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My Dad is a salesman, he can sell ice to eskimo’s. My whole life I have watched my Dad build companies based on his ability to sell a product. The past 15 years he has built a construction company and to my knowledge never lifted a hammer, unless it was to chase down a subcontractor. Salesman, at times, have gotten a bad wrap. You can see a bad salesman coming from a mile away, with a fake laugh and sketchy, “I understand you eyes. There is a completely different class of salesman out there, one I count my father to be a part of. The great salesman don’t sell, not at first. Great salesman first and foremost believe in their product. If you go to their home you will find what they sell on their shelves or in their driveway. When you have met a great salesman you hear a conviction in their voice about their product and almost always leave feeling as if you weren’t sold anything, you leave and tell your friends… “I made the decision to buy, no one sold me.” All the fancy sales techniques and approaches to making the close are useless if the guy making the sale doesn’t believe in his product.

Where am I going?
Well I’d like to tell you about my new company, Amway.
Just kidding, roll with me…

I first read the phrase form follows function at a conference in 02. The phrase had been around for many years and was used primarily within design circles. At the conference a pastor put it on the screen and kind of blew my mind. Coming from a background of youth ministry my general strategy in preaching and programming had been to think of something cool and then try to layer the bible on top of it. Our creative meetings were based on discussions about setting stuff on fire, blowing things up, using disco balls, or possibly setting a disco ball on fire and then watching it blow up! What’s the point of that? Exactly, we didn’t have one. Form was dictating function. The phrase bounced around in my head for a couple of months, “form follows function.” I leveled out with a new focus… before I preach another sermon I need something to say. Profound, huh?

You are probably smarter than me.

You are certainly more spiritual than me.
But are you certain you have something to say?
What is it?

Peter and John, testifying in front of the Sanhedrin, were told to not speak about Jesus. “But Peter and John replied, ‘Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20)

Whether you think you are selling something or not consider this one question… do you buy your product? Are you making a pitch weekly for something you haven’t even bought yourself? Do you have a message burning in your gut for which you cannot help speaking about? We can fire up video clips, illustrations, and all the object lessons in the world but unless we are personally sold on what we are saying we are nothing but a bad salesman.

Don’t preach until you have something to say.

The world is full of nice people and good communicators but we, preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. I Corinthians 1:23-25