy is not due, giving grace to those who don't merit it, and loving all men, because they are made in HIS likeness.  Christ extended healing to those who were steeped in sin, gave forgiveness to those who abused him, and prayed for mercy for those who murdered him as he hung upon the cross.  That is the mind I want.

Selling Jesus

I've only been a salesman once in my life.  I'm not knocking it for those who do it.  Back in 1976, I did a short stint selling Harley Davidson Motorcycles, (Actually bowling pin motorcycles, as they were owned by AMF at the time.)  I grew up around Harleys, and I believed in them, so, selling them wasn't hard for me.  I actually enjoyed selling them, because I enjoyed selling people something I enjoyed myself.  There was a day when being a 'peddler,' or 'merchant' was a noble profession.  I can still remember the Fuller Brush salesman who knew my mother by name, or the milkman who delivered the milk to my grandmother many years ago.  Avon, Mary Kay, Tupperware, and on, and on, and. . . .Well you get the picture.  Men, are more industrial in their acceptance of sales people.  I myself tend to despise the salesman who tells me I have to have his product.  I especially despise the salesman who calls me without having tried to meet me first.  I despise gimmicks   Sell me the product, not the peanut brittle you have in your hand.  AND, when you leave, leave the peanut brittle.  If you are the manager of any sort, you know what I mean.  

What concerns me is the selling of Jesus.  I'm not talking about the shameless hucksterism that has always been a part of the Christian experience.  From the birth of Christianity, there were always those who saw a quick buck to be made in selling Jesus.  The Apostle Paul bemoaned their existence, but looked at them as one more way that people came to a knowledge of Jesus Christ.  He didn't care how Christ was glorified, but was overjoyed that Christ was preached.

I don't know if I'm as tolerant as Paul.  As the pendulum of public approval for Christians begins to swing back toward antagonism, I wonder if the hucksters aren't doing us more damage than good. I don't think you can 'sell' the relationship that is derived from the presence of God being in your life. I'm not talking about those people who offer you dancing angel mirror balls for your generous love offering.  These people are like the money changers in the Temple court.  They are obvious, and at the same time oblivious to what they are doing.  What I'm talking about are the people who promise you that a life with Christ will be a bed of roses, a walk in the park, tea at tea time, and a host of other platitudes that are far from truthful.  This thinking is clearly seen when you start pushing against them with even a hint of persecution, or let discomfort, or trials enter into their life.  BUT, I thought. . .  You said . . . .I spoke. . . I claimed. . . .WHY!!!!!!???????  Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.  I don't want to be different.

The real Presence of God will make you different.  The Presence of God will raise the hackles on the back of the 'world.'  The Presence of God casts it's light into the dark corners of men's lives, and makes them uncomfortable.  The purveyors of the pasty, wimpy, and murdered Jesus, don't want you to realize the power of the resurrected, living Jesus.  Jesus on the cross is acceptable, Jesus in the tomb is preferred, but Jesus cooking fish by the seashore is offensive.  The Presence of God burns away the desires for the things of this world and leaves you a smoking offering of love to a dying world.  COMFORT?   I don't think so.  You can sell a hundred thousand crosses, but few people want to carry their own.  Those who sell a 'feel good' Jesus don't really believe in what they are 'selling.'  They aren't familiar with the product.

We don't have to sell Jesus.  All we have to do is give away what he gave us to give.  Therein lies the problem.  He gave us the power to Heal, Save, and Deliver men, and women.  He left His Spirit here for us to know He was still here.  You can't sell these things.  I can't sell you something you can't see, taste, or touch.  What I can do, is be Him for you.  THAT'S THE HARD PART.  That is how you will know He is real.  I know this much, I can't live without him.  I want you to feel the same way.  That is my heart set before all men.  I love this man named Jesus Christ, even though I've never seen him.  My life with HIM is not the same as it was without him.  I've been sick, injured, addicted, persecuted, beat down, destitute, and looked death in the eye, but in all of this I've never felt alone.  That, my friends, is the testament to His Presence.  He said he would not leave us as orphans.  He will not abandon us, even if we abandon Him.

oooooppppps!  I'm selling Jesus.

Try Him, I think you'll like Him.