A master salesman pitches something that’s really a no-brainer
I’ll confess to not knowing a ton about Paul or his letter to the church in Rome that’s the text I’m referring to today but there’s one thing for certain; he knew the Socratic Method like the back of his hand.
The Socratic Method, if you’re not familiar, is a technique often used in sales where the salesperson poses leading questions to bring the buyer to a conclusion. The conclusion, of course, is that the buyer needs what you’re selling. In the passage Paul is selling God to the Romans and let me tell you even if I was the most hedonistic Roman going, if I had any knowledge of God and Jesus I’m sold and sold all day long. But, honestly, it’s an easy sell.
Seven of the twelve sentences Paul writes are questions and many of them are so simple it’s almost too easy. Had I been presented these types of clear, straight-forward and logical questions in my Physics or Organic Chemistry classes, the ol’ GPA would have been much shinier in college. One of my favorites is “If God is for us, who can be against us?” Maybe you’re not like me but my internal answer to this and so many of Paul’s questions in this letter is, ‘Well, of course, I mean, duh.’
The evidence is there, right smack dab in front of us. All we have to do is answer a few simple questions. If we can do that, we can be assured we are predestined, we are called, we are justified and we are glorified. It’s a simple conclusion. This sale is closed.
With all the complexities of the world today, it’s nice to be able to answer some simple questions once in a while isn’t it? ISMH (I shake my head) when I realize that too often if the answer is obvious, we second guess it. We think it can’t be that easy, can it? I’m tellin’ ya folks, it can and it is. Please pass this along to your friends that are tied up in knots about the choices they have to make today if it might help them.
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