God: For Sale

"My faith, I mean, that's such a personal aspect that a lot of times, of course it's going to come out through the song. But at the same time, I'm not a religious salesman. I feel like God doesn't really need a salesman, and what these songs are are simply my interactions with this life and learning. I guess the bottom line is the songs are really honest, you know what I mean. That faith is going to come through." - Jon Foreman (Switchfoot)

Several nights ago in between a couple of football games I caught a guy on a religious network that I have been with at an event or two. I can usually only stay tuned to those networks for a few minutes (if that), but I was intrigued by this guys desperate pleas. Acting as if the world was going to end the next day, he was pulling all the stops. "If you just receive Jesus in your heart RIGHT NOW, you TOO can experience a life free of worry, stress, and misery." Continuing in his pitch he played the accident "scare the hell OUT of you" card. "If you died tonight in an accident on the way home, where would you spend eternity?"

Some of these "preachers" might as well just say..."what is it going to take to get you into this Jesus today?"..."you know this God-ride is the smoothest on the road"..."come on, this is a great deal. Might not be here tomorrow."

Selling Jesus like a car salesman pisses me off by itself, BUT to sell a lie is just too much. So maybe I misunderstood this guy, but I am afraid I didn't.

God is not for sale. Grace is free. Give it too.