students of jesus

Back in another life I was a salesman, and not a very good one at that. I was trained in techniques designed to close the sale quickly and effectively, and—if necessary—against the customer’s will. During these years I learned people don’t always reveal their true reasons for resisting your pitch. If they complained my product didn’t come in red, it meant they thought the price was too high, or they didn’t trust me. Red was simply a convenient excuse. The real issues were almost always price or trust.

Other than the benefit of nearly going bankrupt, my salesman days also taught me something about my walk with God. I discovered that I, too, deal in convenient excuses with the Master of the Universe. The convenient excuses are usually big picture things: "The church is full of hypocrites,” I protested. It allowed me to remain in isolation. When I declared, “The Bible is a flawed book,” it gave me an easy way out of navigating the tension between God’s ways and my ways. I was free to take my pick: “God hates women. Or gays. Or he’s too violent.”

And because I was educated beyond my intelligence, I loved to discuss the pressing social issues of the day in relation to Christianity. I’d take up the discussion with anyone who would listen. At the coffeehouse. On Facebook or Twitter. At some else’s blog, or at mine. They became my favorite hiding places from a daily, intimate walk with the Father. Discussing the failures of others or debating the current cause célèbre served me well. It became a game of hide-and-seek where I devoutly wished to be found by everyone except God. It’s much easier to talk about God than to walk with him. Should we be surprised we do not hear his voice when we are busy chattering away?

It turns out the Holy Spirit can play hide-and-seek pretty well, too. The Holy Spirit's favorite hiding place is inside a simple act of obedience. I can only seek him by being willing to do what he says. Understanding, insight, and revelation come from hearing his voice and doing his will. I can hold any traditional or progressive opinion and still hide from him. He does not come to talk about God’s Kingdom, but to establish it in my heart.

During my manipulative sales days, we had a method of cutting to the chase. When I prospect asked, “Does it come in red?” we would respond with, “If it comes in red, are you ready to buy it?” The crass, in-your-face approach had a way of separating the buyers from the browsers. Who knows? Perhaps the Spirit asks me the same question: “If Jesus agreed with all your social and political opinions, would you then be ready to kneel and obey?”