Thou Shalt Sell... When Asked
How to Evangelize to Open Hearts
Most people don’t like to sell, but they love to buy. So—why not use this principle to evangelize?
The best time to evangelize is when people come to you with open hearts. Think about all the times you’ve tried to convince someone to buy or do something. You go up to them, deliver your pitch, and… it doesn’t go so well. You encounter resistance.
On the other hand, if someone has decided they want to buy the goods you have. They will happily hand over the money. They feel good about getting themselves something. It was their decision, not some out-of-the-blue pitch, to do something they hadn’t planned.
Today, let’s dive into how to use this psychological situation to our advantage when evangelizing.
But before we dive in — Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there. We hope you had a great Sunday with your families. We pray for all Fathers to have the courage to continue leading and showing up daily for their families. If you’re ever discouraged, remember God, whom we dare to call Father, the Father of the Universe, is sustaining you and guiding you.
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Last week, I had lunch with a late-career gentleman. He’s someone I keep in touch with, but I wouldn’t call him one of my regular mentors. But that doesn’t stop him from dropping gems with the speed and accuracy that Curry hits threes. 🏀
He’s not a business owner but holds a senior position in a local manufacturing company. He’s not a Catholic, but I’d consider him a deeply faithful man of God in many ways.
Of all the things we spoke about, one really stood out to me. It was his ‘method of evangelization’ at work.
I love things like this because they offer some sort of ‘regular principle’ to follow in our standard conduct.
Here’s how he does it.
Be transparent.
Every Monday, when people ask how his weekend was, he tells them pretty openly. He’ll talk about the Bible camps he helped run. He might mention how they are helping mediate some relationship issues that a couple is going through. Whatever it is, just be pretty open.
This makes people realize he’s a man of God and is serious about it because he spends his weekends doing things like that.
Demonstrate discretion.
When he’s speaking about any sensitive topic, he’s careful not to reveal any information that is privileged or sensitive. And he is somewhat explicit about it. “I can’t say the particular circumstances, but…” yada yada.
This tells folks that he’s got a controlled tongue.
Show interest in them.
It may seem silly to some, but be sure to show interest in them. Especially if you’re someone in a higher position of authority, it means a lot to them. But it also is a fruit of having charity in your heart.
This will stick with people, allowing them to develop a sort of bond with you.
Let the Holy Spirit guide you.
With all of these things in place, there will likely come a day when they have an interest in learning more about the Faith. You’ll likely be the one they come to because they know you are ‘into God’, you respect privacy, and you care about them.
When this day arrives, Let The Holy Spirit guide you. Don’t force it too much; just follow the way The Spirit leads you to answer their questions.
This is where the buying versus selling is happening.
They are not being pitched something—they are earnestly trying to learn about something. When they end up on the receiving end of charity, it will be tough to stop having interest.
If you’re serious about leveraging your business to retake the society for God, listen up.
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It all starts with your choices.
Reflect back on this momentarily.
What is the catalyst of all this? How does any of this happen?
It works because you first chose to live your life in accordance with God’s will and in service to others. Without that, you wouldn’t have anything to talk about that helps them get a feel for your weekend plans.
In other words, if your weekend consists of Netflix and video games, I don’t think you’re going to have much to get them interested. Certainly, they won’t see it as ‘remarkable’ in any real way.
Let’s use this moment to ask ourselves the spiky question: What should we do differently with our weekends? Perhaps not every weekend has to be a big activity, but certainly, once a month, we should be involved in something special—something ministry-related.
Sometimes, we don’t even need to get creative because the Church already has so much beauty in it with Her Liturgies. Just a few weeks ago, we had the Corpus Christi Eucharistic Processions. In May, we had May crowning. These are all things to speak about.
Isn’t it just incredible how much work is already done for us? We merely need to cooperate.
Most people don’t like to sell, but they love to buy.
Getting back to the original idea. We don’t need to ‘sell’ The Faith to people because they will ‘buy’ as long as we are willing to make our faith known.We can use this with our employees especially but it can be applied to customers as well.
Ah-ha! Would you look at that?!
It happens to be Monday. A perfect opportunity to start practicing. Next time someone asks about your weekend, share some click-bait headlines to raise their interest levels.
In summary, live a good Christian Life, be open about it, and don’t be afraid to share it. Then, when the time comes, allow The Holy Spirit to guide you in ‘selling The Faith’ to that interested ‘buyer.’
See ya next time! 👋
PS: If you have a topic you’d like me to write about, drop a comment or DM me. Glad to add it to the hopper.
Asks 🙏
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👉 Who should we interview? (Comment or DM)
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