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I have noticed recently that some in the corporate world have taken to calling their sales reps “Evangelists”. At first I chuckled at this idea, thinking it was rather appropriate. The first thoughts that come to mind when you think of an evangelist is someone who is passionate about the product they are selling, who love talking to people about it, and even structure their entire lives around propagating their product to the masses in any way they can imagine. Evangelists are typically associated with Christianity, as over the years, Christians have sent out folks (or just hired some to come and speak at their weekly gatherings) to preach the good news, the Gospel (which in Greek, the language of the New Testament, is Evangelion). Just like any useful product, a well-satisfied customer is often the best person and most likely to pass it on to the masses.

Well see… the problem is… the Gospel is not a product.

The term was interesting, and applicable to corporate sales, only because for so long, WE have gotten it wrong. We are not peddling a product, or a service, or anything remotely tangible. We have appeared as though that has been the case. We have presented life with Jesus as 12 steps to a great life. But, that’s not what the Kingdom is all about.

Life with Jesus is just that. Life. You can’t package it up. You can’t layout the perfect plan to follow so that you can have it. You can’t sell it, promote it, market it, label it, franchise it, brand it, advertise or really even pass it along. Just like I can’t pass along the relationship I have with Jen to anyone else, I can’t do that with Jesus. He and I have a unique relationship that you can’t have with him. Sorry… but it’s true. 🙂 He wants a better one than that with you. If you try to do life with him the way I do, it probably won’t work. It might for a while… but you’re just living a copy. He knows every intimate detail about you, and wants to relate to you personally and intimately. Sharing every bit of life with you, not just a few moments here and there, and a special dress-up occasion on weekends.

I know those words sound harsh, but at times it’s just so frustrating to me. We have messed it up so much that people in the business world think that they should call themselves evangelists. They sell a product. They offer a service. And, apparently, so do Christians. And, with zealous conviction, they keep pounding people until they convert. Until they buy in to The Product. And what we end up with then are usually CEOs running boards of directors who maintain an ever growing enterprise moving ahead with 5 and 10 year goals and all sorts of quantifiable results and charts and stats on where they are successful and where they are not.

How sad. How off the mark.

The kingdom is not quantifiable. It’s not measurable or knowable in that way. The kingdom is so much more. So different. I want to spend some more time on that, so I will continue that in a future blog. But the plain truth is, we’re not peddling a commodity. We are living in the reality of life in Jesus. Real life, not something we make up and repackage every few years or so. Real life with ups and downs. Real life with a real God.

You can’t put him in a bottle, or a box. And when we try, we only look foolish.

Or, like corporate America.

I need to expand on the idea of the Real Kingdom… stay tuned.

And until then, if you consider yourself an evangelist… please think about how you are presenting yourself, and your message. Are you offering a product, a neat set of ideas, beliefs and behaviors that can be reproduced and passed on to the next person… or are you living life with a real God, and allowing his life in you to spill over to other people, so they can experience him in a fresh and personal and real way just as you have?

I’ll take the latter.