“The SWITCHeroo”

May is wild and we are booked to preach 24 times in 30 days while speaking in SIX states! We thank God for open doors and we desire to be a blessing (more than stay busy). God is our provider and we thank Him for the privilege to minister. Please pray for all of our pastors, youth ministers, missionaries, musicians, especially evangelists and other faith based ministries. These are unique times and many are having a hard time staying on the road and providing for their families. In the future, I am going to dedicate a blog post to dear friends in ministry who would be a great addition or blessing to your church and perhaps you will prayerfully consider bringing them in the near future. Ministry is a team effort and we are all better when we promote others.

On Saturday night, I had the privilege to speak to 1,300 at WWGB Radio Annual Awards Gala in Alexandria, VA and it was wonderful. On Sunday morning, it was my pleasure to preach at Grace Brethren Church of Clinton, MD for my dear friend, Pastor Irv Clark as he was away speaking at a men’s retreat and then on Monday evening, Ruth and I, left for Philadelphia, PA for three days and we just returned home this morning. During the trip home God reminded me of this incident that happened to me over two decades ago when I was a salesman for the now defunct “BRITCHES GREAT OUTDOORS” at the St. Charles Towne Center of my hometown Waldorf, MD.

In 1991-1992, I was employed with “Britches” and they had the best rugby shirts around. Sales always came easy to me (not because I enjoy selling things) but probably because people are part of the process. Math scares me, science confuses me, grammar still escapes me but sales came pretty easy to me. Working only 15-20 hours per week at the mall while a student taking a full load at the local community college I loved working at Britches. They had great clothes, cool people and the commute was close to my house.

My manager informed me that sales were in her terms “through the roof” when I was on the floor working. She also said when I wasn’t working sales were down. Apparently, customers or clients would come in and ask for me by name and if I wasn’t working they would leave promptly (without buying anything). This made some of my fellow colleagues mad because they wanted to cash in on customers that I had the privilege to serve in the past.

One reason I believe that “success” was possible is because I prayed for my future customers. I prayed for their well-being, their lives, their needs (even before meeting them). Secondly, when they did come in I didn’t treat them as customers but long, lost friends. Honestly, I felt like I already knew them because I had been praying for them long before they came! Third, I smiled initially and then served them continually as if they were the only ones in the store; even at the expense of losing folks (or sales). The irony is customers waited in line for me because of the way I served them, waited on them and befriended them. Yes, the world needs love. Sadly, customer and constituent service is almost a thing of the past. However, the “greats are still gracious” and the best still serve.

The store manager announced that I was number 11 in the Nation regarding sales for “Britches Great Outdoors” while working only 1/3 the hours of those doing it fulltime and over-time. God’s grace was the number one factor and customer service played a small part. What I noticed is that “desperate people do desperate things” and when folks were not selling they were tempted to use tricks to make up for it. This is not an indictment against one retailer but Madison Avenue has been using ploys, games and gimmicks far longer than my tenure at a local mall.

After the New Year, the rush to buy rugby’s had died down. Yes, the clothes were still popular but most folks had spent their money shopping for Christmas the month before. Most of our shirts, shorts and sweaters were nice – actually REAL NICE! The renown Rugby came in multiple colors and was a classic for years. However, we had this one shirt that we couldn’t give away much less charge $49 for nearly 20 years ago! It was one of the few shirts that we all agreed was horrible looking and no one would buy it (much less steal it). It was the “joke of the store” and the inside joke among staff. They teased that even I couldn’t sell it 🙂 The fact is I wouldn’t sell something that I didn’t believe in. Perhaps, that is another reason for some success in sales.

One of my colleagues had the sly idea of placing those tragic looking shirts in the front window on the mannequins! It is true, “you can learn alot from a Dummy!” This is where we get the title: “THE SWITCHEROO.” Within an hour, customers came rushing in to buy the rugby that a day before we couldn’t sell if our job depended on it. What was the difference? Someone suggested that this is “IT” item and the must have thing (after all, it was displayed front and center with a light beaming down on it). The staff rang them up trying to hold back tears of laughter while thinking “I cannot believe you are actually buying this thing!” Honestly, I was the only one not laughing and I couldn’t help but think that Satan and society for far too long have done a similar trick to countless customers.

The devil promotes the “Genuine Article” only to leave you with a cubic zirconia. He promises “love” and distributes lust. We long for grace but He gives greed and grief. He displays the penthouse but delivers the eviction notice. He points to fame but hands you broken dreams, hurt feelings and a life void of faith in God. He parades intimacy on a pedastal only to distribute STD’s and loneliness. Sadly, society went for the “sure thing” and missed the most important thing – a relationship with Jesus. The irony is we couldn’t give it away but we paid full price for it – hook, line and sinker. God grants grace “by faith” for FREE but with Satan we buy not only his lies but pay for something we really cannot afford.

It is true, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, Cost you more than you want to pay, and keep you longer than you want to stay.” I am not advocating that rugby’s are dangerous much less damning but what is so sad is when we follow society standards and Satan’s schemes more than the Savior’s safe supply. Satan is so slick and sick that he promises promotion and peace for jumping in feet first in a pit only to mock you while standing over you for being stupid enough to jump. I am not talking about a mountain of debt but a pile of regrets.

The next time you are tempted to buy the lie (yes, lies are costly) regardless, if it is in a destructive relationship, ungodly business practice, a car that you cannot afford to impress people at a red light that you will never meet or a “shirt” that doesn’t fit you than pause long enough to recall is this purchase going to glorify God or am I just another casualty in Satan’s SWITCHeroo. Don’t be a dummy but honor God in our daily decisions. Why be a mannequin when you can be a man or woman standing up not selling out.