Pastor's Spouses make Great Sales people

In truth - Christian's in general probably make great sales people too, but please - let me run with my potentially terribly wrong broad, sweeping stereo-type for the time being...

It's 11:30 pm and I can't get to sleep because I'm hyped up about my experience this week as an Arbonne vendor at a local consignment sale. (Wait - I'm promise these too relate, and I promise this isn't a pitch for Arbonne...necessarily ;-) Also - Sarah actually went to bed without a fight at 7:30 - the earliest ever and I know as soon as my head hits the pillow she will wake up screaming for food)

I can sell you Arbonne and sewing machines until the cows come home because I'm sharing a sincere passion with you. I want to tell you about them because of the joy it brings me and because I sincerely think they're the best thing out there. 

Same thing with Jesus. I can talk to you about Jesus all day long - not because I have the answers (Lord only knows!)...certainly not because I know the bible like the back of my hand.  I can tell you how great my God is because I can tell you how great my God has been not just for me, but for all of salvation history.

Let's face it - everyone sees right through that salesperson who does it for the money. I'm not selling you Arbonne because I happen to make money doing it. I sell it because I love it and I want to share it with people...and making money is an awful great side benefit.

I met as many fantastic connections for church as I did for my Arbonne business this weekend. To my right, was Embry's Diaper Emporium - yet another Pastor's spouse - Emily wife to Church of Christ preacher Brian. To my left was Lesa - (and FORGIVE ME - but I can't remember which church you said you went to1) an active member in Mops (the program we're getting ready to kick off at BSLC) until she and her kids "aged" out of the system. I even met a woman who teaches early childhood music (a la kindermusik or musikgarten) who loves Taize. (What random people do you meet know about the Taize community in France?)

I'm so on fire about this MOPS thing starting this fall...and here's why I've decided Pastor's spouses are fantastic sales people. Our hearts are SO on fire for Jesus - we believe in His cause so much - that it's worth it to sacrifice certain things in our families for our spouses to be pastors.

Emily - with Embry's Diaper Emporium - also a pastor's wife - has a jam-up diaper business - why? Because she sincerely believes in them as not just a way to make money - but because she used them on her son, fell in love with them and wants to share that passion with EVERYONE.  

As Emily, Lesa and I all talked about network marketing and self-run businesses I constantly heard so and so sells _______ (and she's a pastor's wife too). I can't speak for Emily, but for me sharing Arbonne is natural to me. I love Jesus so much - I want our whole family to be a part of sharing what God does in and through him. I love all natural skin care and nutrition and the way Arbonne products make me feel - I want you to know how fantastic it is! Sewing brings so much joy to my life - I want to share it with you! (Now please...don't think in anyway I'm comparing Arbonne or sewing machines to Jesus Christ.) I'm just wired to share what I love with anyone and everyone.

Lutherans - historically - probably make the worst sales people - especially for their faith. Our piety and guilty feelings over the need to be incredibly humble often leads us down the path of spiritual solitude. I can't even begin to hear the number of times I've heard people say they don't like to talk about their relationship with God because it's a private matter and none of anyone else's business. (In reality nothing could be farther from the truth. The phrase "We're better together" means SO much more in the church)

I love the Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists and non-denoms for their ability to do small group ministry and faith sharing SO much better than us Lutherans. (SHOCKER - I, the lifelong Lutheran -  often had a better time participating in these kind of relational minitries of the Pres/Methods/Baptists than my own church - just turns out I'm a sucker for Lutheran theology and liturgy...) With MOPs it is relational and small group ministry at it's core.

I talked to mother's at my Arbonne booth about MOPs because I know how valuable those kind of small group ministries have been in my life. Add in the bond mothers share and I am so sure that God is up to something incredible.

So - in this late-night terribly written ramble - let me sum this up for you.

CLIFF NOTES VERSION:

Pastor's spouses and Christians can be fantastic sales people if we think about how passionate we are about what God has done in our lives an how much we love Jesus, channel that need to share this Good News with everyone into sharing other things that bring us joy.  As soon as you take money, quotas and profits out of the equation - the things you're selling sell themselves. People want to know why you are so happy - the same way people want to know - 'What is so special about this God you know that makes you who you are?"

The End.