It is an article of faith among those who sell for a living that it is imperative to have a "15 second elevator speech" ready to fly out of your mouth when asked "What do you do?"
Sales-of-a-lifetime have been made on such random, chance encounters. And yes, some of them have been on elevator rides between two adjacent floors.
My gut feel is that many of my readers are devoutly religious. Can you condense the most compelling reason(s) for why YOU follow your faith in fifteen-seconds or less? The implicit challenge is to not bury the "What is in it for me" too deeply.
Mine is still in the wet-cement stage. It goes something like this:
I am a Christian because I believe the world is filled with people who seek to deceive me for power, profit and entertainment.
The Bible is the Owner's Manual for humans. It provides objective truths that armor me against the deceivers.
It shows me how to fulfill my mission as one created in the image-and-likeness of God.
I'm impressed. That is a really great line of thought for these days we are in. It becomes immediately and undeniably relevant and not a mode of escape as we are often accused of. You become a Doer instead of a Clinger. ---ken
ReplyDeleteI like that.
ReplyDeleteI am a Christian because I have accepted the absolutely free gift of Eternal life that was bought with his blood. I have admitted that I am a sinner and have accepted His total forgiveness. Now God sees me as white as snow and has forgotten my sins. I can now live my life without that nagging doubt about where I will go when I die. I am free.
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome! We all have different 15-second elevator stories.
DeleteI was asked that question, and the only reply I had was "Because it is true."
ReplyDeleteAnd while that is entirely accurate (in my estimation), why is that compelling to somebody who is questing? "The sun rises in the the east" is essentially accurate but few people orient their lives in alignment with that truth.
DeleteIt can facilitate a conversation longer than 15 seconds. It (hopefully) might help the brain engage before the conversation continues. Seeds and water.
DeleteThanks for reading my response in the best possible way.
DeleteI think 15 seconds +/- five seconds is the sweet-spot for giving the listener enough dangling threads to be sticky without being overwhelming.
Again, thanks for putting a positive spin on what I wrote.
I am a Christian because I accept the truth that I am a sinner, that Christ, God's only begotten Son, died for my sins and the only way to be with God in heaven is to accept His free gift of salvation. I have repented of my sins and my name is written in the Lamb's book of Life.
ReplyDeleteI am a Christian because there was an incident in my life to convince me there was a god. At that point it was my job to find him. Due to overwhelming historical evidence I concluded Jesus did indeed rise from the dead proving his claim of being God. Events since then have cemented that belief for me experientially.
ReplyDeleteFirst, thanks, ERJ, for this line of thoughts and all the comments. It is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteI am a Christian because I believe there really is an epic battle of GOOD versus EVIL in the world today, and every day.
This battle is between the Creator and one of his creations, an angel named Satan. This Satan exists in the world today. He has myriad followers, call them Legion.
I believe the Catholic Church collated the Books of the Bible, which provides all necessary direction for good living. I believe that the Catholic Church provides the strictest interpretation of the scripture necessary for good living.
I believe things end poorly for Satan, all communists, all socialists, most democrats and all the rest who never reach the plateau of existence proscribed as GOOD LIVING. May God bless everyone reading these words. Live good.
Peace.
And Joe, this idea of Christians as evangelists is excellent. If Christians were all just one sports team, Imagine the locker room pep talk as coach sends us all out. Into Satan's world.
The statement, “God exists” is either true or false, whether I believe it or not. Same with the statement “Jesus is God’s only begotten Son.” All the external evidence has shown me that both statements are true.
ReplyDeleteFurther, I’ve found my life is immeasurably better when I choose to live my life according to Church teaching, and worse when I don’t. So, both external evidence and personal evidence has shown to me the truth of the statement “God exists.”