Selling Jesus...

When I was in the university, I engaged in selling some insurance policies that was premised on network marketing. They were life insurance policies and given the Nigerian society, it was quite difficult to sell. The more tricky part was how to convince my student friends they could make money by also selling the policies- the kind of money that could change their lives. Well, I was not successful at convincing them, which was because I didn’t reflect the kind of extra ordinary lifestyle I was preaching. I was not the only one that was caught in this web. I had a few friends that were dreamers like me who had ideas on how to change the world but were not influential enough. We all have our incubation periods when we are allowed to remain in our shells and just be eggs but we can’t be eggs forever. We need to become hens and lay our own eggs too.

Before one can make an impact, a lot of work has to be done on oneself. I know lots of motivational speakers that lived the ‘fake it till you make it’ lifestyle and some even preach it but there are some lifestyles that cannot be faked, one is either in or out. Such is the Christian lifestyle. Much as you might be trying to sell the lifestyle to another person, personal conviction is very necessary. You need to make peace with yourself first.

I was one of those that lost count on the altar calls they answered. Like the network marketed insurance policies, I understood what it was about to accept Jesus, I wanted to live the lifestyle but the work I would put in to get results scared me. To sell the insurance policy meant being able to shut out all the reasons why it wasn’t going to work. It also meant seeing the odds but being able to recognise it was not about selling the insurance policy but being able to build a network that would have changed my life and that of those I encountered positively. 

Living the ideal Christian life entails growth. It is not enough that one accepts Jesus as one’s Lord and Saviour, one need to follow His teachings, walk and grow in it. This is a life lived expressly on faith. Understanding the depth of His love and sacrifice and being able to make another see the same.  When people can see the work of God in our lives, our lives become a gospel. For most people that know about network marketing, it is easier to bring people into one’s team when one’s life is reflective of the life one is marketing. I can’t tell you about vacationing on some beautiful island and living in a beautiful house with your  future assured when I just hopped off an ‘okada’(commercial motorcycle) with tattered shoes.

 We are all called into the business of selling Christ and like the insurance policies, selling Christ means our lives must be reflective of the life Jesus lived and died for. We need to reach out at our workplaces or wherever we find ourselves and talk to someone about Jesus. We have been commanded to do this. Matt 28:19-20

If you are in a bad place in your spiritual life, make the decision to live more consciously so as to be able to fulfil your mandate.

‘And He said unto them, go into the world and proclaim the Gospel to all creation’  Mark16:15

 The end is near and there are so many people still unsaved. Reach out to someone today; let your life change another life.