We’re selling salvation, not used cars.

This entire blog is about energizing you to tell your own story.  Why?  Because it is the gateway for unbelievers to begin believing.  God did not wire us to simply accept what people tell us.  God wired us to demand evidence that what we are saying is true.  I am here to tell you that the best evidence you have, the most powerful evidence you have, is your own story.

Being a Christian is a little bit like selling a car.  Stay with me here.  Picture the following exchange between you and a perfect stranger:

“Hey!  You need to buy that car over there.”

“What?  Who are you?”

“That’s not important.  But you need to buy that car over there.”

“Not interested.”

“Sure you are!  Here’s the manual.  It gets great mileage, and has GPS.”

“Dude.  I don’t even want a car.   I don’t need a car right now.”

“What?!?  Do you have any idea what you are saying?”

“Yeah.  I’m saying I don’t want a new car, freak.”

“You will surely die if you don’t buy this car.”

And then we walk away feeling like we’ve accomplished something by at least trying.  Christians do this a lot.  We have come to a place where we have accepted Christ and we love to pour into the Word.  So we grab a Bible and start telling people what is in the Bible.  Sometimes this produces amazing results!  Sometimes you get a blank stare from someone who is obviously looking for the first possible opportunity to move on.

What if you told your story instead.  What would that look like?

“Wow.  That car just changed my life.”

“A car?  You’re saying a car changed your life.”

“Yeah.  Actually, it basically saved my marriage.”

“A car saved your marriage?  How did it do that?”

And then the conversation begins.  This isn’t a perfect analogy of course.  But I hope it illustrates how important your own story is and why it matters so much.  There is nothing wrong with starting with the Bible.  But for many people, you’re coming to them from a place they simply cannot relate to.  They need something to connect to first.  That something is you.  Your story.  I will write later this week about the importance of entering into long term relationships with people in order to bring them to Christ.  But that all starts with your story.

The Bible is an amazing story (and it’s true!).  But your personal story is the gateway that brings people to the Bible.  Maybe it is a story filled with pain, or filled with happiness, or both.  But your story is inside of you for the express purpose of connecting with another person who needs Christ in their lives.  Don’t underestimate the power of that story to create disciples.

Who can you share your story with today?  Something small.  You don’t need to blow out your entire witness.  Who can you connect with today that you haven’t really connected with before by planting that seed which is your story?  I challenge you to take that step, and I will do the same.  We can write about it right here next week.

We were built to be heroes.

It’s about time we started acting like heroes.