Anyone else being bombarded with ‘last minute’ gift ideas via emails or TV ads?

Something I have noticed over the years when it comes to successful marketing campaigns is if you can first convince to show (if not create) a viable ‘need’ in a person’s life for your product, you have that much better of an opportunity to sell whatever it is your pitching.

Ever heard that old saying- ‘Necessity is the mother of invention’? Good marketing specialist ‘get that’ when it comes to creating effective ad campaigns. Show me why I ‘need’ this product and you could very well convince me to buy whatever it is you are selling.

The ‘church’ would do well to pay attention and give that some serious thought also.

It can be an easy and deceptive trap to go heavy on pushing and promoting all the ‘perks and advantages’ to owning something, when you fail to present a viable and legitimate need as to why a person should own it. And I’ve been around the ‘church world’ long enough to see how we tend to fall into that trap, trying to ‘sell’ or promote the gospel of Jesus Christ by lauding all the great benefits that come with ‘accepting Christ as your personal Savior’, without making a solid case as to why we all ‘need’ Jesus; and just sharing the 4-point plan of salvation using the ‘Roman Road’ pitch is not quite enough.

You might revisit my post from yesterday because towards the end of it, I made the case that trying to find that perfect gift for someone can be aided by first identifying what the greatest need for that person might be. So when we talk about the ‘gift of salvation’ that God gave humanity, ...I suggested our greatest need was not ‘forgiveness’... but rather it was ‘freedom’. And if you are not quite sure you are in agreement with that thought, consider this analogy:

Your family continues to suffer from some mysterious chronic ‘illness’ that has sorely affected your quality of life. It might be easy to conclude your greatest need at that time is ‘healing’ from whatever ails you, some ‘miraculous’ pill or expensive medicine that you keep on hand, perhaps? How wonderful would that ‘gift’ be, right?

But what if it was discovered that you were drinking tainted water and that toxic chemicals were poisoning your water source; would you not agree that maybe your ‘greatest need’ was not ‘healing’...but addressing the water source and correcting that ‘problem’?

Perhaps some of you today are starring down a mountain of debt which you see no way out from that oppressive weight; and trust me, I know what that feels like; Been there and done that! There’s the car payments and house mortgage or rent, the ever increasing utility bills and rising food prices, medical bills, all which forced you to start using that credit card for all the things you said you would never use it for; so now those CC bills with the high interest continue to add to your financial misery. If only...you could win the lottery, or inherit some wealth where you could just pay off all those bills with one check...would that not seem to be your greatest need that could make you so happy? And yet, how many people have done that at one point in time...got ‘caught up’ on all those pesky bills...only to find themselves back in the same financial mess. Is it possible that maybe the real need was a change in ‘spending habits’ or even a change in the amount of income coming in on a regular basis?

Have you ever noticed how much time and energy we spend on treating ‘symptoms’ while neglecting the real source – i.e. the ‘root’ of the problem?

We share with a dying world how much God loves us and is willing to forgive all our sins and lead the way to ‘eternal life in heaven’...and yes...we know what that wonderful feeling of being forgiven of our sins can be like. But as I said yesterday, maybe ‘forgiveness’ of our sins is not our most pressing ‘need’; what if it’s freedom from sinning that we need most?

When Jesus healed that man who had been afflicted for 38 years, unable to get around and was living a life of misery...Jesus healed him instantly, where he was made whole and told to ‘take up your bed and walk’ (John 5:1-9). But what was the piece of counsel that Jesus offered him when their paths crossed shortly after, in the temple? He told him: “See, you have been made well. Go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” (14).

You do know that Jesus told that adulteress woman who was brought to Him for a possible stoning...something similar as well: “Go and sin no more...” (John 8:11)

And yet...the modern day church world offers up a ‘gospel’ that is heavy on forgiveness, but falls short on offering the recipients true freedom which meets our greatest need. This...is where we have dropped the ball and not only been deceived ourselves, but continue to propagates that lie, or that ‘other gospel’ that denies the power to free us of sin. Paul warned of a day when this would happen (2 Cor. 11:3-4; 2 Tim. 3:5).

We continue to spin that age old lie that we were fed: Not only were you a ‘sinner’ but you remain a wretched, flawed sinner who is only ‘saved by grace’, without ever offering up ‘how’ we are ‘saved by grace’; or else we twist it to mean something just the opposite. When we continue to tell people that they will always sin...that you always sin...that we all continue to sin...and will always sin on ‘this side of heaven’...we have failed to proclaim the ‘whole counsel of God’, the very truth...that came to set us free.

Paul points out that “in the last days perilous time will come”, going on to describe the evil and carnal behavior being exhibited among people in this time, and yet they would ‘have a form of godliness but deny its power’...as they would ‘always be learning but never able to come...to the knowledge of the truth’ (2 Tim. 3:1-7). So what ‘truth’ is he referring to here along with his mention of it in 1 Tim. 2:4? I would submit for your consideration that it’s the same ‘truth’ Jesus spoke of when He confronted the Pharisees in John 8. He told them there that ‘IF....they were to abide in His word...they would know the truth, and the truth would make them free” (31-32). They of course took exception to such a statement trying to convince Jesus they had ‘never been in bondage to anyone before.” (33) ....sigh...

So then comes the nail of conviction, when Jesus makes it known ‘most assuredly’...”I say to you that whoever commits sin is a slave to sin, and a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.” (John 8:34-35)

If you are among that crowd who openly admits that you continue to sin on a ‘regular basis’...what does that make you...a ‘slave’? And would you not agree that the greatest ‘need’ any ‘slave’ might have...would be the gift of ‘freedom’? This really is much bigger and important than you might believe. 

Join me tomorrow?